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 Christopher McGuire brought up the missing approvals, City Manager Diadra 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, 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, which Powell addressed. “There’s a list that was provided, but that list still doesn’t say what’s what.”

Powell stated 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 received a reply from City Clerk Sierra Harvey on July 1 concerning the availability of the report. “Mr. McGuire did not identify the ‘missing seven receipts’ to the Mayor and City Council. He only asserted that there were such receipts. Since Mr. McGuire did not identify the actual receipts to which he was referring, the City does not know which receipts he was referring to in his presentation.”

Harvey stated that the pool of potential receipts was large. “At this point, the City simply does not know what actual receipts he was referring to, and there does not appear to be any way for the City to determine from Mr. McGuire’s presentation which receipts he was referencing, given the thousands of receipts generated as a result of the City conducting its business on a regular basis.”

She addressed the upcoming report by Nichols Cauley. “Mr. McGuire has not yet provided his final report on the financial review of the Finance Department to the City, and presumably his final report will contain the references to those receipts and the City could then provide them to whoever requests those receipts under the Open Records Act, but until Mr. McGuire either advises the City of which receipts he is referencing, or until they are included in his final report submitted to the City, the City has no way to actually identify those receipts.”