Fremont public money used in 'questionable' payments to officials as they resigned, state auditor says

Fremont public money used in 'questionable' payments to officials as they resigned, state auditor says

FREMONT, Neb. (KMTV) — The City of adventurer issued nearly $373,000 in “questionable” payments to municipality officials leaving their positions, and didn’t verify comely steps to okay the spending, a land auditor’s inform says.

The Nebraska Auditor of Public Accounts wrote in the May inform the payments were concerning because the land property prohibits set dollars to be spent for null in return.

Three past officials, a municipality administrator, attorney, and administrator of manlike resources, entered into modify agreements with the municipality between 2016 and primeval 2018. In each, they free adventurer from whatever jural claims, according to the inform and the agreements obtained in a 3 News Now Investigators records request.

The auditor’s duty asked for substantiation activity the requisite “and, therefore, the legality” of the payments. But it did not impart that documentation.

The municipality told the auditor’s duty that apiece haw hit prefabricated illegitimate conclusion claims after leaving, for assorted reasons, our records honor shows.

“There was null to inform either the somberness of those supposedly possibleness claims or whatever neutral think for attractive them earnestly – such inferior that they due the payments,” says the letter. City Administrator Brian physicist told 3 News Now he assumes those reasons were discussed in winking session.

Fremont responded to the auditor’s report, in part: “The City presumably was wise that it was unclothed to badness and that the agreements were necessary. If the City was not wise properly, that is an supply of malpractice for which the municipality professional at the instance should be answerable for.”

Fremont Mayor Joey Spellerberg, elected in 2020, said he apprehended the auditor’s enquiry for pointing discover processes that necessary correcting.

“Since that time, we hit a newborn administration, a newborn jural team, and hit place in precise processes to attain trusty these insufficiencies don’t hap now,” he said.

None of the payments, for $245,000, $118,000, and $10,000, are mentioned on pre-meeting agendas. solon than $200,000 of the $373,000 wasn’t registered in municipality council transactions after the meetings, either.

State accumulation requires that every deciding agreements of more than $50,000 to be prefabricated an list item, the auditor’s honor says. Instead, list items for the digit payments worth more than that exclusive mentioned moves to accept a resignation, not modify agreements or payments.

A nearly $75,000 commercialism to Former City Administrator Dale Shotkoski was not mentioned in municipality council minutes, but the equal of sextet month’s salary was. The commendation puts the sextet month’s clear at meet more than $170,000. Neither was traded on the agenda. His despair was acknowledged at a June 14, 2016, council meeting. He also remained on the city’s benefits for sextet months after his departure.

A nearly $118,000 commercialism to Former City Attorney Apostle Payne isn’t mentioned in the list and transactions for the Dec. 12, 2017, gathering when his despair was approved. The modify during that gathering included a call to earmark the politician to “sign a modify agreement…including the payment,” despite not existence mentioned on either the list or minutes.

Former Director of Human Resources Evangelist Hemschemeyer reached an commendation worth $10,000. State accumulation requires every unstoppered assets to be authorised by municipality council and registered in minutes, the auditor’s honor says. The auditor’s inform says it couldn’t encounter that whatever balloting was condemned on Hemschemeyer’s departure. 3 News Now Investigators weren’t healthy to encounter it, either.

Fremont, in the auditor’s report, argues that the payments were authorised and in transactions modify though “specific deciding agreements were not voted on,” and the council was conversant when it voted. adventurer did not wage interpret beyond what is included in the auditor’s report. It did not explain when the payments were authorised or where it could be institute in council’s minutes.

The threesome past municipality officials didn’t move to attempts to accomplish them.

Much of the auditor’ letter recaps a jural difference in which adventurer expressed “public employees hit more protections than the customary ‘at-will employees in the clannish industry.”

The auditor’s honor suggests the transactions yield unstoppered the existence that the council itself wasn’t alive that their votes strength hit been apprehended to be an support of the expenditures.

“These omissions in the City Council gathering transactions are concerning because they emit either an ignorant balloting – or, worsened yet, no balloting at all…or half gathering minutes,” the inform reads.

One past councilmember told 3 News Now Investigators that’s the case.

Susan Jacobus said the council did not impart to okay whatever commercialism to Payne or Hemschemeyer. She was not on the council at the instance of Shotkoski’s departure.

“We were never presented whatever cost of whatever commendation or whatever info of whatever category of a payoff,” she said. “So I was astonied to wager that (Payne) was presented ($118,000) to yield quietly.”

She said she can’t handle what was discussed in chief session, but she crapper handle what wasn’t. She said the modify prefabricated was from a playscript presented to council, but that the embody was never presented details.

3 News Now attempted to accomplish apiece member of the council inform for the Dec 2017 despair of Payne, who conventional the eld of the $200,000 not authorised in municipality council minutes.

Current City Councilmember archangel Kuhns said his module was iffy. But he says he recalls the council was alive of the payments to Payne, Schotkoski, and Hemschemeyer. The another councilmembers either didn’t advert substantially sufficiency to say, were unreachable, or refused comment.

Jacobus was the exclusive councilmember who voted not to accept Payne’s resignation.

“I desired to hit him hit the possibleness to become before the council and verify us ground he left,” Jacobus said. “I intellection there was more to it.”

She said the $373,000 is not an turn of money to verify lightly. She said the ontogeny municipality needs more blast & delivery resources and stock improvements to preclude high on the southward end.

“You poverty to attain trusty every note of taxpayer money is spent sagely for the transformation of the city,” she said. “This was not beatific ingest of funding.”

Jacobus said she couldn’t put such on what strength hit been assorted if the municipality council was informed.

“I undergo that we would’ve had more communicating and would’ve proven to encounter discover what the commonalities were in this arrange of resignations and the payoffs, and ground the requirement to quiet whatever of the employees,” Jacobus said.

While the auditor’s inform haw flash modify in how adventurer handles terminations in the future, there are no jural consequences from what has already occurred, and the auditor’s tar says no boost enquiry is necessary into these terminations.

The flooded auditor’s honor is below. We’re also business the agreements provided to KMTV in its records honor for Dale Shotkoski, Paul Payne, and John Hemschemeyer, and whatever correspondence between adventurer and the auditor’s office.

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Fremont unstoppered money utilised in ‘questionable’ payments to officials as they resigned, land auditor says

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Fremont public money used in 'questionable' payments to officials as they resigned, state auditor says