DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The Daytona Beach City Auditor is defending his work after some city leaders called it “not accurate.”
Last night, during a seven-and-a-half-hour city commission meeting, he presented the results of an audit that found the fire department misused city credit cards.
We broke this story last Friday at 6.
The audit is in direct response to our investigation into the city’s finances.
The auditor released all his receipts and the documentation he used to prepare his report.
One of those is a $797 meal at the Chart House. During the commission meeting, the city manager said a group was entertaining a professional soccer team interested in investing in the area.
But he didn’t explain why the meal was paid for on a fire department credit card.
Channel 9 Volusia County reporter Demie Johnson asked the city auditor about what happened at the commission meeting.
“We heard commissioners and other city officials say your work is not accurate. What is your response to that?
“That is totally not accurate for the following reason: I think first you need to understand how the audit process works. The auditor provided a draft report to the manager, which I provided to both the manager and the fire chief in february 30, some days before yesterday,” said City Auditor Abinet Belachew.
Belachew said that after he did that, neither the city manager nor the fire chief disputed his findings, but during the city commission meeting where he presented the results, he got a different response.
The fire chief called his report subject and damaging to the fire department.
Commissioners asked the auditor whether he believed he’d found fraud in the city, and he said there could be. That’s when two of them called for the city manager’s termination.
They didn’t get the votes, but the mayor promised that those responsible for misspending would be held accountable.
Demie asked him to give more details:
“What is the accountability plan, because we still haven’t heard it?”
“The accountability plan is to be great and move forward and have the city manager implement the changes that need to be made,” said Mayor Derrick Henry.
The City Manager’s Contract is up in May; it’s not clear what will happen next.
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