Overtrained, Underperforming

Despite Often Attending Costly Seminars All Over the State, Secretary’s Mistakes, Lack of Oversight Cost City

Flatonia City Attorney Angela Beck continues to withhold from the public a key document from the investigation into former Flatonia City Secretary Melissa Brunner despite a March 16 ruling from the Texas Office of the Attorney General (OAG) that the City must hand it over.

Beck released more than 100 pages of documents last week but not a written report from an outside financial consultant hired by the City last year.

The story in Tuesday’s paper reported on thousands of dollars in losses suffered by the City due to apparent mistakes on the part of Brunner and lax financial controls at City Hall. City Manager Sarah Novo placed Brunner on paid suspension and launched the investigation last June, just months after the City Council hired Novo to replace former City Manager Mark McLaughlin. Last week’s release detailed extensive travel costs by the City Secretary. In 2019, the City reimbursed her mileage for the following trips:

• Dec. 5, 2019 – Internation Institute of Municipal Clerks (IIMC) meeting in San Antonio

• Oct. 22, 2019 – Texas Municipal Clerks Association (TMCA) meeting in Fort Worth

• Sept. 13, 2019 – Texas Municipal Clerks Certification Program (TMCCP) continuing education in Fredericksburg

• Aug. 21, 2019 – Legislative update in San Marcos

• July 31, 2019 – TMCA Capital Chapter meeting in Hutto

• April 7, 2019 – Seminar in San Marcos

• April 3, 2019 – TMCCP seminar in Round Rock

• Jan. 22, 2019 – TMCCP election law seminar in Frisco.

In 2018, the City reimbursed her for nine similar far-away trips, including TMCA meetings and seminars in South Padre Island and Amarillo. The mileage reimbursement for those two trips alone was nearly $1,000.

The City also paid Brunner’s membership fees to organizations like the TMCA along with meals and lodging during those trips. One of the documents in last week’s release detailed $15,166.11 in City-paid expenses for the City Secretary’s memberships, travel, lodging and out-of-town meals between 2017 and 2020.

In an Aug. 18, 2020 letter from Brunner to City Manager Novo, Brunner said all of her travel on City business was approved by the former city manager. Brunner said the conferences she attended get lower rates for hotels and that she sometimes shared a room with other attendees in order to save money.

“Former City Manager McLaughlin was aware of my mileage reimbursement requests,” Brunner wrote.

Among the mistakes detailed in Tuesday’s paper, Brunner gave the following responses in her Aug. 18 letter.

Concerning auto insurance policies that the City paid through 2020 for police vehicles that were traded for newer models in 2017:

“Discontinuing the auto insurance policies for the referenced vehicles when they were traded in was an oversight. This should have been caught within the fiscal year. However, there is no formal review of the insurance policy annually. When I realized those vehicles were still on the policy, they were immediately removed. I would like to work with the City Manager to develop a procedure for all the departments to review the items on the insurance policy annually.

Concerning penalties paid by the City for late payment of sales tax:

“These sales tax payments were late. It was a mistake on my part. A lot was going on during that time and unfortunately, I did not get them in on time. As soon as I realised they had not been paid, I paid them immediately.”

Concerning penalties paid by the City for late payment of AT&T invoices:

“I don’t know why some of these weren’t paid on time. I can say that I had to go look for one invoice that I knew I had set up for processing because it wasn’t paid. I found that it had been stapled to another one as if they were one bill. If I had the opportunity to look at the actual bills, I would be better able to answer.”

Concerning the police officer who had trouble paying for a surgery with the City’s health insurance plan:

“TML Health Benefits Pool (the City’s health insurance provider) sends out notices for the bills for health insurance via email. Then the City goes to the website to print out the bills in order to process payment. At the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020, I missed those emails and I was remiss in following up on them. This has never been an issue before in the 20 years that I have been with the City. I will ensure that it never is again by setting reminders for myself in the event that I haven’t seen the email come through. I understand that this is very serious and I am upset with myself for not following up sooner.”

The City Council voted unanimously on Aug. 25 to approve a request from Brunner for early retirement. In addition, the Council awarded her a sum equivalent to three months of her salary. In exchange, Brunner agreed to drop any legal claims against the City concerning her employment.

The written report from the outside financial consultant may provide a better picture of the impact to Flatonia taxpayers, but Beck has yet to release it.

The document in question is a written report from an outside financial consultant that the City hired during an investigation into “serious financial and operational concerns” at City Hall last year.

As reported in Tuesday’s paper, the Record requested all documents related to the investigation through a public information act request filed six months ago. The Record emailed Beck last Friday to ask about the missing report. Beck responded on Tuesday that she had been sick for two days and did not check her email over the Easter weekend, but she did not provide the missing report. The Record still has not received it as of the press deadline Wednesday afternoon.

Look for more on this story in upcoming editions.