Newspaper Page Text
Tax agency says it has regained control
From page one
el e
recommendation and consid
ering it,” Saul assured.
Another portion of the re
port brought to light problems
within the Tax
Commissioner’smotor vehicle
tag office. The presentment
criticized the tax commis
sioner for asystem considered
slack in keeping employeesin
check. InreferencetotheSept.
14 arrest of Stephanie Lynn
Womack, the tag office worker
indicted on 70 countgof tak
ing more than $120,000 while
on the job, last month’s grand
Jjury report lambasted Saul’s
department and the county’s
internal auditors, George
Baird & Company, as such:
“... Internal auditing proce
dures are not adequate to pre
vent employees from stealing
money from the county tag of
fice. A substantial amount of
money is entrusted to single
individuals, with no direct
oversight or surprise audits.
... Paper receipts and computer
entries are not cross-checked.
Attorneys sponsor scholarship gala
From page one
Griggs Elementary, Sand Bar
Ferry Junior High, A.R.
JohnsondJunior High and Lucy
C. Laney High School.
The ACAAA is an organiza
tion composed primarily of law
yers of color practicing in the
Augusta Judicial Circuit. The
mission of ACAAA is to pro
2 On March 17, 2001,
: The Augusta Neighborhood
Improvement Corporation will host
_‘ A, { “Operation Clean-Up”
AL é : 8 a.m. -12 noon
} LS .l Laney-Walker Neighborhood
“This is your chance to partner with ANIC, Metro Augusta Clean and Beautiful, local
businesses, banks, and community groups in showing support for the changing im
age of downtown Augusta. '
Anyone, 13 years and older, is invited to volunteer and to participate in this fun and
productive community occasion. ANIC and Metro Augusta Clean and Beautiful, will
provide:
* GLoves ® DumpsTEßs ® Foop For VOLUNTEERS
* TRAsH BaGs ® TowiNGg SERVICE ® T-SHIRTS FOR VOLUNTEERS
We hope to have as many as 1000 volunteers and we need your help to make it all
work. Thank you so much for your time and concern for the Laney-Walker Neighbor:
hood.
Don’t forget! Call 724-0075 today-sign up to volunteer,and have your t-shirt size
ready! .
PRIZES WILL BE GIVEN AWAY
DURING LUNCH! .
753 Broad St., Suite 702
Augusta, GA 30901
- : Phone: (706) 724-0075
& o Fax: (706) 724-7233
U toneill@anicaugusta.org
... Qverall, Richmond County
government does a very poor
Job of utilizing their already
budgeted internal auditor and
recommend establishing a sub
committee of the commission
ers for the internal auditor to
report to, and for periodic ran
dom internal audits of all de
partments.”
Notably, during the same
month local media shed nega
tivelight on the Augusta-Rich
mond County Fire Depart
mentandits embattled former
firechiefßonnie Few—topped
off with a highly publicized
confiscation of fire department
records by the Georgia Bu
reau of Investigation, Womack
was being treated as a loyal
and trusted public servant.
The 11-year administrative
assistant is charged with falsi
fying computer data; making
it appear some residents were
exempt from paying ad valo
rem taxes and only required
to pay a S2O tag fee to stick on
their license plates. Womack,
33, iscurrently out ofjail after
satisfying a $40,000 bond lev
ied by District Attorney Danny
mote an understanding of the
history of the legal principles
and judicial rationale on which
freeand equal publiceducation
is based; and to assist in the
development of attorneys who
are sensitive to issues of color
blindness based on critical
analysis.
In addition to sponsoring the
annual scholarship gala and
awardingscholarships, ACAAA
supports the local community
City / Region
Craig. :
According to the city’s hu
man resources department,
Womack was fired after her
arrest. She earned $25,588
annually and reportedly had
SB,OOO in cash on her person
when arrested, according to
city records. She’s charged
with taking at least $120,000
including one count of the Ga.
Racketeer Influenced and Cor
rupt Organization Act.
The question remains: Did
the media and other local au
thorities, including the spe
cial grand jury, get off track
while peeringinto possible fire
department infractions as
Womack allegedly stole from
under her bosses’ proverbial
noses?
As department director,
Saul is responsible for ensur
ing Womack did the right
thing. In reacting to criticism
by grand jury findings, Saul
stated, “That was written be
fore we took action. My tag
office is the one that discov
ered the problem. It existed
for a while, but was cleverly
hidden. But, it was discov
ered,” he said. When workers
by serving and delivering
Thanksgiving meals for the
Augusta Rescue Mission, pro
viding career books for the
Cross Creek Comprehensive
High School Media Center, par
ticipating in the annual Au
gusta Task Force for the Home
less “Soup Bowl” and support
ing the “Angel Tree Project”
which provides Christmasgifts
for children who have at least
one parent incarcerated.
became suspicious, Saul said
efforts “were put in place to
stop it. We changed the way
people made deposits and
stopped people from coming
after hours.” Most of the ille
galities Womack is charged
with occurred after co-work
erswere gone home, Saul said.
Nearly fivemonthslater, the
grand jury empaneled to in
vestigate the fire department
and other parts of Richmond
County government, has not
only failed to indict chief Few,
but the fire department —
media spotlight aside — has
remained virtually unblem
ished, todate. So, did thegrand
juryunder thedirection of the
District Attorney’s office be
cometooconsumed with what
appeared to be attempts to
bring down the fire depart
ment while failing to properly
investigate the tax commis
sioners office?
“None of that (fire depart
ment) publicity had anything
to do with the grand jury,”
said District Attorney Craig
when confronted with fireand
tax department comparisons.
Furthermore, Craig said he
- RO TR ST v - ———_—_7 ——— ‘i
hmnae g o : n ™ |
FTL B l l :12
o L ] o ] ' 168 SAE
' !
T Top oft Masters Week |
; =| % at The National Science X
f" — P Center Fort Discovery’s [j
- . Masters Gala featuring
B e~ this year's special
n -+ ,- 4 7 > B
. e guest, Kenny G.
B —a, - - TN
L : = . i
B . . = .’J;j;' Pk} [”A ‘/
, .': . i e e e» . : ‘ ‘ ] ,
... | Y
M e APRIL,
: ;5 \\\ ay : 7(} § %
i A ‘ e
B AV i
B et
: T O \\ 1 - Gala sponsor and
Z T RN :
: ;,;a;,M v \ patron packages are
o R i 3 available and include
57 W 3 J?al :
‘”v gk tickets to the private
W@ reception, special table
; e i reservations and priority
et o N \ parking privileges at
.| the Bell Auditorium.
s . For information about
~ i 7 sponsorship and patron
: L packages, please call
L Il . 706-821-0648. §
1. e :
' :.‘ ; } Concert-only, general
; | admission tickets are |
} S4O per person and
i may be purchased
e Bof ’ through Ticket Master.
OV s
— Jw S ik \A, - = %é’ {m ”.2_‘
3 ffl;: "' £ ; N "«_‘ x,{ b 4 p; :
- 40 J Y SRR 4 fi”MWW» %
..,_./-,:""““m. " 9 Aoy ' w"\_)’/
20y
C(y\ENCF o'!‘
Q‘.\:“V _.///—_\_
i (Ep
For more tnformation visit our website:
www.NationalScienceCenter.org/gala
AUGUSTA FOCUS
maintains objectivity in all
investigations, adding, “I have
no reason to believe there is,
or is not any conclusion for
criminal indictment.”
Regardless of the DA’s
stance, some city insiders, in
cluding District 2 commis
sioner Marion Williams, be
lieve the former fire chief was
dealt with unfairly compared
with the tax department.
“We’restill looking at color.
Weneedtolookat what’sright
and wrong,” said Williams.
“There are several depart
ments that don’t have checks
and balances; therefore, the
possibility someone can take
advantage of the system ex
ists,” said Williams.
Roger Tomlin, Womack’s
direct supervisor, said the in
dictments do not blemish his
department.
“Absolutely not. Mr. Saul
took over in 1976 and this is
the first time anything like
this has happened since then.
Sometimes, it’s difficult to
detect these types of things
when you hire people,” he ex
plained. “We’verecognized the
problem and Mr. Saul got in
MARCH 8, 2001
contact with the DA to inves--
tigate this.”
Augusta-based Baird &
Company, the city’s internal®
auditors, were also criticized?
in the grand jury report. J.T.
Cosnahan, a 30-year partner
at the accounting firm, ex
plained his company’s posis
tion. 3
“We were basically directed"
by (then-city administrator)®
Randy Oliver and (then-comp
troller) Lon Morrey. That’s
the way it worked last year.
We never met with a commit
tee from the commission:®
Probably, they were trying to
control costs,” Cosnahan said. -
“Internal controls cannot be:
expected to catch someoned
immediately. Internal controls-!
is expected to catch some
things, but, unfortunately, it ?
cantakesometime,” headded:
George C. Baird, the firm’s?
founder, died in 1963. Oliver
retired from hisjobin Novem
ber and Morrey was fired Jan.
2.
Augusta mayor Bob Young
said the grand jury report is
on-point for criticizing Baird -
& Company. 23
3A