Gary IN Probe Investigation EMS Public Safety Money Misuse Firefighters

Oct. 02 -- GARY, IN -- The City Council’s investigative body is moving forward with its own probe into the misuse of $8.2 million in emergency public safety dollars to cover payroll and other expenses.

The probe, in part, seeks to determine which employees at city hall were aware of the misuse, according to Councilwoman LaVetta Sparks-Wade, who originally made a request last month to the mayor’s office for financial records and correspondence related to Fund 224.

Sparks-Wade said her request to Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson’s administration, her chief of staff Dayna Bennett, city Controller Angelia Hayes, Fire Chief Paul Bradley and Fire Department Business Manager Sharita Starks asked for “any and all correspondences,” including email and written documentation.

“Anybody who has had conversation, any exchange, any dialogue, we want to be able to capture all of it,” Sparks-Wade said.

The council’s investigation differs from the State Board of Accounts’ own probe in this way, she said.

The committee has already received volumes of financial documents from Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson’s administration, she said.

Of the $8.2 million, $131,850 remains unaccounted for, according to Whittaker and Co., an accounting firm hired by the mayor. Another $1.3 million was transferred to the city’s Blight Elimination Fund, a reimbursement account that helps tear down blighted homes.

Sparks-Wade said the committee is interested in determining how the city, once reimbursed by the federal government, spent the blight money.

“Where did it go? We hope to find out who is responsible through emails, correspondences, or any document in which there was dialogue. At this point, those are the types of questions we are asking," Sparks-Wade said. “I’m getting phone calls all the time from citizens who are not satisfied with the investigation so far.”

Sparks-Wade said she did not specifically request text messages — considered fair game under Indiana’s open records law — but plans to ask the committee if the request scope should include texts.

Text messages are considered public record if a public employee or official uses that form of communication to memorialize public business, whether on a personal or municipal-issued cellphone.

At a recent meeting, the committee determined written questions to the administration will be submitted Oct. 9 with a response deadline of Oct. 23.

Councilman Michael Protho, D-2, who serves on the committee, said he doesn’t think the council’s own investigation is necessary, though he voted to subpoena the administration for records.

Asked about the ethics of city staff redirecting restricted EMS taxpayer dollars without council approval, Protho responded, “Nothing was really stolen, only transferred."

“If they had come before the council and showed there was a need, there wouldn’t have been a problem,” he added.

Municipal wire transfers between accounts are common to ensure payroll is met each month or to cover other expenses, but in this case, transfers took place since at least 2013 without City Council approval.

Sparks-Wade disagrees and has asked for an independent review that goes beyond the Fund 224 analysis already conducted by Whittaker and Co., the accounting firm hired by the mayor.

Committee chairman Herb Smith, D-at large, and Council President at-large Ronald Brewer, did not respond to a request for comment Monday.