The McComb city board voted 3-2 Tuesday to file suit against former chief financial officer Mary Adams for unauthorized payments to businesses in Jackson and Atlanta.
The decision came after a 45-minute debate that was on the verge of turning ugly when Selectman E.C. Nobles asked for a vote to override Mayor Zach Patterson, who said he would have nothing to do with the issue.
Selectmen Danny Esch, Wade Lamb and Bobby Maddox voted to allow Nobles to preside over a vote to pursue legal action against Adams and her bonding company, The Ohio Casualty Insurance Co. Selectmen Melvin Joe Johnson and Robert Smith opposed.
The subsequent vote on going to court carried the same margin and vote.
The first point of contention involved the amounts of the payments. The original agenda item issued Friday called for legal action involving $233,213 in payments to the Malachi Group consultants, bond attorneys Chambers and Gaylord, and the Harris & Geno law firm of Jackson.
That was the total amount paid by the city, but amount in question was much lower on a revised agenda presented Tuesday. Questionable payments totalled $40,233 to the Malachi Group and $7,666 to Chambers and Gaylord. Payments to Harris & Geno were not part of the agenda.
City administrator Quordiniah Lockley said the board did authorize the other payments.
Patterson questioned how the issue came before the board. Lockley said it was from testimony in Patterson’s lawsuit against the selectmen, which indicated that the payments were never on the docket for the board to approve.
Patterson pointed out the action couldn’t have come from testimony, as witnesses were sequestered during testimony. Lockley said the testimony and figures were published in the Enterprise-Journal.
“I thought that these illegal payments, or improper payments, were the selectmen’s defense against me. I thought they charged me with making these illegal payments,” the mayor said. “What am I to read here now? That these charges are no longer against me and are against Ms. Adams and myself, too?”
City attorney Wayne Dowdy said he had copies of the checks and asked Lockley to place an item regarding the payments on the board’s agenda.
Patterson scolded Lockley for that, saying “Mr. Dowdy does not place items on the agenda, and neither do you.”
“I was informed, and I have personally verified that there is no resolution on any minutes that authorized these particular payments,” Dowdy said. “I think it’s incumbent on me as lawyer of the city of McComb that we recoup money that was never authorized by this board to be paid, allegedly on contracts that nobody can find.”
Patterson asked Nobles and Esch if they had discussed the contract issue with Lockley prior to the meeting, saying “This has to be an issue here, and it cannot be your issue, Mr. Dowdy. It has to be an issue of this board of mayor and selectmen if they want to see the contracts.”
Both selectmen said they had not run the issue by Lockley, but Esch said he was curious. “I’ve never seen a contract, and I have asked for contracts ever since the Malachi Group has come aboard. And I have yet to see a contract of any type. If you can show it to me, I’d love to see it.”
Patterson continued to express concern over an attempt to charge Adams on the payments, citing an ongoing legal battle between him and the selectmen, and the fact that officials originally claimed the mayor authorized the illegal payments.
“What are we moving for when we don’t have the judge’s decision yet?” he asked. “How many more people do we have to charge with this? You’ve already charged me with it.
“I want to warn you that it seems like something very shaky is going on here that I need to report to the judge in that case because there seems to be an ongoing discussion about litigation and testimony going on here.”
Dowdy later said that the check copies came from attorney Dennis Horn, who is representing the selectmen in the lawsuit Patterson filed against them. Dowdy said Horn gave him the copies because he believed Dowdy should be aware “that an employee of this city has signed checks totalling ($47,899) without board authority.”
“Are you aware that selectmen and their attorney, Mr. Horn, made allegations that I signed such authorized checks for more money than this?” Patterson asked. “I signed a lot more to the same organization for a lot more money than this. Did Mr. Horn make you aware of that?”
Dowdy said Horn did tell him that, repeating the allegations against Adams in the process and saying that nobody knows where the contracts are.
“You keep saying nobody. You mean Mr. Lockley,” the mayor said. “OK then, that’s not nobody. That’s ‘Mr. Lockley said so.’ ”
Dowdy polled selectmen in response, asking “Anybody else that knows where the contract with Malachi is, please raise your hand.”
No hands went up, and Patterson said it seems only Horn and Dowdy were interested in the contracts. Esch reiterated his interest and said requests to former city administrator Jim Storer for contracts produced nothing.
Patterson then turned his sights on Lockley, reminding him that he still views his appointment as city administrator to be illegal. He also said discussion of the matter should have been reserved for executive session.
“It looks like we don’t have a handle on what’s really going on here, and certainly we shouldn’t accuse anyone of this, and I don’t ever want to make a statement that we are charging someone for something,” Patterson said. “Let’s go to them or let’s go to the mayor and ask for an explanation.”
Discussion turned back to the existence of a contract. Patterson asked how Dowdy knows a contract doesn’t exist, and Dowdy asked Patterson to provide a contract.
Patterson also asked how thoroughly Lockley searched for the contracts. Lockley said city clerk Jeanette Butler did not have a copy and Butler is the “keeper of all contracts.”
“Mr. Lockley, it could’ve been an oversight,” Patterson said. “Maybe it didn’t get to the desk, or maybe it did. It could’ve been an oversight on your part or maybe your staff’s part.”
The mayor also told Lockley to check the 2007-08 audit report. Lockley said the auditors have to go to Butler to receive the contract, which they did not get because a copy could not be found.
Following several more discussion, Dowdy’s and Patterson’s tempers began to flare. Selectman Robert Maddox voiced his contempt for the proceedings, saying “This is beginning to get embarrassing.”
“Just embarrass yourself out of here,” Patterson said.
Maddox refused to leave, requested a turn to speak, and then asked if Patterson was going to put him out of the room. Patterson said he would.
Seconds later, Nobles interjected, saying “I’m satisfied. I’m ready for a vote.”
“Is there anything else you and Mr. Horn want to find out?” Patterson asked Dowdy. “Gentlemen, I’m distancing myself from this matter whatsoever. I will not take a vote charging anyone. … I will have nothing to do with that. I am publicly distancing myself from that.
“This is going to end in a disaster and a train wreck, I guarantee you.”
Adams could not be reached for comment.
