03-08-10 Special Called Regular Meeting of the Fiscal Affairs Committee minutes

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Concerns prompting a detailed forensic outside audit to answer the following questions: The Wire transfer of $150,000 for Garson Silvers unsecured loan repayment + ~ $3500 in interest repayment was made in 4/09. The questions associated with this are: . Who actually made this loan repayment and where is the documentation? . Did the same sum, i.e. $150,000 plus ~$3500 flow back out of the City accounts to an outside entity and if so, where and who received this money? . Did Garson Silvers actually fulfill his contractual obligations concerning use of this unsecured loan of $150,000 for the purpose of purchasing properties associated with the Town Square Project. . Where is the documentation associated with a loan repayment? The ORR concerning all expenses associated with the Town Plaza project excluded a number of documents due to private information being included. These documents need to be thoroughly reviewed. It appears that this documentation includes charges associated with time, materials and meals for URS employees associated with contracted work for design of the Town Plaza. Determine current status relative to ownership, liens to secure any city funds used to remediate buried tanks, demolish buildings, etc. on all private properties associated with the Town Plaza Project, including the now demolished boarding house on Virginia street need to be determined. This includes the Alamo Bldg, metal building adjoining and other adjacent properties. The Lease agreement for the Alamo bldg needs to be reviewed for validity and hopefully cancelled due to non compliance of the owner (Garson Silvers) with the conditions of the lease. City Employees and elected officials should all be following the Code of Ethics adopted by the City of La Porte. This code of Ethics prohibits these individuals from receiving benefits beyond their salary from their employment with the City of La Porte. This would suggest that the leasing of a building by the taxpayers of La Porte to house an Art League selling their art would violate this Code of Ethics. Also, selling art inside the City Hall building by a city of La Porte employee should not be permitted unless this venue is open to all vendors. In addition, using a Publishing Company for non- bid City contracts with ownership related to City Employees should not be permitted. All employees and elected officials should be trained concerning this Code of Ethics and any violations should be dealt with according to established practice. Also, all potential conflicts of interests MUST be reported by all elected and salaried employees.