Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton surprised the public as well as her fellow commissioners with a gift…A ten year audit of the DeKalb Commissioners’ P-Cards.

Commissioner Jeff Rader and Commissioner Kathie Gannon introduced a resolution during the Board of Commissioners meeting, directing the executive assistant to obtain the services of a certified internal auditor or a certified government audit professional to analyze the expenditures of each member of the Board of Commissioners and their staff.

The audit will include the following:

• Audit to review the expenditures for the past ten years by each BOC, his/her respective staff and office, and the central office of the BOC;
• Audit shall review expenditures and decide whether the expenses were for county business;
• The auditor shall begin auditing commission district 6 first, per Commissioner Barnes Sutton’s substitution.
• The final and complete audit shall be distributed promptly to each member of the BOC, the CEO, and the Board of Ethics, and shall be made available to the public.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution article, “DeKalb Official Spent County Funds On Herself” by Johnny Edwards (3/22/2014), reported alleged misuse of the her purchase card (P-Card).

http://legalpronews.findlaw.com/article/22082f625614e6f3810cfff376dbde72#.U0rRSiiKV6U

http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/dekalb-official-spent-county-funds-on-herself/nfH4g/

The resolution attempts to restore public trust through the use of transparency, and begin to restore public confidence.

Update: Email statement from Commissioner Kathie Gannon

Independent Audit for all Commissioners

Yesterday the Board of Commissioners took the first step forward into sunshine and transparency. Commissioner Rader and I introduced the attached resolution calling for an independent audit of all spending for the past 5 years by each County Commissioner starting with District 1. The audits will include Purchase Cards, all other expenditures and all commission staff. The resolution directs the County to hire a Certified Internal Auditor or a Certified Government Audit Professional using funds previously budgeted for an internal auditor. The resolution was modified by Commissioner Barnes-Sutton to start with District 6 (my District) and to go back 10 years and then begin with District 1. This substitute motion passed without a dissenting vote. Commissioner Barnes-Sutton later attempted to call for a reconsideration of her substitute motion, however that failed. Please see the attached resolution that calls for an audit of all County Commission expenditures.

Kathie Gannon
Super District 6 Commissioner

http://www.scribd.com/doc/220196905/Ten-Year-Independent-Audit-of-All-DeKalb-Commissioners-P-Cards