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   The Fourth of July may be in just a few days but there were a different set of fireworks going off during Monday’s DeKalb County Commission meeting. During the session, held at the auditorium of the Mike Foster Multipurpose Center, accusations flew alleging misconduct and the violation of the Sunshine Law.

At issue was this year’s budget and the way the budget is presented or formatted. In years past, Steve Bates, a financial agent brought in during former County Mayor Mike Foster’s administration, served to help create the budget, format it, and answer any questions the commission or any department might have.

With some having issues with Bates’, the commission voted last year to defund his annual $15,000 position, essentially letting him go from service, but now some county commissioners are having trouble deciphering this year’s budget format, and say they need help understanding the format and how the budget compares to previous years.

Sabrina Farler made the motion to fund $20,000 to bring Bates back to help with the budget, but the move didn’t sit well with some other commissioners.

We’ve had four budget meetings already as we prepare our budget that needs to be done by August 31, and in the last budget meeting on June 17, I asked about a financial person to help with our budget.

Farler then made a motion to add $20,000 to the budget to add Bates as a financial advisor to the county. Jeff Barnes seconded the motion.

Third district commissioner Suzanna Cripps Daughtry asked about the scope of the service that Mr. Bates would provide, with County Mayor Tim Stribling explaining the Bates would be a financial advisor dedicated to the county, inputting the budget, providing updated software, providing an advanced budget format, and being available at meetings, while other services available to the county would only provide advice and not physically handle the budget. Stribling also pointed out that most counties around DeKalb have a dedicated budget office with several employees.

Seventh District Commissioner Bruce Malone questioned Mr. Bates’ qualifications for the position, and whether he was a CPA or if he had a college degree, something Mayor Stribling could not answer.

Jerry Adcock, Fifth District Commissioner, addressed the commission saying, “I’ve been on the Budget Committee for eight years. The way it’s been going on here lately, we walk out of there at night scratching our heads. We don’t know where the money’s going, we don’t know where it’s coming from or anything like that. When he [Bates] was here, you walked out every night and he told you where every penny was going; he told you how much the tax would be increased or decreased. You knew what was going on when he was here.”

Malone then accused other commissioners of soliciting votes for Bates through phone calls and texts. He claimed the solicitations were made illegally, violating the Sunshine Law, and called for the commissioner to resign.

Adcock claimed he received phone calls about the issue of rehiring Bates, but that no one had asked him to vote one way or another.

First District Commissioner Julie Young then spoke up asking, “Is there anybody here going to be honest with this commission and say that they broke the Sunshine Law? Just stand up and say that they broke the Sunshine Law.”

During a vote on the motion, Bruce Malone, Julie Young, Beth Pafford, and Jenny Trapp each voted no, while Jerry Adcock, Jeff Barnes, Sabrina Farler, Dr. Scott Little, Janice Fish Stewart, Matt Adcock, and Anita Puckett each voted yes, with the motion failing by one vote. Suzanna Cripps Daughtry abstained

But the fireworks were not over. Later in the meeting, Commissioner Young addresses the commission saying, “These are some items that have been brought to my attention. I have forwarded them to the State for further investigation. This is not how are constituents have elected us to represent them to the best interests of the taxpayers of the citizenship.  It gives me no great pleasure to do this. It’s not how business to be run for this county, but it’s time we stand up and start doing what’s right.”

Young continued, “I received a text message today that really upset me. I won’t stay silent no more. It reads, ‘I need one more vote on funding the financial director. Me’ meaning Scott Little. ‘Sabrina, Jeff, Anita, Matt, Beth, and Susanna are all yes votes. Shaee [Flatt] is on vacation, Janice is sick … Myron, Bruce, and Julie are no. And who knows what the hell Jerry will do? Shaee and Janice are yes votes, but they won’t be there. Can I count on your vote? Otherwise it won’t pass.’”

“This is not what we were elected to do for this county,” Young said. “You two that were involved in this, shame on you. You should resign immediately.”

Young also claims that Little contacted Bates and negotiated his price for returning as financial advisor.

It is unclear if the text messages constitute a breach of the Sunshine Law, but it may at least be in a gray area. According to the Tennessee Open Meetings Act, all meetings of any governing body are declared to be public meetings open to the public at all times, except as provided by the Constitution of Tennessee.

The law reads, “The members of any public body which consists of two (2) or more members, with the authority to make decisions for or recommendations to a public body on policy or administration and also means a community action agency which administers community action programs under the provisions of 42 U.S.C. § 2790 [repealed].”

It goes on to state that, “Nothing in this section shall be construed as to require a chance meeting of two (2) or more members of a public body to be considered a public meeting. No such chance meetings, informal assemblages, or electronic communication shall be used to decide or deliberate public business in circumvention of the spirit or requirements of this part.”

Also at the meeting, DeKalb County Road Supervisor addressed the commission, asking if anyone had any questions about his budget that was submitted to the budget committee. On June 17, Supervisor Hale appeared before a County Budget Committee meeting asking for an increase to his budget by $991,520, which he says is needed to help pay for the county’s 513 miles of road.

On Friday, June 25, Hale called the Smithville Review demanding a retraction of a story that we had published the previous Wednesday. In the story, the Review reported that Hale had asked the budget committee for a 16 cent property tax increase in order to increase his budget. Currently, the certified tax rate is at $1.7308 per $100 of assessed value, and in order to reach the $991,520 requested, the rate would have to increase to $1.8908 per $100 of assessed value.

While this reporter does admit that Mr. Hale did not specifically ask for a property tax increase, he did say he needed 16 cents, and when asked how the County would come up with such a budget increase, Mr. Hale said, “I have no idea.” That leaves the reader to surmise how such funds could possibly be raised by the county.

Mr. Hale also asked to read the Smithville Review’s new story on the subject before it was published in the newspaper, a request that was declined.