Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington told the Joint Auditing Committee of the State Legislature that more training will take place on procurement procedures after the city was called on the carpet to explain findings of a city audit.
According to a story in the Pine Bluff Commercial, Washington and Urban Renewal Agency Executive Director Shandra Griffin appeared before the committee Friday to explain money sent by Parks and Recreation and the misappropriation of $667384 to a vendor by Urban Renewal that led to a state police investigation and criminal charges.
Problems with Parks and Recreation included proper authorization was not obtained for two disbursements and city ordinance policies were not followed. Also, a lease agreement for golf carts and GPS equipment was entered into without proper authorization and the city entered into a lease agreement for more than 60 months, a violation of state law.
Washington told the committee that all policies and procedures will be followed in the future and proper authorization will be obtained from the mayor and city council before any money is spent.
The committee did not address the findings of the misappropriation of funds by Urban Renewal because it is a legal matter and criminal charges have been filed against the vendor, and against former Executive Director Maurice Taggart, who was shot to death in September.
The committee warned the city to follow proper procedures in the future and no further action will be taken by the committee.
