Some council members ‘killing the town’
Of the St. Louis American
Wellston City Administrator Karl Reid said Wednesday morning that he would resign his position at last night’s Wellston City Council meeting because “some city council members are killing the town and hurting its people.”
In a letter to Mayor James Harvey, Reid contends that the council’s refusal to retain an accountant that was “straightening out the financial mess” and other actions are dragging Wellston into bankruptcy.
“Wellston has gone from critical when I first came on board to terminal,” Reid said.
“For the past year since being appointed by the mayor as city administrator, I have been trying very hard to work with members of the city council in resolving fiscal problems facing the city,” Reid said.
“We are faced with very hard financial problems in the coming months, and without the cooperation of the city council, we cannot address any of the problems facing the city.”
The council is composed of Frank McNeil, Thomas Jenkins, Donald Garner, Rico Avuso, Gracie White and David Wallace.
Wellston’s financial woes are well-documented following state audits in 1998 and 2000. On May 4, the six-member council voted not to confirm hiring an accountant full time. Reid warned the move “will be a financial disaster for the city.”
During two weeks on the job, the accountant corrected several major accounting errors, including out-of-balance payroll liability accounts and incorrectly booked figures on the city’s line of credit from Region Bank.
Reid said Wednesday morning that he didn’t know if the mayor and city council would accept his resignation, “but I’m through.”
“It is my understanding that the mayor is going to attempt to bring the accountant back. He needs three votes (plus his as the tiebreaker) to win. I think he can do it.”
The city is also faced with delinquent payments on an “Offer to Compromise Settlement” with the Internal Revenue Service for past due taxes from 2001, 2002 and 2003. It has a federal tax lien pending for failure to pay payroll taxes for the years 2001, 2002 and part of 2003, which could amount to more than $200,000 with penalties and interest.
Reid said Wellston also has numerous outstanding bills for legal services, dumping fees, office supplies, materials and equipment, insurance claims, gasoline and repairs to the police department computer system.
If that is not enough, the city also owes St. Louis County more than $227,000 from a legal judgment against the municipality several years ago, and the city has not kept up with its scheduled payments.
While the city has staggering money woes, Wellston’s council members draw one of the region’s highest monthly salaries for their service.
According to the St. Louis County Municipal League, Wellston council persons are paid $625 per month.
Compensation for other area council members include:
Creve Coeur, $200; University City, $200; Bellefontaine Neighbors, $375; Chesterfield, $500; Maryland Heights, $500 and Wentzville, $458.
“The cold, hard truth of the matter is that Wellston in its present stage does not have sufficient records that can be audited. If we ever hire a competent person to bring our accounting records up to order, then I would be the first person to request a full-fledged audit of the city’s finances,” Reid said in his correspondence to the mayor.
“Until such a time as Wellston has auditable records, and the past recommendations of the state auditor are complied with, it’s a waste of time and money to even consider an audit.”
Reid said, “The people of Wellston are hard-working and honest. They deserve better.”