Hennessey Town Trustee Harold Shaw’s request for an audit by the state Auditor and Inspector’s office was shelved at Thursday night’s town meeting.

It took more than an hour of discussion before Shaw withdrew his agenda item in favor of accepting auditor bids for the upcoming 2022-23 year that ends June 30.

Shaw withdrew that agenda item after he and Frank Patton, one of the five board candidates on the April 4 ballot, gave their reasons for a needed state audit.

Since getting auditor bids was not on last week’s agenda, the board couldn’t take action, but scheduled a special meeting for action Tuesday, March 14, which was after the KT&FP print deadline.

Two More Shaw Items Tabled

After the lengthy audit discussion Shaw tabled two of his other agenda items:

• “Drop town administrator spending (without board approval in advance) from $20,000 to $5,000.”

• “Take away hiring and firing from town administrator and give back to Board of Trustees.”

Mayor’s Pay as Fire Chief

Shaw said he’d tried to find out how much Mayor Bert Gritz is paid as fire chief.

Gritz told him he hasn’t taken the $400 monthly fire chief pay since he’s been on the board.

“So it has cost me about $96,000 to serve on this board,” Gritz said.

Shaw said “someone asked him to find out,” and then-Town Administrator Tiffany Tillman wouldn’t tell him.

“Well I don’t work for the town anymore,” said Tillman, who was in the audience.

“Why didn’t you just ask me?” Gritz asked.

“You didn’t return my phone call,” Shaw said.

It was noted that the stipend for mayor is $125.

“It’s still $125?” asked Assistant Fire Chief James Matousek from the audience. “That’s what it was when I was mayor (199501)!”

The vice mayor and each trustee receive $75 each month in compensation.

Another Reason for State Audit

Shaw said he also wanted the state audit before there “could be two new trustees” elected next month.

There are five candidates for three trustee seats on the April 7 ballot: Gritz, Vice Mayor Clif Vogt and Trustee Richard Simunek; and new candidates are Randy Bohnstedt and Patton.

Terms for Shaw and Trustee David Jones will be up in 2025.

Gritz said if they’d known earlier about Shaw wanting the state audit, they’d put it on the April ballot.

“Others” Also Have Concerns

Shaw began the audit discussion by saying the town could have two new board members next month (after the election for three of the five board seats) and it would be good to have that issue decided this month.

Also, “others” had come to him with concerns about the town’s finances, he said.

“Why aren’t some of those others here?” asked Gritz.

“Some of them are,” said Patton from the audience, but he was the only one in the audience who spoke in favor of a state audit.

Audit: “Good business practice” and …

“I don’t suspect anything,” Patton said. “It’s just a good business practice” since the town has used the same auditing firm for 17 years and the town’s administrator resigned last month.

Gritz said that’s why the town not only has a CPA firm (Arledge and Associates), but a financial management company (Crawford & Associates).

Patton said he had an “example, but didn’t have all the facts” of a problem. He said it was something “that affected me.”

Patton later said he thought the town should have more money than it shows in the RV dump account (waste disposal for RVs, oilfield and disposal businesses).

“Just look at it when you do your regular audit,” Patton said.

Open Records Request

“If someone had made that record request, your question could have been answered,” said Town Treasurer Shelley Burch.

The town has open record request forms, she told Patton, “and I’ll be here (town hall) tomorrow from 8:30 to 4:30.”

Shaw said a member of the town board doesn’t have to make written requests.

$10,000 for State Audit

“I’ve done my homework,” said Shaw, and it would cost the town $10,000 for the state audit.

“I have no doubt we’d come back with a clean audit,” said Gritz.

“But is a state audit the best use of the town’s money?” asked Frank Crawford from the audience. He’s president of Crawford & Associates that specializes in governmental finances and is an addition to the town’s CPA auditing firm, Arledge and Associates.

Crawford told Shaw if they went with the state audit “it’s not going to happen quick. It will be one-and-ahalf years out.”

“Time shouldn’t be a factor,” said Patton.

“The cost could,” Crawford said. “It cost the City of Henryetta $75,000. Twice.”

A resident “who distrusted” the board started a petition asking for the state audit. The city got a clean $75,000 audit each time. That board passed on those audit costs to their utility customers, he said, and people paid attention before signing petitions in the future.

Crawford said many cities and towns use the same auditing firm for years without changing and others change every year, or every few years.

“It needs to be more than a cookie-cutter audit,” said Patton, who also said he considered Crawford “part of the town’s money management team.”

Crawford said if the town went the state audit route, they’d have to give the state a list of five specific items about what they are to investigate.

“I encourage each one of you to come in and see what an audit includes,” said Tillman. “It’s a whole new world.”

“And a lot of digging,” said Shelley Burch. “You don’t know until they get there what they are going to want you to pull.”

At Meeting

Mayor Bert Gritz, Vice Mayor Clif Vogt and Trustee Richard Simunek (all candidates running for re-election); Trustees Harold Shaw and David Jones; Town Clerk Kati Walters and Town Treasurer Shelley Burch, and Acting Town Administrator David Treanor.

In the audience were Cameron Brown, reserve police officer; Bryan Burch, reserve police captain and sewer superintendent; James Matousek, assistant fire chief; Brandon Scott, HFD Capt./EMT; Randy Bohnstedt, HFD/EMT and town trustee candidate; Jennifer Firgard, NODA; Alyssa Kubat, water department superintendent; Kyle Watkins, water department; Ruby Rodriquez, children’s librarian; Steve Whitlock, Oklahoma Municipal Management Services; Frank Crawford, Crawford & Associates; Tiffany Tillman, former town administrator, and Frank Patton, town trustee candidate.