WAGONER, Okla. — The City of Wagoner is calling for the state auditor to step in over what the mayor calls a lack of financial transparency in the years before its current mayor was inaugurated.
Less than a year into his first term, Mayor Dalton Self told 2 News correcting the past is his top priority. He said he's also had trouble just getting city employees to listen to him, citing an old status quo in city operations.
"I was told that they need to talk to their boss about it they couldn't do it. What do you mean? And then we had an issue with an ordinance and that took ten months to get that resolved," Self said.
Then there are the claims of financial mismanagement from previous years.
Self said it's forced him to end the Bluegrass and Chili Festival - which the city reportedly incurred a loss of $60,000 from - and for the city to sell vacant properties like one that houses the old 'The Depot' restaurant.
"We actually paid rent on it for, I don't know, 15 or 16 months," the mayor said. "Quite a bit of money. And then we actually had it moved to this property and the economic development authority had no idea it was going to that property."
Scott Yandell, who's new to Wagoner and the Wagoner Economic Development Authority board, said he's found holes in past expenses and budgeting that requires a hard look from the state auditor's office.
"I find that our city is very inefficient in the number of employees it has per its population. It's deficient in its services," Yandell said. "It seems to run excessive budgets."
The mayor agreed and put to a vote for the city council to request a citywide forensic audit at a cost of around $80,000. It passed 6-2 on March 4.
Councilor Kevin Higginbottom voted 'No', calling it a poor use of taxpayer dollars.
"I'd like to see our objectives (in this request)," Higginbottom said during the monthly city council meeting. "What do we hope to accomplish?"
Self said he believes an audit is one of the most popular ideas his town's had in years.
“I was elected to make a change in Wagoner and that's what I plan on doing," Self said.
Once the request is submitted to the state auditor's office a forensic audit would likely not begin until next year.
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