For seven months in 2018, former Warrenton City Administrator Terri Thorn held her position without proper insurance bonding, leaving the city unknowingly vulnerable to financial liability during …
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For seven months in 2018, former Warrenton City Administrator Terri Thorn held her position without proper insurance bonding, leaving the city unknowingly vulnerable to financial liability during that time.
City leaders acknowledged the oversight during an Oct. 5 public board of aldermen meeting, during a discussion prompted by Ward 2 Alderman Steven Cullom. The problem was originally brought to light through records requests done by Josh Poore, a frequent city critic.
The problem, in short, is that the city administrator and several other high-level city staff members are required to have bonds that insure the city in the case of financial mismanagement or other wrongdoing. These bonds are usually part of a combined insurance package arranged by the city government. But when the new position of city administrator was created in April 2018, the insurance bonds weren’t updated until November 2018.
“(Thorn) had influence over employment decisions. She could spend money and make all sorts of other decisions for the city. All of this while not covered by a bond,” wrote Poore on his “Liberty in Warren County” Facebook page. “Tax dollars were put at risk. ... If a particular loss had occurred, it would not have been covered during these seven months.”
Poore is also calling attention to a section of city code that deems an office to be vacant if the officeholder doesn’t submit the required bond. That could potentially have legal repercussions for any decisions Thorn made during her first months as administrator, Poore said.
Thorn retired in April this year and is now employed as an on-call consultant for the city.
Current City Administrator Brandie Walters said when the bonding issue was brought to light in September, she confirmed that the insurance gap had existed and said it seemed to be the result of a simple oversight.
Walters said there were no known issues that would cause the bond to be invoked during the time in question. Unfortunately, there’s probably nothing the city can do to fill that gap in coverage from 2018.
“I can’t fix what happened three years ago,” Walters commented. From now on, she said it will be the city clerk’s duty to confirm that an official’s bond is in place before administering an oath of office.
Mayor Eric Schleuter expressed regret that the city didn’t notice the oversight of Thorn not being bonded.
“If something were to have happened during that time, we would have been at fault. ... Luckily, nothing did happen, but that doesn’t minimize or slight the problem,” Schleuter said. “I think it’s something we needed to address and I’m glad Alderman Cullom brought it up.”
With Thorn having left office prior to Alderman Cullom being elected, the remaining bulk of the alderman’s criticism was directed at City Attorney Christopher Graville, who Cullom believes should have been on watch against oversights that cause the city financial or legal liability.
Cullom also aired grievances with other past decisions by the board of aldermen that he associates with Graville, including the fact that a consulting contract with Thorn’s LLC company was approved in January before the LLC was officially registered with the state.
“There are some things in the past that have happened, like the bond issue, and Terri Thorn’s contract and some other things before I was here. ... I feel you should have caught those,” Cullom told Graville.
The attorney’s response, in short, is that getting the city's employees to do what they’re supposed to do is an administrative duty, not one for the city’s legal consultant. His job, he said, is to give legal advice and draft ordinances as requested.
“I’m not the city administrator. I’m not the city clerk. I’m not the director of operations. There are people here who are full time, and that’s their job to make sure those operations occur,” Graville said. “If you want me to be more involved in the operational aspects, I can do that. ... (But) I don’t know a single city attorney that would be involved in verifying a bond.”
As it so happened, Graville’s contract to serve as city attorney was up for renewal at the Oct. 5 meeting. Aldermen voted 5-1 to renew, with Cullom the only alderman voting against.
