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In July, The Tribune News reported on claims made by former City of Winslow Budget Analyst Olivia Todd in her address to the Winslow City Council of alleged improper accounting practices and emotionally abusive behavior by the City Finance Director Elias Jouen.
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According to Todd, she was fired from the department for asking questions that shone a light on accounting errors and incorrect accounting practices in the Finance Department under Mr. Jouen’s direction. “I asked about grants. I questioned many aspects of the budget, including a number Mr. Jouen made up to make it appear the city’s budget comes in under the EEC’s expenditure limitation when, in fact, the budget exceeds that limit by well over half a million dollars,” she alleged.
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Todd also claimed that Jouen had also provided incorrect information on wastewater contract rates to the council and had directed her to complete budget transfers without council approval as per city code.
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Jouen has not responded to The Tribune News regarding Todd’s allegations but according to City Manager, John Barkley, Todd’s statement prompted Mayor Tom McCauley to call for an investigation into the matters through the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.
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“They said they didn’t have enough to go on,” Barkley said of the investigation. “But in my mind, I think we will let the audit process ride it out. We will bring up the points that Olivia brought up at the meeting and then we will address them with our auditors and see what they find. If we find there is some illegal or criminal issue, we will handle it. Our audits have been pretty clean and I don’t expect anything to come out of it. But we are going to do our due diligence because that is what we are supposed to do.”
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Barkley continued, “I think it is worthy of an administrative review by the auditors. I imagine we will get some suggestion for improvement.”
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In an earlier written statement Barkley said, “The conclusion (by the Attorney General’s Office) was that the comments demonstrated no clear indication of any illegal conduct or violation of criminal law. The Attorney General’s Office then contacted the Arizona Auditor General’s Office who reviewed the comments and reached the same conclusion that there was no clear indication of any illegal conduct or violation on the part of the City Finance Director.
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“The conclusions made by both external offices who reviewed the allegations point substantially to the differing of opinions between the Director of Finance and former employee on how things should be done, with no clear indication that either the behavior or accounting practices employed by the City Finance Director rise to the level of criminal misconduct.”
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Barkley noted that the city administration is currently reviewing the allegations of improper and abusive behavior and working with the city auditor to review the allegations of improper and illegal accounting practices. “Any findings of improper or abusive behavior, or personal misconduct, will be addressed by the city manager’s office according to city personnel policies and procedures,” stated Barkley.
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Regarding two other employees that have recently left the finance department Barkley said, “I don’t see any sense of a fallout in the finance department. We do exit interviews when people leave and the comments we have gotten have been about other opportunities and other positive things. I haven’t spoken to the ones who have left lately in any detail, that is a Human Resources thing.”
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In conclusion, Barkley explained, “Any findings of improper or illegal accounting practices will be reported within the city’s financial report for Fiscal Year 2019, tentatively scheduled to be presented to the City Council in December of 2019.”
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