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The city of Freeport voted to tighten up the city’s purchasing policy on Monday following years of controversies over the use of public funds by local officials.
City Councilman Jeff Peña and other residents have been calling for more oversight of the city’s spending practices after City Manager Tim Kelty was fired in December over an unauthorized payment to a contractor.
City officials said Kelty had wired more than $345,000 to Covarrubias Remodeling Service LLC, a contractor hired to renovate City Hall, to purchase equipment before the city had issued a notice to proceed with the renovation. According to the city’s purchasing policy handbook, bidders are required to provide a performance and payment bond to ensure that they can pay for the cost and complete the requirements of the contract. At the time of the wire, Covarrubias had not provided these bonds, the Facts newspaper reported.
The payment was made to Covarrubias last July, but the revelation of the payment did not occur until months later in November.
Tim Kelty could not be immediately reached for comment.
Kelty’s dismissal was the latest in a series of controversies at City Hall over the use of taxpayer dollars.
In 2020, former city manager Jeff Pynes was convicted of theft of a public servant after he was found to have stolen more than $200,000 from the city by gaining kickbacks from contractors and collecting funds intended for the city in separate bank accounts.
Last month, a judge granted a joint motion to dismiss a lawsuit the city of Freeport filed against a former mayor and councilman, Troy Brimmage and his development company Braztex Development, LLC. In the original complaint, the city alleged that Pynes and former Mayor Norma Garcia authorized more than $200,000 to be paid to Brimmage for parcels of land he did not pay for and a development deal he had with the city before the terms of the contract were completed.
Kelty’s dismissal reignited concerns of how city officials were using public funds in Freeport. On Monday, the City Council voted unanimously to remove the mayor as an authorized credit card holder, required employees who request to pay vendors more than $1,000 to fill out a payment authorization form, and lowered the threshold for bids that must go through the formal bidding requirements.
Lance Petty, the new city manager, and finance director Cathy Ezell said they brought these recommendations to council to create “stronger controls on purchasing and invoice payments.”
While the newly implemented procedures are a step in the right direction, Councilman Peña wants to see more action taken.
Since Kelty’s dismissal, Peña said he doesn’t trust the city’s finance director, Ezell. For months, he has maintained that Ezell should be fired, along with Kelty, because she signed the $345,000 transfer to the contractor last year.
At Monday’s meeting, Peña requested that the finance director and Petty be bonded to ensure the city would be able to get funds back if another unauthorized transfer were to be made.
“We don’t want you and the next city manager to do this again,” Peña said.
Ezell pushed back and maintained that she didn't make an illegal payment but admitted that she did approve it.
“I've never denied that I signed to make the payment. However, it was based off false information that I was given. I trusted, and I should not have,” she said.
Resident Pam Dancy said while she appreciates that the council is making changes, she still wants to see more transparency.
“We didn't find out about this for a long time after, and now we’re changing things, which I appreciate. But I still do not like the deceitfulness and that the citizens are not aware of everything that's going on,” Dancy said.
Briah Lumpkins is a suburban reporter for the Abdelraoufsinno covering Fort Bend, Brazoria and Galveston counties. If you have any story ideas or tips for Briah, feel free to send her an email at [email protected].
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