Statement Regarding Potential Misappropriation of City Funds
Last week, while performing work on the City of DeKalb’s 2019 budget, a senior-level City
employee discovered a financial irregularity involving potentially misappropriated funds in
last year’s budget.
As a result of this discovery, which involved the possible misdirection of $250,000 from
one fund to another in order to plug a deficit, the City has taken the following steps:
- It has launched an internal investigation to determine the facts related to this
matter. - It has conducted a review and confirmed that there are no other funds that are
outside of the City’s normal reporting and audit procedures which could be subject
to use of this nature. - Last Monday, the City placed Interim City Manager, Molly Talkington, on paid
administrative leave pending the outcome of these investigations. The City has
not concluded whether there was or was not any misconduct but took this measure
in an abundance of caution. In the absence of Ms. Talkington, Interim Assistant
City Manager, Raymond Munch, will fulfill the duties of City Manager in an acting
capacity, pursuant to City Code, until such time that formal action is taken by the
City Council.
If the City’s internal investigation reveals that the misappropriation of funds was in violation of our policies and standards, the City will move to hold all responsible parties strictly accountable.
It is important to point out to taxpayers that at this stage, this alleged wrongdoing has not resulted in any missing funds. Every dollar involved in this possible misappropriation of funds has been accounted for; all money was spent for official City business; and funds will be made whole in the coming days.
As stewards for DeKalb’s overall financial health, it is our expectation that those entrusted
to oversee the use of taxpayer dollars – especially those in leadership positions – do so responsibly, ethically and in strict adherence to established procedures and the law.
When that does not occur, it is our obligation to ensure that responsible parties are held accountable.
Due to the sensitive nature of the City’s internal investigation, the City is not able at this time to provide further detail. Going forward, however, it is the City’s commitment to its residents to manage this situation forthrightly, transparently and in a timely manner.
Inquiries pertaining to this matter should be directed to Dave Bayless of Bayless
Communications at (312) 533-0059 or baylessdave@gmail.com.
[Note: The last paragraph of this press release has been deleted from the City of DeKalb website. Do not contact Dave Bayless for information about this investigation.]
Raymond Munch
Interim Assistant City Manager
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21 Comments
Liz Cliffe Peerboom Courtney Ann Nicholas
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I saw this. Craziness. I feel for Jerry Smith. He has a long way to go to get DeKalb back to where it should be.
Liz Cliffe Peerboom yes … Jerry Smith will be aged with the BS in Dekalb.
Jerry Smith will do the right thing here for the citizens! Trust me!
Chris Majors
So not only is the cityâs crime getting worse, but now thereâs corruption? Wow…. Soooooo time to leave this city!
According to the Chronicle, the $250,000 was taken from the money employees paid into their retirement health insurance fund. It was moved to the general fund so that they wouldn’t have to make budget cuts – allegedly
Sadly, many citizens were lied to by mayor Smith and council members when asked for the reason why the Finance Advisory committee / city council meeting was cancelled/. One alderman told me the reason was “An error was.found in the budget that needs to be corrected and new options identified to cover the resulting shortfall”…no mention of misappropriation.
Sounds as if they are going into Damage Control . . .must mean, more to see.
And again Mark, what was Bayless was hired to do?
Mr Bayless was hired on Monday to deal with “Inquiries pertaining to this matter should be directed to Dave Bayless of Bayless Communications at 312-533-0059 or baylessdave@gmail.com.”
However, Mr Bayless will only direct questions back to the city of City of DeKalb, Illinois. In other words, the city is playing ping pong with those who want answers. #Coverup
I dunno who gave Mayor Smith the advice to hire an outside communications company to dodge questions while they conduct an internal investigation. That’s a losing proposition from the get-go and a further waste of tax dollars. It’d be better to bring in an outside investigator {States Attorney, Atty General, State Police, OEIG, FBI, etc.) or dare I say again, a forensic auditor, to get to the bottom of this mess and then bare all to the public.
Please note, the city has since deleted any reference to Mr. Bayless or his crisis PR firm on the city of Dekalb website.
This paragraph has since been deleted, as the city has doctored its website
Mark Charvat he probably was asking himself what the heck he got himself and his company into.
It should be noted, Mr. Bayless is unwilling to answer any questions. In a short, but brief conversation with me tonight, he indicated he is not willing to speak to the public. He did indicate his services were retained on Monday by the city of Dekalb. And, that if you do ask him any sort of question, he will direct you back to the city of Dekalb. So, telling people to call him well not result in any questions being answered. This city is desperately trying to cover up this matter.
Oh, the old “stuck in a loop” trick, eh?
Nothing knew if your from dekalb
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and theyre gonna give this woman back her “old job” which was in Finance??? I don’t think so…who does that????