LOWELL -- The City Council approved a new contract for the mayor's daughter to clean city offices despite allegations she billed the city for 19 days she didn't work.
The new contact gives Casey Reynolds a raise and addresses problems with the previous contract noted by state auditors in January.
First council vote
Casey Reynolds’ contract for janitorial failed with the first Lowell City Council vote on March 15. Thomas Evers, Dean Bitner, Kendell Stucki and Delia Ingle voted yes. Linda Vannoy, David Adams and Lonnie Jones voted no. Eric Schein abstained.
Source: Staff report
Aldermen initially voted against the contract 4-3 during their March 15 meeting. It passed on a second vote after Mayor Eldon Long discussed the issue with the council.
"I voted no the second time because I saw the idiocy of the discussion," said Alderman Eric Schein. "The council voted it down until the mayor put himself in the discussion and created an issue by saying he would tell his daughter tomorrow that she wouldn't have a job. I believe that was absolutely wrong. He needed to keep from speaking at this point and that never happened."
In all, Reynolds billed for $760 for janitorial work, some of which other city employees ended up doing for free, according to documents obtained from the city and Long.
One employee, Betsy Bennet, sent an email to council members before they voted on the new contact March 15 noting concerns about Reynolds' job performance.
"January 1 of 2016 Casey Reynolds increased her invoice price from $100 to $200 per week," Bennet wrote in the email. "However, she has failed to do the work she is invoicing for."
Bennet stated other city staff had cleaned restrooms and emptied trash throughout the week.
Long thanked city staff at the March 15 meeting for "picking up the slack." He mentioned several employees by name who he said had helped clean City Hall.
Alderman Thomas Evers said late last month he called the city and asked questions after receiving the email from Bennet.
"I was told by that person, who is a high official and not the mayor, that there had been two people doing that job and people had pitched in to help," Evers said.
No one said Reynolds was billing for the days she wasn't working, he said. Evers said he still would have approved the contract even with the additional knowledge because ending it would have left city staff without any janitorial service for several weeks.
Reynolds said after the March 15 council meeting she had worked three days a week since early January.
Reynolds billed the city eight times from Jan. 4 to March 4, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Each of the statements billed for $200. The statements note the $200 was for five days of service at $40 a day.
Reynolds didn't fulfill the contract because she was short-staffed and had to handle a family emergency, Long said in March.
"I hate to think that we live in a society where we can't help out someone in their time of need and then be viewed as taking advantage of the taxpayers in some way," he said. "I have not done anything that I wouldn't have done with any other city contract."
The city paid Reynolds $200 a week for three weeks in January, said Jerry Hudlow, finance director. Payment was stopped after auditors with the Arkansas Legislative Audit raised concerns in January, Hudlow said.
Auditors noted Reynolds could not be paid $200 because the 2011 contract stated she was to be paid $100 and a second woman was to be paid $100 a week, Hudlow said. The other woman quit in January, Reynolds said.
Auditors suggested a new contract be brought to the City Council for approval at that time, Hudlow said.
Reynolds continued to work and bill for $200, but was not paid until the contract issues could be resolved, he said.
"I haven't had a paycheck since January," Reynolds said in March. "We didn't want to do anything that was not above board. We are always careful. My dad never gives me any type of liberty."
The new contract allows for Reynolds to be paid for five weeks, or $1,000, she had billed the city, but had not been paid.
Hudlow said after the March 15 meeting he was unaware Reynolds had billed for days she didn't work, including a week in January that she took off for a family emergency.
Hudlow said he adjusted the lump sum back payment authorized by the council.
"We have invoices that say $200," Hudlow said. "I am going to replace that with $120, and I'm going to initial and she is going to initial and where it says quantity of five days, I will put down three days."
Reynolds also paid the city back for the nine days in January she was paid for, but did not work, Hudlow said. He said this was applied to the deduction as well.
Overall, from Jan. 4 to March 4 Reynolds billed the city for 40 days of work and worked 19. The city had paid Reynolds for nine of those 19 days in January. After deductions, the back payment to Reynolds was reduced from $1,000 to $240, Hudlow said.
Deductions include $400 to reflect 10 days Reynolds billed for, but did not work during five weeks in February and March and $360 to pay back the city for nine days during three weeks in January she was paid for, but did not work.
It is legal for cities to contract with elected officials or their relatives as long as a resolution approving the contract is passed that notifies the public, Tom Kieklak, Lowell city attorney, told the City Council at the March 15 meeting.
Some council members questioned if it would be better to put the contract out for bid rather than approve it. Linda Vannoy said during the March 15 meeting she felt all contracts should go out for bid every three to five years in order for the city to be transparent. The contract was last bid in 2011.
The resolution for the contract failed on the first vote by the council by a 4-3 vote.
"I will let Casey know she is no longer employed," Long said following the first vote. "So what do we want to do for housekeeping?"
Kendell Stucki, council member, asked to expunge the first vote and put the motion forward a second time. It passed the second time 5-3. Council members Lonnie Jones, Schein and Vannoy voted no.
David Adams, council member, changed his vote from no to yes. He said he originally voted no because he was unaware of the process it would take to fill the contract. Schein said he abstained from the first vote because he previously ran against Long in an election.
The contract was approved with a stipulation it would be put out for bid at the end of the year. It also states Reynolds will receive $225 per week going forward.
Reynolds' first contract was approved by the city in July 2011. It also retroactively paid for services to February 2011.
NW News on 04/10/2016