The following open records request was submitted to the City of Americus: “In the May 22 meeting of the Americus City Council, McGuire, with Nichols Cauley, stated that out of the different disbursements they selected, 12 were missing an approval. I would like all documentation regarding those disbursements, including any new documentation that was found that McGuire may have missed.” Nichols Cauley reviewed the City of Americus’s finances, checking to see if they were following financial policy.

During the same meeting that McGuire brought up the missing approvals, Powell addressed the lack of a sign off. “In the absence of a Finance Director, something that needs to have two signatures is only gonna have one.” McGuire concurred.

In the June 5 meeting, City Manager Diadra Powell commented further on McGuire’s findings. She said that the internal controls for purchase orders (POs) would still work without a finance director. “In the absence of a director, you still have the department head and the manager’s signature on the POs.” McGuire provided a list of POs to Powell that didn’t follow the City’s policy. However, Powell said that she could not find an issue. “Our clerk even went back through her documents, piece by piece, everything’s signed.”

The open records request for the missing approvals was given the following answer on June 27: “No documents are currently available, as the city has not yet received the final report.”

The Americus Times-Recorder has reached out to Powell with questions as to why the purchase order sign-offs were not available when their discovery was mentioned in a Council meeting. The ATR has not yet received a reply.