Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

GPD Financial Activities Questioned

Questions concerning how the Gurdon Police Department operates were raised Monday night by the Gurdon City Council.

Along with the fact the GPD has already spent about 60 percent of its annual budget for fuel and oil, a heretofore unknown checking account surfaced.

The account was discovered when a statement was sent from First State Bank of Gurdon to the City Recorder/Treasurer. According to the statement, on April 30, 1996, a check was written for to Otasco $360 for the purchase of undercover uniforms. The check was signed by City Marshal David Childres and Vicky Plasek. It was also hand numbered 002.

The statement shows a current balance of $90.50 after this transaction as of May 6.

Mayor Rick Smith, who handed out copies of the statement, informed the council the city recorder's job is to keep the financial records for the city. "I understand this was confiscated drug money," Smith said, "and came back through the courts."

However, with Childres not on hand to answer any questions, nor tell why the account was kept separate from other city accounts, nothing could be determined.

Councilman Tammy Pledger asked if there weren't procedures to be followed for city accounts and those on the signature cards.

City Attorney Eric Hughes said there are, but couldn't cite the statutes at the meeting.

Tambra Smith, recorder/treasurer, said when fines are collected they go into a city fines account maintained by the GPD. Checks are written to municipal courts to pay fines.

A second city fines account is funded solely by those motorists who are ticketed for not having liability insurance. This money, the recorder said, comes through the county fines back to the city and is placed in the city's general fund under fine revenues.

Other departments, she said, don't have independent checking accounts, with the exception of the water and sewer department. However, this department is operated by a commission which oversees its expenditures.

"I know nothing of this account," she told the council.

Mayor Smith said he assumed Childres authorized the checks himself, but added the city operates by a budget and must account for every penny coming in and going out.

"All expenditures must be approved," he said. "I have a problem with an account being opened and money being spent with no authorization."

Tambra Smith said by law, all monies coming into the city must be placed into the city's operating budget. This includes the park improvement grants recently received.

She said the 1996 budget will have to be amended by the council to reflect these changes so when the city is audited the money is accounted for.

The mayor informed the council he had no knowledge of the uniforms purchased from Otasco.

He said when the city was working with the childcare facility grant it had to get a checking account with numbered checks for the auditors. This was in spite of the fact only a few checks were written from the account.

"I have no idea of the uniforms needed," he said. "I do know we have a 1994 police car needing a $700 air conditioner and to be running.

"The council needs to be made aware of any money available. We sometimes have to do creative thinking and spending. This car needs a new air conditioner compressor, the old one locked up."

Smith said the marshal is an elected officer and may have the right to have such an account. The city attorney, he continued, will look into the matter.

"The council has the say so over the City of Gurdon," Smith said, "and needs to know of money coming in. I'm sure Childres will give us a copy of the statement if we ask for it. Do we want to?"

Pledger spoke for the council saying yes, copies of this bank statement are needed.

But this checking account was not the only problem with the GPD the council discussed.

Smith said the 1994 model Chevrolet patrol car is simply not running. Along with its air conditioner compressor being locked up, there is apparently a problem in its central computer processor.

Local mechanics, he said, don't have the equipment on hand to diagnose computer-related problems and the vehicle will have to be towed to a dealer.

The two-year-old car also has 76,000 miles on it, and, therefore, has no warranty. When purchased, Smith said, it came with a three-year, 36,000 mile warranty.

Pledger spoke up saying the GPD has already spent 73 percent of its maintenance and repair budget in the first five months of this year.

Smith said whether these expenditures are justified or not isn't the question. He said the city simply does not have the money to overspend its budgets.

He reminded the council it approved the 1996 budget, telling them this is the financing the city must live with unless something drastic changes.

In 1993, he said, the GPD spent $12,785 on fuel and oil. In 1994, this figure dropped to $7,718 though $8,000 was budgeted. In 1995, the budgeted amount was $7,000 and $8,221 was spent. This year's budget for fuel and oil for the GPD was $7,500, and already $4,487 has been spent.

"He's running three cars on the weekend," Smith said of the marshal. "I don't know if crime is up enough to justify this, but the legal and jail fees are only at 42 percent of what we budgeted."

The mayor informed the council Childres also hired another officer to work part-time with the department.

However, no one else was notified of the hiring and the officer worked 18 days before Smith found out. During these 18 days, the officer had not filled out the required paperwork, including tax forms.

This hiring brought another question from Pledger, who asked why other departments must go through the council before hiring and the GPD doesn't. "I'd like to know who will be our police officers more than who's working on the streets," she said.

Smith agreed and saying this is why a personnel committee has been formed. In this way prospective employees can be evaluated by members of the council while the department head is also a member of the committee and can make their recommendations.

"We have to work with whoever's hired," Smith said. "It should be the same with the GPD.

"One of the things that upsets me about the new officer is I walked in one day and he was there. I knew nothing about him. There were no records."

Smith said the city is liable for the officers in the patrol cars and carrying weapons. This problem, he added, doesn't reflect on the officer in question. In fact, the officer did come in and fill out the necessary papers for the post after being told to.

"The marshal needs to realize the city operates under a budget," Smith continued. "He needs to be a team player and work with us on the budget. If he needs an officer he can come to the council a