Bauxite almost misses payroll over signature

Signer authorized late in day

When Bauxite opened for business Friday, city officials faced a problem: No one had the power to co-sign checks for employees due to be paid that day.

An hour before closing time, the Bauxite Town Council held an emergency meeting and put, for the third time, an alderman back on all checking accounts with signatory powers.

The council placed Alderman Karen Brooks on the city's checking accounts, allowing her to sign employees' paychecks through the end of the year.

Mayor Johnny McMahan, who could not attend Friday's emergency meeting, had signed the 11 employees' paychecks. But the town needed a second signature of an authorized "officer of the city" to disperse the checks, he said.

Brooks had been the second signatory since April, but she had requested to be taken off twice. During a special council meeting last week, the council voted to remove Brooks from the accounts and name Candace Holliday as the new recorder/treasurer. But the council didn't include in its meeting minutes specific language that would allow Holliday access to the city's accounts, Alderman Paula Matthews said.

On Friday, the aldermen took steps to place Holliday -- who filled in as mayor in McMahan's absence during the emergency meeting -- on the accounts, too. Friday's session marked Holliday's first council meeting. She had been sworn into office earlier in the week.

After the meeting, Brooks said in an email that she wanted the employees to get their checks.

"Mayor Johnny McMahan said he would send employees to my place of business for me to sign checks. Which I could not sign unless we had [a] special meeting, so I stepped up and did my job or they would not have gotten paid," Brooks said in that email. "These employees are like all of us, they expect to get paid on time. They have bills due, families to feed, I could not let them down."

The matter began Wednesday when Clerk Christy Mitchell asked Brooks to sign payroll for the week.

Brooks couldn't have signed payroll unless the council placed her on the accounts, said Mark Hayes, director of legal services at the Arkansas Municipal League, in an interview earlier Friday.

McMahan contended in an email to Brooks that while the council had removed her from check-writing privileges, the removal process wasn't complete. The council would have to approve meeting minutes and then bring it to a Malvern National Bank to get Holliday's signature on the accounts.

"This is a legal process that the bank requires to add or take off signatures on the accounts, and it can't be done overnight," McMahan said Friday in an email before the special meeting. "I don't know why the council did not take that into consideration last week when they started this process."

Shortly before 10 a.m., Brooks requested an emergency council meeting for the afternoon.

If the employees hadn't gotten their checks, the city could have faced complaints with federal and state labor boards or lawsuits.

Brooks had been the second signatory since April, after Alderman Allison Cain resigned. Cain ended up as a signatory after former Recorder/Treasurer Sheryl Johnson resigned in November, citing threats by a former alderman.

Matthews, who has been an alderman for two terms, said Friday after the meeting that she couldn't recall a time when municipal employees were not paid.

Part of the holdup happened because council members didn't know whether McMahan would veto Holliday's appointment, she said.

The mayor and three council members -- Matthews, Brooks and Mona Struble -- have been at odds for months.

McMahan has called for Struble's resignation, saying she did not live in the city limits after he reviewed her water bills. Struble maintains she does, even inviting reporters to her home, turning on her water and showing the water meter does not work.

The aldermen have attempted to fill a vacant seat -- the one once held by Cain -- but McMahan has vetoed their appointments twice. The seat is still vacant.

The mayor can no longer veto Holliday's appointment because the period to nix it has passed. The filled recorder/treasurer position has left Matthews with a bit of optimism, though.

As recorder/treasurer, Holliday will be tasked with taking minutes at the meetings, signing checks and responding to Arkansas Freedom of Information requests.

"For me personally, I can actually be involved in the meeting and do what I was elected to do in the first place, instead of trying to keep up with what everybody else is saying," Matthews said. "Maybe, we can actually get back on track."

Metro on 08/16/2014

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