The councilman from Ward 5 stated that the District Attorney (“DA”) said there was nothing more a forensic audit could find. Assuming that he read the trial transcript, the Ward 5 councilman may have been referring to the DA’s statement on page 29, starting at line 4, that the disgraced CFO testified he was not working in concert. Here we have one of the long-suffered conundrums: to trust a liar or not. At page 13, line 24, the former COO stated that Rawle reported only to Mayor Robert Smith [this is precisely the reason the organizational chart should change and a large part of “how” it happened without getting caught]. The former COO further testified on page 20, line 18, that there is “money that hasn’t even been talked about” and alludes to the city spending $100,000 on CPAs trying to figure out what’s been happening.
It may seem that the prior regime and several of its carryover council members (“regime remainders”) already engaged a forensic audit, perhaps without their knowledge, and paid them $100,000, all without a public discussion. Those accounting/auditing procedures and their related findings may be helpful to the understanding of what has been done or not done. For the regime remainders to be so opposed to an additional review of the past causes them to lose credibility. Maybe they simply cannot communicate the reasons for their position in a concise, logical manner. In that regard, an open discussion may be helpful. Their lack of argument against understanding the past actions is damning.
To view a copy of the transcript, click here.
What we suspect from a review of the transcript is this: more money than what Rawle confessed to is missing, the only supervisor of Rawle’s work was the former mayor, and the city has already unsuccessfully tried to figure out what happened. What we know we don’t know is how much money went missing, how it happened, what accounting treatment was applied, and whether anyone else was involved. If the city does not know what happened, how can it reduce the likelihood of the same thing happening again? Who will be the next “Milton Rawle,” complacent/complicit council member, negligent/complicit mayor, or complicit city employee?
Some have invoked the Gospel and the Gospel is available to all. In 1 John 1:9–10 — King James Version 9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” If these verses resonate, then step up and help move this city forward. Speak out against complacency and corruption.
Now is the time for honesty. The past is indeed behind us, but if we do not learn from that past, we will likely be doomed to repeat it. What happened and why? Would you rather lead the way to a transformation to better government or fight the process?
