Documents Reveal Years of City Mismanagement by Secretary

City Attorney Fought to Stop Release of Documents That Showed Costly Mistakes

The City of Flatonia finally released some but not all documents related to the investigation into former City Secretary Melissa Brunner.

The limited release follows six months of legal maneuvering by Flatonia City Attorney Angela Beck to keep the information confidential. At the very least, the documents raise serious questions about the competence of prior management at Flatonia City Hall.

Flatonia City Manager Sarah Novo placed Brunner on paid suspension in July of last year and subsequently launched an investigation into “serious financial and operational concerns.” The City Council hired Novo just months before, in March of last year, to replace former City Manager Mark McLaughlin, who left Flatonia in November 2019 to take the city manager job in Kingsville.

Following the investigation, Brunner accepted early retirement and a payment equal to three months of her salary. In exchange, she agreed to drop any legal claims concerning her employment with the City.

The documents include a letter from Novo to the City Council outlining six “items of concern,“ including “unauthorized use or mismanagement of public funds or property.” The report says Brunner failed to transfer funds between various accounts as directed by the City Council, failed to reconcile accounts, paid credit card statements without supporting receipts, and violated City travel policies. The release included statements and ledgers detailing thousands of dollars in travel expenses, hotel rooms and meals that were reimbursed to Brunner between 2017 and 2020.

The report attributed at least $26,940 in losses suffered by the City to Brunner’s actions. Some of those losses include insurance payments for vehicles that were traded-in for newer models in 2017 yet remained on the City’s insurance policy until 2020. The City suffered over $1,000 in penalties and fees for late payment of sales tax. The documents detailed penalties and interest for late payment of phone bills and credit card statements. The report said Brunner failed to make timely payments for health insurance and retirement benefits for employees.

One of the documents was an email from a Flatonia Police officer who described troubles paying for an eye surgery with his employee health insurance. Another document explained why: the City was behind months in bills to the Texas Municipal League, the City’s health insurance provider.

Moreover, the documents state that Brunner failed to provide the City with receipts for purchases at HEB and Walmart in La Grange using the City’s credit card. In a written response included in the release, Brunner wrote that she was “not sure” why she failed to turn in the receipts, although she said the purchases at HEB were mainly for “coffee, creamer and candy.” She provided records of her purchases at Walmart for the City, which included air fresheners, flushable wipes, ibuprofen capsules, cleaning products, K-cup coffee pods and tootsie roll pops. All of those items could have been purchased at retailers in Flatonia, such as Dollar General. The sales tax on those purchases went to the City of La Grange instead. The records show that the City of Flatonia reimbursed Brunner for mileage related to those trips to La Grange.

She also failed to turn in receipts for travel expenses. One such expense billed to the City was for $27 at an establishment called the “World of Beer” in Fort Worth. In her written response, Brunner said the establishment was a restaurant that she went to with two other city secretaries when she attended a work-related seminar in October 2019.

“It is a smaller receipt because it is from a restaurant, so it is possible that it got detached and lost,” Brunner wrote of the incident.

Many of the problems appear related to a lack of checks and balances in City Hall. The city secretary was responsible in many cases for purchasing, paying bills and collecting receipts. The City has implemented several changes to financial policies since Brunner’s suspension.

The public still does not have a clear picture of the events leading to Brunner’s paid departure from the City last August. The public information act request that the Record filed last September asked the City to disclose all documents related to the investigation into the former City Secretary. At the time, City Attorney Beck asked the Texas Office of the Attorney General (OAG) for a ruling to keep the information confidential. Beck argued that some of the information constituted attorney-client work products that are exempt from disclosure.

In a letter dated March 16 of this year, the OAG disagreed, saying that “you have failed to demonstrate the applicability of the attorney work product privilege to any portion of the information at issue,” and that the City may not “withhold any portion of the submitted information.”

However, the documents the City released last week mention an “outside financial consultant” and “internal investigation notes and a written report on the investigation by the City Manager, Consultant and/or City Attorney.” That written report was not included in the documents released by Beck. The Record asked Beck for that report last Friday. We await her response.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Brunner now works as Assistant to the City Secretary for the City of Fort Worth. In addition, her profile says Brunner also works as a consultant for City Hall Essentials LLC, a private company that provides consulting, training, planning and interim staffing for cities in Texas.

The Record attempted to contact Brunner for this story, but she has not responded.

Look for more on this story in upcoming issues.