Myron Iwanski
Note: Anderson County Commissioner Myron Iwanski wrote this letter in response to a March letter by Clinton resident Stephen Flick.
To the Editor:
In a guest column, Stephen Flick states that my question to the mayor about the recent state audit was intended to embarrass and harass the mayor. A little background might help explain why I raised the question.
The recently completed State Financial Audit for Anderson County raised serious concerns about overspending by $22,740 on a salary in one of the mayor’s offices—which is in violation of state law. The audit finding and responses are available on the state website here on pages 252 and 253.
As noted in the audit report, of particular concern to the auditors was that this overspending occurred after County Commission twice turned down the mayor’s requests for this funding increase and that the mayor knowingly overspent on this salary anyway.
This is the first time in my 20 years on the Audit Committee that we have had a finding like this.
The County Audit Committee, which I chair, always asks affected department heads and elected officials to provide an explanation of what they have done to correct their audit finding and what they have done to prevent the finding in the future.
Mayor Frank did not attend the Audit Committee meeting to explain her response. The written response to this audit finding attacked the state auditors for making this a finding. This written response did not make it clear that the mayor would not overspend such accounts again. Therefore, Audit Committee members asked that the administration provide such assurances before County Commission approves closing out the audit finding.
At the full County Commission meeting when I presented my Audit Committee report and closing the finding was to be discussed and voted on, I asked the mayor if she could provide such assurances. She did not.
It is very important that the fiscal checks and balances required by state laws are followed by all county officials—including the mayor.
Myron Iwanski
Anderson County Commissioner
Audit Committee Chairman
Pat Fain says
I have been watching the controversy over the county matter of the Mayor spending money not appropriated by the Commission and the further matter of the state audit findings and the Commission Audit Committee’s questions and requirements. I am disgusted that there appears to be continued charges of politization over what is in reality a clear matter of law and the violation of that law. I was very happy to have the previous Mayor removed from office for a violation of law. I can only wonder why the identical standards are not being applied to the current Mayor. Pat Fain
Rob Woodward says
Pat, are you accusing the Mayor of committing a crime?
Charlie Jernigan says
From the letter:
“It is very important that the fiscal checks and balances required by
state laws are followed by all county officials—including the mayor.”
Harry Pruitt says
Yes, the political season is off and running Pat and you, Myron and our other Democratic friends are already in full bloom. But the plain truth is that until a viable Democratic candidate can be persuaded to run for county Mayor, rather than just a sacrificial lamb as in the past several decades, the Republicans And Mayor Frank will continue to hold that office. She won in a landslide in the last election against the best that Oak Ridge, and a few renegade Republicans, could offer. The voters love her.
Happy Trails!!
Myron Iwanski says
Are you saying the state audit report is political?? The State Comptroller is a Republican appointed by a Republican Governor. Go back and read the audit report that my response to Mr. Flick was based on.
Maybe you haven’t noticed that Zach Bates is running as a Republican for Mayor. He, like many other republicans supported Mayor Frank in the last election, but decided we need to move in a more positive direction. Don’t count Zach out just yet.
Harry Pruitt says
I never count anyone out Myron. Zack is a fine young man who with a few more years of experience will do well in politics or any other field he chooses. You and our Democratic friends are so desperate to defeat Mayor Frank – you can’t bully her – that you are pulling out all the stops in that effort. I’m just saying that most folks in Anderson County are too intelligent to buy what you are selling.
Happy Trails!!
–
Ellen Smith says
Officials need to take audit findings very seriously — and this is a very serious finding.
Rob Woodward says
How seriously should we really take it? Didn’t the state award the Budget Director an award for excellence and yet name the Director of Budgets as having an irregularity?
Curt Kelsey says
Here’s a question that many would like to have Myron Iwanski answer concerning his approving over $50,000 in expenditures not provided in the budget.
http://www.actaxpayers.org/county-commission.html
Why would they have passed the increase? There are a few possible options.
1) They did not realize the spending increase was in there. (Always a possibility in lengthy legislation)
2) They did not realize that such expenditures violate the law, and they relied on the legal opinions of others. (This should not be the case for Commissioners Creasey, Fritts, Alderson, White, and Iwanski who were on the commission in 2006 when this law was passed)
3) They just hoped no one would notice it. (I hope this one is not the case)
Rob Woodward says
If I recall correctly, Mr. Iwanski and the rest of the Commission waxed poetically about how blessed our humble county was to have such a fine, exceptional Budget Director and how painstaking the process was to try to find a replacement for the Budget Director during his candidate search and yet somehow the Budget Director has been spared the ire of Mr. Iwanski despite being cited here for irregularities.
Also curiously absent are Mr. Iwanski’s grave concerns over other departments budget deficiencies name in the audit. I suppose they will be covered in future opinion pieces from Mr. Iwanski. The public anxiously awaits.
Eileen Slater says
Mr. Houtari: Why is Dr. Flick’s letter on this site dated April 7, and yet it is implied in your note as having been received in March? Since Dr. Flick’s letter does not come up under your “Opinion” tab I am assuming you have printed a letter which was released elsewhere so Mr. Iwanski would have the convenience of lambasting it here.
Dr. Flick expressed his opinion regarding the hard-ball politics the he has personally observed being played out in our county courthouse some weeks ago. Mr. Iwanski’s contrived response to it here is evidence of those politics.
And why is he bringing this up just now? Maybe so he can try to deflect attention for the county schools’ spending scandals by attacking the mayor?
Myron Iwanski says
Let me assure you this finding was handled by the Audit Committee in the same manner any other similar finding is handled. It is my and the Committees duty to review these findings and do what we can to keep them from happening again.
My question at the full County Commission meeting a three months ago was simply to address a concern of the Committee. I had nothing to do with the timing of Mr. Flick’s recent letter to the editor attacking me in the Clinton Courier and then Oak Ridge Today. I responded as soon as I was made aware of his comments because some of his comments were directed at me.
I welcome public comments on county commission issues. My response to Mr. Flick’s letter to the editor was only to explain the County Commission’s role in dealing with findings and the facts of this finding based what is in the audit report.
Kelsey Curtis says
Let me assure you folks.The quest by Iwanski to mislead people about our Mayor will continue. She has done a great job in spite of Myron’s unwillingness as a commissioner to work with the Mayor.
Curt Kelsey says
http://www.actaxpayers.org/county-commission.html
Where are you on this Myron?
Charlie Jernigan says
Curt, you are correct about actaxpayers.org are here to defend the mayor. My question is when are they going to comply with campaign finance laws?
Myron Iwanski says
Mr. Kelsey, With all due respect to Alex Mosley who works for your small lobbying enterprise, I will get my legal advice on this and other legal matters from our attorney rather than Mr. Mosley.
Myra Mansfield says
Mr. Iwanski, As you know I am a candidate for Dist 8 County Commission and intend to take it very seriously. I am trying to learn the processes and rules at this time and have a sincere question. Does the person serving as Mayor have any leeway and right to personal discretion in hiring and appointments of positions such as this one being questioned?
Myron Iwanski says
Good question. Elected office holders, including the Mayor, can hire or appoint who they want, except for a few positions that by state law require County Commission confirmation. As a matter of policy, commission has asked that all positions be advertised to help ensure the most qualified person is hired. Most department heads and elected officials advertise their positions.
This audit finding was not about who was hired, but that there were no funds in this particular personnel code to pay for this position. By state law moving any money into and out of a personnel code requires County Commission approval. If this law were not in place or not followed, there would be uncontrolled hiring by department heads and elected officials that would obligate the county to reoccurring expenses, This would make it very difficult for County Commission to control spending and avoid tax increases.
johnhuotari says
Eileen,
We did have a technical issue in the past few days that appeared to create an issue where the most recent content did not always display on our archive pages, such as the Opinion page. I’m not sure if that’s because we recently integrated our site with CloudFlare, a move designed to help speed up page load times, or because our caching plugin needed to be updated. In any case, I have updated our caching plugin and tried to make a few additional configuration changes to ensure that all the most recent content is displaying on all the archives pages, including News, Entertainment, Opinion, and Obituaries. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, and please let me know if you think there is any content that is not displaying.
Regarding publication times, we do try to publish all content as quickly as we can, but we aren’t always able to publish as quickly as we would like. I apologize if this causes any inconvenience. We are taking two specific steps to improve our performance. My wife, Dawn, is again helping more with press releases and obituaries, and we have a freelance reporter, Sara Wise, helping us with some stories. Combined, I am confident that these two steps will help us improve our ability to publish quickly.
I hope that helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Thank you,
John