Wayne Week — Jan. 28, 2024

N E W OL D NORT H M E DI A PR E SE N T S A W E E K LY N E WS M AG A Z I N E

Wayne

WEEK

JA N UA RY 2 8, 2 024

N E WOL DNORT H .C OM

SPECIAL REPORT: CITY HALL Preliminary audit report: Goldsboro City Manager among employees, elected officials who received questionable water bill credits. p. 14

Emails: Former mayor, city attorney questioned use of some Coronavirus Relief funds. City Manager made the payments anyway. p. 16

“THERE ARE PEOPLE DYING.

“

An unexpected vote to delay taking action on increasing police salaries by members of the Goldsboro City Council Monday shocked several officers — and local residents — Monday, but Tuesday, a majority of the board flipped the script.

by KEN FINE

p.12

There are all kinds of things going on.

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. Wayne WEEK . newoldnorth.com

CONTENTS 4 Goldsboro police chief says time

has come for a “compassionate” relocation of the men and women living in Tent City

JANUARY 28, 2024

City police tried to enforce trespass agreements more than five years ago, but were scrutinized by local non-profits and some residents, so now, the GPD is building a coalition and taking back to the woods to provide resources to Goldsboro’s homeless population with the hope it will get them out of the encampment.

Volume 1, Issue 24

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8

Council delays parking rule enforcement downtown

Many local business owners say they are happy the board is taking time to think about the impacts of regulations they say are hurting their bottom lines and putting members of their staffs in danger.

12 Cover story

Several Goldsboro police officers were enraged when members of the City Council delayed much-needed salary increases yet again, but less than 24 hours later, a majority of the board vowed to honor their pledge to make the GPD whole on Feb. 12.

14 Audit: City Manager received

questionable water bill credit

State officials say Tim Salmon was among Goldsboro employees and elected officials who got water bill credits without justification that they were necessary, calculated correctly, or approved by a supervisor.

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16 Emails: Former mayor, city

attorney questioned some of Goldsboro’s COVID spending

In 2020, then-Mayor David Ham and City Attorney Ron Lawrence scrutinized reimbursement requests from a nonprofit. City Manager Tim Salmon approved them anyway.

COVER DESIGN SHAN STUMPF

newoldnorth.com

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NEWS +VIEWS “Compassionate relocation” of city’s homeless begins Goldsboro Police Chief Mike West said the time has come to resolve the city’s growing homelessness problem.

B Y K E N F I N E / Goldsboro

M

embers of the Goldsboro Police Department have tried to address the city’s homelessness and addiction crises before.

But when, more than five years ago, they attempted to enforce trespass agreements and clear out the encampment known as “Tent City,” they faced backlash for what some non-profits and local residents considered a lack of compassion.

“The property owners wanted them off

the property, so we went in there in a first wave and warned all the homeless. We told them, ‘You have 24 hours to get off the property or we’re going to come back and charge you,’” GPD Chief Mike West said.

“Some left. Some didn’t. The ones who didn’t were charged.”

What lawmen didn’t know was that doing their jobs would put them at odds with some in the community — non-profits and residents

who characterized the arrests as everything from “heartless” to “wrong.”

“The Salvation Army got wind of it at the time, and they became outspoken in the public saying that we went in there and applied a law enforcement solution to a problem that didn’t require law enforcement,” West said. “It was a PR nightmare for some of the city leaders. It didn’t look good, so we backed off.”

Goldsboro’s Tent City. PHOTO BY CASEY MOZINGO 4

. Wayne WEEK . newoldnorth.com

They also didn’t anticipate that the Wayne County District Attorney’s Office would decline to prosecute those they had arrested — like when, on one occasion, Goldsboro police seized a large quantity of opioids from the woods and asked District Attorney Matthew Delbridge how to proceed.

“The information I got back from the D.A.’s office is that they weren’t willing to prosecute because we violated a search (protocol). We think, we’re in Tent City walking around and see dope and stuff. It’s in the open,” West said. “But, ah-ha, it’s not in the open. It’s in Tent City. They have a certain expectation of privacy. We should have gotten a search warrant. That’s the information we were getting back.”

Between then and now, violent crime attributed to Goldsboro’s homeless population has been on the rise.

People have died — including a Tent City resident who was struck and killed by a train on New Year’s Eve 2021.

People have been shot — including a 33-yearold who took a bullet to the leg in November 2023 during an argument that unfolded beyond the tree line off Royall Avenue.

Businesses have been victimized — like when, over the years, dozens and dozens of items have gone missing from Target and Walmart, including, most recently, an electric bicycle allegedly stolen by a Tent City resident in September.

Drug overdoses and fires are becoming more common in city homeless encampments.

And as of a few months ago, the GPD reported that “in Tent City or in the area,” calls for service had increased more than 34% compared to 2022.

“Some specific incidents or crimes that are on the rise are theft, assault, possession of stolen property and robbery,” officials said. “We are seeing more drug-related calls and arrests as well. According to the data, activity in and around Tent City over the past three years has become more criminal in nature and more violent.”

Shoppers are finding used needles and trash in the parking lots of stores close to Tent City.

Locals have voiced concerns at City Continued on page 6

newoldnorth.com

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Continued from page 4

Council meetings — like the man who spoke to the board Monday about increasingly “aggressive” panhandlers who bang on cars and a business owner who said a “drug addict” nearly beat one of her employees to death.

All of those issues, West said, are compounded by his depleted ranks — a hot button issue that has led members of the council to consider increasing GPD salaries so the department can get “staffed up.”

But despite his staffing problem, Goldsboro’s police chief said the time has come to take action.

It will not happen overnight, and lawmen anticipate challenges along the way, but the GPD is beginning a months-long process that has been characterized as a “compassionate relocation” of the dozens of homeless residents currently living across Goldsboro and, primarily, Tent City, an encampment located just beyond the tree line behind the railroad tracks that line Royall Avenue.

West said officers are canvassing both Tent City in specific and Goldsboro in general to identify who — and how many — need an intervention before officers, in lockstep with local non-profits and city leaders, work toward an end goal of providing services that will render the sites unnecessary.

“We haven't gotten any marching orders to do it. This is just something we have been needing to do for quite some time. ”

“We haven’t gotten any marching orders to do it. This is just something we have been needing to do for quite some time,” West said.

“We were going to do it late last year, but we just, with staffing things and other things that came up, we got delayed.”

The first step — to “identify the homeless encampments, not just Tent City, but in the city, and once we do that, we’re going to get up with the property owners whether it be city property or other private property to see if they want to assist us with trespass agreements” — is already happening.

Currently, three of the five owners of property that currently houses Tent City residents have signed on.

“We have to start somewhere. Right now, it’s, ‘What locations do we need to concentrate on? Where is everybody located at?’

Then, let’s get those trespass agreements,” West said. “That’s kind of the first wave.”

And once officers know just how many people they are dealing with, non-profits will be brought on board.

“We want to work with them to say, ‘OK. On this date come with us. We’re going to go through the camps, and you can tell them what resources are available,’” West said. “It’s gonna be a very long process, but it’s also going to be a compassionate process. It’s not going to be to just go out there and run them off

the property. We are going to identify them.

Then, it’s, ‘You’re trespassing. These resources are available to you.’”

But the chief understands that one of the major hurdles to overcome is the complacency of those choosing to live in the woods — that some people in Tent City and other city encampments have no interest in joining mainstream society.

Still, doing nothing is no longer an option.

“Crime is being involved more out there.

We know there is more violent crime out there — more victims,” he said. “It’s time to do something.”

Only this time, he will be instructing his officers to do it with more consciousness of the sensitivity of the situation — and the community’s divide on just how to rectify it.

“We understand this is the wintertime and it’s cold. Now might not be the time to be moving people off of an area that they feel comfortable in and where they have their resources set up,” West said. “But we’ve got to start it at some point. It’s gotten out of hand.

So, that’s what we’re going to do. Again, it’s not a run through and kick everybody out. It’s a run through and let’s see if we can get you some help, because we know they need it. But the businesses around these camps and the citizens have rights, too. So, yes, we’re going to get to work.” n

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. Wayne WEEK . 7

Two-hour parking sign in Downtown Goldsboro. PHOTO BY KEN FINE

City Council stalls parking rule enforcement

Many downtown business owners are happy with the 60-day delay, but believe leaders should abandon 2-hour parking initiative altogether.

B Y K E N F I N E / Goldsboro

F

or more than seven years, The Loft Hair Studio & Spa owner Amber Long has stuck with downtown Goldsboro.

“I opened in 2016 before the revitalization was finished,” she said. “Half of Center Street was still dug up.”

Her loyalty has been rewarded, as what started as a small salon is now a thriving — and growing — business with 14 stylists.

And the acquisition and extensive renovation of a dilapidated “and crumbling” building next door will add even more employees to the business’ roster and another saved building to the city’s core.

But Long is worried.

The city’s new parking rules, she says, and the threat of $50 tickets for those who park in certain spots for longer than two hours, are already affecting her business and her employees.

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And if the rules hold, she said, the $600,000 investment she has made in her city’s downtown will not only not be worth it, but the health of her business will be threatened.

But worst of all, Long said, she doesn’t feel like anyone is listening.

And she is not the only one.

A barrage of complaints from downtown businesses and their customers have prompted the Goldsboro City Council to suspend full implementation of its new downtown parking rules, which limit how long a person can park before fines are issued, until March.

But for businesses like Long’s which have clients who often stay much longer than two hours in the salon, nothing short of killing the policy will satisfy them.

And the notion of having to get a parking

placard or risk getting a ticket is making patrons question whether to continue making appointments or booking event space at places like The Loft and some of Goldsboro’s most popular boutiques and restaurants.

The Downtown Goldsboro Development Corp. has considered offering placards for people to put in their cars — administered by the city — to allow for longer-term parking for those who need it, but only if the City Council forces the issue. “(If we allow placards,) then everyone will want a placard,” said Greg Mills, the DGDC’s Business & Property Specialist. “Placards are an option, but they have to be controlled and they have to be controlled by the City Council.”

But Long said that potential “solution,” in addition to being inconvenient, isn’t a viable remedy at all.

“There are 14 of us here,” she said. “Five is just not enough. And I am doing hair. I don’t have time to give people placards and to make sure they put them in their car and that they return them.”

The same holds true for restaurants and boutiques that host bridal and baby showers, retirement celebrations, and other wellattended events.

A handful of placards doesn’t help.

But convenience is not the only issue.

Despite being told that some downtown business owners are simply “too lazy” to walk to parking lots to get their cars out of downtown parking places, Long said the real concern is safety.

Her employees, who sometimes finish their workday at 7 p.m. or later, are worried about having to walk the two to three city blocks required to park in a city lot.

Mills said there is a remedy for that — demanding city leaders take security matters seriously, not altering a parking policy.

“You have to keep pounding the metal: ‘We want more security,’” he said. “Changing the parking regulation is not going to make people more secure just because they are parked on Center Street.”

Long believes that until security concerns are addressed, parking rules should not even be on the table.

And she is also frustrated that when she told the DGDC about her concerns, her words fell on deaf ears.

“A year and a half ago, I went to the meeting, and I asked questions and let them know that this would be catastrophic for my business,” she said.

But, to her surprise, what she thought was merely a proposal that was still being floated as a possibility turned into signs going up and a parking enforcement officer handing out warning tickets.

“They sneakily did this,” Long said. “It was in talks and then all of a sudden, there are

signs all over the place.”

She said that she has communicated with DGDC officials multiple times about her issues with the new regulations — not just about the effect the parking limits would have on her clients, but also her concerns for the safety of her employees.

She said there are several members of the homeless population downtown who have become “increasingly aggressive” about confronting visitors and employees downtown — a sentiment echoed by numerous citizens during the public comment period at several recent City Council meetings.

One example, Long said, unfolded the afternoon she and her husband came to the salon to take down the holiday decorations.

They were confronted, she said, by a panhandler before they even got out of their car.

And then, she said, they were approached by another man.

“I have had to call the cops on (one of them) because he gets aggressive if you don’t give him any money,” she said.

One of her employees was also confronted on the street, she added.

So why, she asked, was the city not prepared to address safety concerns before it put rules into place that she feels creates dangerous conditions for downtown patrons and employees?

And why, when she asked DGDC officials where her employees were supposed to park, was she told they could park on John Street or James Street — each of which is several blocks away from her salon and “just isn’t safe” — or lease land near the salon?

“I guarantee you I will not be doing that,” Long said, adding that she “pays taxes” and feels she should be entitled to access the street parking that those tax dollars help fund.

And, more importantly, why were the rules even necessary?

“We have never had a parking problem downtown,” Long said. “The problem is down there at the old hotel. It gets a little crazy down there. The people who live in the hotel have a parking lot and they prefer to park on the street.”

It is a sentiment shared by many business owners, she said.

And they share something else, too — a dramatic change in customer traffic.

“Every client who comes in is freaking out about it,” Long said. “People are going to get (even angrier) about it, and they are not going to come back.”

And her employees are already feeling it.

“Three or four of my girls have gotten tickets already,” she said. “They are warning tickets, sure, but people don’t look at it that way. They see it as, ‘Next time I am going to get a ticket.’” n

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{ our TAKE }

A BAD

O

ptics.

They matter.

If you want a community to trust you, to think that you are a leader who is listening, who is serious about doing what’s right and fair, who makes promises that you intend to and will keep, you think before you do things.

You don’t make choices that are legally “by 10

. Wayne WEEK . newoldnorth.com

LOOK

ADOBE STOCK

the book,” even though from an outsider’s view they just look, well, bad.

You don’t, as the city manager of a city who makes $160,000 a year, ask your subordinate to comp you $100 on your water bill for a “leaky hose” without telling your bosses to ensure you don’t give off an appearance of impropriety.

You don’t do it because it is not a good look,

because it sends a message about what you think about the rules and to whom they apply.

And you don’t do it because no one really can or will tell you no.

A leader does not put his staff in a position where they have to make a decision about doing what’s right or keeping their job.

And you certainly don’t set that kind of example about skating the edge when

you are the person charged with making sure that the rules are followed and that procedures matter.

You don’t make choices like that if you don't want anyone in your employ to think that they can bend the rules, too — that they can make decisions to benefit themselves or someone they know because, after all, the boss did it.

Leaders lead by example. That’s the bottom line.

Every message you send matters.

And, if you truly are a leader, you also don’t ignore advice from your department heads, the mayor, and the city attorney.

When they see something that just doesn’t smell right, they say something, and they advise you to proceed with caution, you certainly don’t just go charging ahead thinking you just know better.

That’s what someone does who thinks he is a monarch rather than a city employee.

And that is what City Manager Tim Salmon is. An employee.

His job is to serve the citizens.

His job is to take advice when it is offered — or to fight for another decision if he feels strongly about it.

It is not to act like his is the only opinion that matters, like whatever the stir his decision causes will simply “blow over.”

Leaders don’t do that. And the ones that do, the ones who simply don’t get it, well, they are the reason we are here, why public trust in government is at an all-time low, why citizens don’t want to believe anymore.

Salmon’s arrogant reaction to the findings in the state auditor’s preliminary report on the state of the finances in the city of Goldsboro is not a surprise — and neither are his explanations about some of the findings.

The items listed there are not a good look.

There it is again — optics.

We have said it before, and we will say it again.

Tim Salmon is not the right fit for the city manager’s office.

The preliminary audit report is just one of the reasons why.

And moving the city forward will, like it or not, depend on performance — and optics.

Restoring confidence in the city’s operation requires strong leaders who are willing to talk openly and honestly about what is wrong, what needs work, and what they can do to make it better.

They need to stand up when necessary and to admit they are wrong or made a bad decision when that time comes.

They need to be leaders.

They are not people like Salmon who, get this, suggest a 3- to 4-month pay study before action is taken on salary increases for a depleted police department despite outcry from a terrified

public and a chief at his wit’s end.

We have had more than a few of the good ones over the years — principled individuals who put their community first, who weren’t perfect, but who would stand up when there was something hard to say or even harder to do.

They made a difference.

They took the heat.

They made sure the optics were right and that the mission and the actions — the responsibility and the outcomes — matched.

Their names are familiar.

Ray Mayo, Chuck Allen, Jack Best, Rick Pridgen, and Andy Anderson, to name a few.

And yes, there are more.

We did not always agree with them — and they weren’t perfect humans — but they had servant hearts.

When they took their oath of office about serving their communities, they meant it.

And there are other leaders, too — men and women who stepped up when their community needed them, served on every board, were the support behind the scenes and the fundraisers for significant community projects.

They never asked for attention or thanks. That did not matter. They answered the call because that is what their conscience told them to do.

It won’t surprise you if we mention one of the greatest — and the mentor for many, many of our leaders today — David Weil. He, of course, would insist otherwise.

And we have a fledgling set of leaders who made just such a call this week, a group we told you to keep an eye on.

After their Monday night meeting, and after approving a move to ask for “more details” and “real numbers” about how increasing Goldsboro Police Department salaries under Plan A would affect the city’s bottom line down the road — not the first time Goldsboro Police Chief Mike West had been asked to crunch those numbers, by the way — Goldsboro City Council members went home and thought about the vote.

And some of them said it just did not feel right.

So, they made a decision about promises, about trust, and about acting decisively when a real emergency exists.

And they acted.

Chris Boyette, Jamie Taylor, Beverly Weeks and Hiawatha Jones decided that they needed to take a bold step and to do what you are supposed to do in an emergency — get the job done.

And so, they admitted that perhaps they had made a mistake, and they pushed to move forward with what they had told the community they would do if they were put on the council — to listen to their concerns and to act in the city’s best interest.

Now, we have a decision that pushes the

city forward — boldly and decisively.

What is that optic?

Integrity. That’s the optic.

And keeping promises.

And what message do you think that sent to the men and women who wear Goldsboro police uniforms?

Trust and confidence that this city cares about those who serve.

We have seen what happens when officeholders and bureaucrats don’t get the “optics.”

They ask for fancy desk sets for their offices.

They dismiss community concerns and questions, sending the message that they “know better.”

They make decisions like hiring their son to do landscaping work and paying him with 24,000 tax dollars.

They get their water bills comped — or delay paying them without penalty — while asking residents to accept rate hikes.

They wink and look the other way to create sweetheart deals for their cronies, or hire their fraternity brothers, sorority sisters, or relatives rather than looking for the best people for the job.

Or they travel to ritzy locales for planning retreats while their staff puts up Go Fund Me accounts for classroom supplies.

They spin, they avoid the questions, and they keep a whole bunch of secrets rather than being open and honest about what’s really going on.

And those “optics” can erase any good work that is being done to fix what is broken.

Because the bottom line is this: a community has to trust you first.

And that doesn’t come when you dodge and weave, refuse to answer questions, or break promises.

That’s the mistake that is being made over and over again in places where there actually might be real work going on, but all the community sees is the same old thing.

Optics are not about staged, selfcongratulatory public relations stunts either.

No one’s opinion of the performance of a public entity – or public official — is changed by watching them pat themselves on the back.

They aren’t fooled by clever manipulation of statistics or data or some slick presentation.

When a decisive move is made — and a leader takes a bold step — the community’s ears prick up and the trust starts to come back.

Tim Salmon doesn’t get it, and that’s why he is not the right person to lead this community moving forward.

If he did, he would have paid his $100 water bill or documented it, reported it, and made sure others understood that no one is above the rules — not even a current or past City Council member.

That is what leadership is really about.n newoldnorth.com

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“THERE ARE PEOPLE DYING.

“

An unexpected vote to delay taking action on increasing police salaries by members of the Goldsboro City Council Monday shocked several officers — and local residents — Monday, but Tuesday, a majority of the board flipped the script.

by KEN FINE

12

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F

COVER STORY

resh off comments from a majority of members of the City Council that salary increases for the men and women who serve in the Goldsboro Police Department were imminent amid what many local residents and leaders have characterized as a jarring increase in gun violence across the community — including a recent late-morning shooting inside Berkeley Mall — several GPD officers told Wayne Week they were taken aback by a vote Jan. 22 that required their chief, Mike West, to bring “real numbers” to the board’s next meeting so a vote could take place.

“I’m honestly disgusted,” said a veteran lawman who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation. “It kind of feels like a lot of these people got elected because they said they had our backs and it’s been what, six weeks or something since they were sworn in, and nothing. Every meeting it’s, ‘We’re doing it next meeting.’ I don’t want to say I’m done, but I’ve definitely lost faith.”

What the officer, and the five other members of the GPD who reached out to express their outrage at what unfolded Monday, did not know was that a majority of council members had been second-guessing the decision to hold off on the vote one final time since they raised their hand to approve the delay.

So, they were equally shocked — this time, to their delight — when council member Jamie Taylor raised the issue before the board resumed its recessed closed session Tuesday evening.

“You guys know I’m new here, but I do have a question about clarification of yesterday’s conversation about police pay,” she said. “Looking back at the video, when I saw it on the agenda, I was kind of under the impression that when we went yesterday, we were going to be able to vote on what we wanted to do with the Police Department and their raise.”

FILE PHOTO

And even though the discussion revealed an intention to hold the vote at the board’s Feb. 12 meeting, Taylor felt the public — and, particularly, members of the GPD — needed to hear, definitively, that she considered increasing salaries to assist West in filling his department’s ranks Priority One. “It just kind of hit home when I went home last night,” Taylor said. “It was hard for me to sleep because I was just worried that we’ve had three teenagers killed since October — three 17-year-olds — so, I just want someone to clarify it for me.”

Mayor Charles Gaylor responded.

The only reason the increase had not been voted on Monday, he said, was because he felt the board needed to see “real numbers” so there was “transparency” ahead of a formal decision being made.

“I did not call for a vote because I did not see a specific package with a specific number,” he said. “I can’t speak for anybody else, but I did not ask for a motion because I didn’t see a package with an actual number that we could properly digest and say, ‘This is what I’m voting on.’”

Gaylor also noted that City Manager Tim Salmon and Assistant City Manager Matt Livingston had recommended a 3- to 4-month pay study before proceeding with a vote — but that the council had shot it down, citing a need for more immediate action.

But that is not where the discussion ended.

Councilwoman Hiawatha Jones bemoaned the fact that the board had told the community police pay was its top

priority, but “kicked the can down the road” by not taking a formal vote Monday.

And Councilwoman Beverly Weeks said she did not need to see “real numbers.”

“I could care less at this point about the cost. I want the citizens to hear me,” she said. “I could care less about the cost. Safety is of priority to our citizens. Get the Plan A. Get the officers hired. Get them trained and in place. There are people dying.”

Chris Boyette took it a step further — looking into the camera live-streaming the meeting and pledging that his “yes” vote is coming Feb. 12.

“I think that as soon as we get this in front of us to where we can vote on it, I can go on record and say or hold my hand or whatever needs to be done to assure the public that when this item comes up Feb. 12, I will be voting for it. I will raise my hand right here in front of this circle,” he said. “I was ready to vote on it last night, but what was brought to us wasn’t what we could vote on. We were presented with a 6-month-old plan that wasn’t accurate at this point. So, I’m ready to vote. I plan to vote affirmatively for that plan and I plan to ensure, through my say, my voice, my vote, that it be effective March 1.”

West has been banging the drum for an increase in GPD pay he believes would stop his officers from leaving Goldsboro for more money offered by neighboring communities since last summer, but met resistance both Continued on page 14 newoldnorth.com

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Continued from page 13

from Salmon and the majority of the previous council, which opted for a smaller raise than the chief recommended that did not stop the bleeding in the GPD’s ranks.

But public outcry has reached a fever pitch in recent weeks after a number of teenagers were gunned down, a shooting unfolded before noon inside Berkeley Mall, a body was found near Target, and staggering gun violence numbers from 2023 were released by the GPD. A majority of the council has responded by vowing to do whatever it takes to ease residents’ fears — starting with the salary increase West believes will help him beef up the GPD’s ranks and return his special units, including the gang and selective housing outfits, to capacity.

Gaylor vowed to ensure the council will have the opportunity to do just that in two weeks’ time.

“I think we’ve made it clear,” he said.

“Getting real numbers in front of us (Feb. 12) so we can make an educated vote that is transparent, so the public is fully aware of what we’re committing to.”

The message was received loud and clear by the six officers who contacted Wayne Week after Monday’s meeting.

“I feel a lot better about it now and I think what they said Tuesday is really going to have a positive impact on morale,” the veteran officer said Wednesday. “I don’t know if all that would have gone down if Jamie hadn’t put herself out there at the beginning there, and we won’t forget that she did that for us. And I’ll be honest, Beverly gave me goosebumps when she basically told the manager she didn’t care what the numbers were. They just fought for us, and we won’t stop fighting for the people who live here.

And you watch. Once we get staffed back up, the people out here running wild are gonna wish they didn’t choose to do what they’re doing in Goldsboro. Give us a chance to get off patrol and do the real work and it’s on.” n

SPECIAL REPORT

State: Salmon received water bill credit for “leaky hose”

Goldsboro’s city manager was among employees and elected officials who got water bill credits without justification that they were necessary, calculated correctly, or approved by a supervisor.

W

BY KEN FINE AND RENEE CAREY

hile City Manager Tim Salmon was recommending water rate increases for Goldsboro residents, he did so with the knowledge that he was one of the recipients of a credit to his water account for a “leaky hose” — just one of dozens of undocumented credits awarded to city employees, elected officials, and some of their family members discovered during an audit of the city’s finances that began in 2022 after State Treasurer Dale Folwell blew the whistle on how business was conducted inside City Hall amid Goldsboro’s inability to hit financial reporting deadlines.

In a report drafted by the North Carolina

State Auditor’s Office and sent to Salmon Jan. 12, officials identified six “issues” of concern.

Several of them, according to auditors, were reflective of a lack of oversight by Goldsboro leaders and had the potential to “erode” the public’s trust in its local government.

When it came to the Water Department, the report, which was obtained by Wayne Week through a confidential source, alleged that “inaction from city leadership” led to everything from an employee crediting her mother’s water account 11 times and former City Council members receiving grace after, in one case, failing to pay a water bill for more

than four years without disconnection to officials “wasting” 2.2 million gallons of the city’s water and sewer services “by distributing water without collecting payments.”

The state also found, after a review of the account billing history for 36 accounts that were “delinquent and/or in the name of a City employee or elected official” from July 2019 to June 2022, that 24 balance credits had been made to those accounts without justification that they were necessary, calculated correctly, or approved by the unidentified “Utility Customer Service Supervisor.”

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“Since the Utility Department did not have supporting documentation … auditors could not determine how many gallons of water and sewer usage were unpaid,” the report reads.

One of those credits was allegedly given to Salmon, who earns more than $160,000 a year.

Others implicated by the state include two former City Council members, a current Wayne County commissioner, and a current member of the City Council and their mother. (Once their names are independently verified, they will be published in Wayne Week.)

The problem, according to auditors, is mainly perception — that Goldsboro leaders giving elected officials, city employees, and their family members grace that may or may not have been extended to the general public “risked giving the appearance of unequal treatment.”

“Equal treatment by the government is a key responsibility for government leaders,” the report reads. “Standards from the United States Government Accountability Office state that those entrusted with public resources are responsible for providing service to the public effectively, efficiently, economically, ethically, and equitably.”

Members of the current City Council participated in two marathon closed sessions Monday and Tuesday — with the second ending well after midnight.

And while it is unclear whether Salmon provided documentation to support the credit made to his water account, a state source with direct knowledge of the investigation that resulted in the preliminary report sent to City Hall said the manager was unable to explain why he was given what auditors perceived as “preferential treatment.”

The state, in its report, blamed leaders inside City Hall — both the current leadership team and the people who held the posts before them — for failing to develop “written policies and procedures to govern utility operations.”

The findings related to the Water Department include: • A former member of the City Council did not have their utility services cut off, despite accruing a debt of more than $4,700 over more than four years.

• A former City Council member was delinquent on two separate occasions — for a total of 1,392 days — and did not have their utility services cut off, despite carrying a debt of $798.

• A current city employee was delinquent on three separate occasions — for a total of 3,111 days — and did not have their utility services cut off, despite carrying a debt of $1,466.

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• Auditors reviewed the detailed account balance history for 19 accounts that were delinquent from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2022, and found that the Utility Department did not cut off the 19 accounts until between 34 and 817 days after what should have been the cut-off date. From that date until their eventual cutoff, those customers used approximately 2.19 million gallons of water and sewer services without paying.

• Auditors found that the Utility Department did not detect in a timely manner, or, in some cases, at all, the illegal reconnection of utility services on accounts that had been cut off.

They reviewed 167 accounts that were delinquent between October 2020 and November 2022 for nonpayment and determined that 9 percent of the customers illegally reconnected their service and resumed usage.

• Auditors determined that the city failed to collect at least $24,537 in water and sewer services provided to delinquent accounts with untimely disconnections.

• Auditors determined that the city failed to collect $1,012 in stolen water and sewer services.

• Auditors determined that the city failed to collect $40,520 because of “unsupported balance credits.”

• A current Goldsboro employee allegedly used their position to credit their mother’s utility account nearly a dozen times between Jan. 30, 2019, and March 30, 2022, to reduce her water bill by more than $400 — an alleged crime state officials blame on inaction from city leaders.

It is unclear how the current council plans to rectify the water issues identified in the preliminary report, but auditors asked for the city’s response — and any documentation that could be used to refute the claims — by Friday. Whether or not Salmon and his team hit that deadline remains to be seen.

But the state was clear that at the very least, the optics of perceived preferential treatment could have repercussions in the court of public opinion.

“Unequal treatment could prevent the proper operation of democratic government by threatening the public’s confidence,” the report reads. “For example, the City Code of Ethics states: The proper operation of democratic government requires that public officials and employees be independent, impartial and responsible to the people … that public office not be used for personal gain, and that the public have confidence in the integrity of its government.”n

SPECIAL REPORT

Former mayor, city attorney questioned some of city’s COVID spending

In 2020, then-Mayor David Ham and City Attorney Ron Lawrence scrutinized reimbursement requests from a non-profit.

City Manager Tim Salmon approved them anyway.

E

BY KEN FINE AND RENEE CAREY

mails sent in 2020 by then-Mayor David Ham and City Attorney Ron Lawrence seemingly substantiate claims made by state auditors in a preliminary audit report sent to Goldsboro City Hall Jan. 12 that City Manager Tim Salmon ignored concerns expressed by city leaders regarding how some federal Coronavirus Relief funding was distributed by the city.

In the report, which marked the culmination of a deep dive into Goldsboro’s finances that began in 2022 after State Treasurer Dale Folwell excoriated city leaders for its repeated failure to fulfill financial reporting deadlines, the state alleged that Salmon overrode objections from department heads,

dismissed grant agreement requirements, and brushed aside the city’s “existing financial procedures,” leading to misappropriation of more than $21,000 in federal funds.

More than $7,000 of that sum was paid to the director of the non-profit Three In One Family Center for a down payment on a new Acura MDX and repair work on his personal vehicle, a Lexus RX350.

The report, which was obtained by Wayne Week through a confidential state source, detailed how Salmon and his assistant, Octavius Murphy, overrode department heads regarding those reimbursements — allocations they characterized as “overreach,” “iffy,” Continued on page 18

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Continued from page 16

“wasteful,” and “potentially fraudulent.”

And the emails, which were also obtained

by Wayne Week, reflect more of the same.

Ham said the requests for CARES funds to be used for those expenditures were “really weird” and went as far as saying “the whole thing smells fishy to me.”

“We don’t need to be giving CARES money to operate and maintain their personal vehicle,” the former mayor wrote.

He also questioned why, if the nonprofit’s food distribution program covered Clinton, Nash County, Kinston, Turkey, and Fairmount as well as Goldsboro, Mount Olive, and Dudley, the city was on the hook for maintenance of the vehicles.

“Aside from the reasons already stated, if he is using his car to travel to surrounding counties, then we shouldn’t be paying for all his operating expenses,” Ham said in an email dated Dec. 12, 2020. “I suspect that only a small portion of those miles are driven here in Goldsboro.”

City Attorney Ron Lawrence also weighed in.

In an email dated Nov. 30, 2020, that was obtained by Wayne Week, he wrote, “I do not think repair expenses to his vehicle qualify.”

According to the state, Salmon approved the reimbursements anyway.

When asked, by auditors, why he made

the decision, he said the city was “in a state of emergency” and his job was to “slow the spread of the virus and potentially save lives.”

“There’s no telling how many lives he saved,” Salmon said, according to the report.

“Maybe he saved zero. Maybe he saved many.”

The following were among the state’s findings related to its charge of “distribution of Coronavirus Relief funds to reimburse expenses that did not qualify under federal law and regulations”: • Auditors tested the city’s disbursements to seven non-profits and small businesses that received a total of $92,500 from November 2020 to April 2021 and found that nearly a quarter of the money spent — 23 percent — was used for expenses that were “not necessary, not incurred due to the pandemic, and not adequately documented.”

• When asked why he supported approval of the reimbursements to Three In One questioned by department heads, Murphy told auditors the leadership team’s mindset “was to get this process (paid) quickly,” and that he and Salmon “felt like we were being creative.”

• When asked why he ignored existing city procedures, Salmon said, “I don’t know. I guess service.” When Murphy was

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“We don’t need to be giving CARES money to operate and maintain their personal vehicle. ”

asked the same question, he responded, “I don’t know. That’s a good question.”

• Auditors said the city violated federal law and guidelines by failing to “distribute funds to recipients for qualifying expenses that were necessary, incurred due to the pandemic, and adequately documented” — that as a result, $21,346 was “wasted.”

It is unclear what, if any, fallout will occur as a result of what auditors claim regarding the alleged misuse of federal funds, but the state recommended that the North Carolina Pandemic Recovery Office investigate all $248,996 distributed by Goldsboro to small businesses and non-profits and urged the city to “immediately recoup all expenses” that have been determined to not be allowable or lacking key documentation.

But assuming the City Council takes the finding seriously and follows the state’s call to action, the board would “provide regular oversight of city leaders and management to ensure that legal requirements are followed, and financial resources are safeguarded.”

Salmon had until Friday to submit an official response — in which he can challenge the findings laid out in the preliminary report — to the state. Whether he hit that deadline remains to be seen. n

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