By RICK NOLTE Staff Writer
The City of Waycross has been named in an ethics complaint filed earlier this month by a former member of the candidate pool of the Citizen Ethics Board.
Glenn “Martin” Gray’s action is dated December 5, the day he resigned his seat during a meeting of the panel chosen to hear a complaint against City Commissioner Katrena Felder. Gray’s complaint targets the city’s “lack of oversight and accountability in city-issued credit card spending.”
Gray said the complaint’s allegations stem from testimony delivered during investigation of citizen Clayton Nelson’s complaint against Felder for misuse of her city-issued credit card and also attending a partisan event while on a city business trip. The board delivered a recommendation of prosecution by a city court to the city commission on that filing Monday, December 16.
In Gray’s summary of the grievance, he said the city’s “lack of diligence (in oversight of the spending on cards) raises serious see COMPLAINT, Page 2
Mourners file into the C.C. McCray City Auditorium February 16, 2024 to pay their respects to Sgt. Kennedy L. Sanders during a public viewing. The fallen soldier was killed January 28 along with two comrades in a drone attack on their U.S. Army base in remote Jordan.
FILE PHOTO Continued from Page 1
Complaint
ethical concerns and poses significant risks to the integrity of the city’s financial management.”
The complaint’s detailed observations are:
• absence of established policies and oversight protocols — “This creates an environment where misuse or mismanagement can occur without consequences for proper tracking, undermining public trust in the city’s financial stewardship;”
• failure to conduct regular audits — “This failure reflects a systemic issue that enables potential abuse or wasteful expenditures to go unnoticed or unaddressed;”
• inadequate reporting and transparency — “There appears to be no consistent reporting mechanism to inform the public or city officials about how taxpayer dollars are being spent;”
• potential for abuse — “Without oversight, there is a heightened risk of misuse, fraud, or personal benefit derived from city-issued credit cards;”
• impact on the ethics of leadership — “The absence of such accountability not only calls into question the competence of current practices but also casts doubt on the ethical integrity of those responsible for implementing and overseeing financial policies.”
The complaint urges the ethics board to mandate a comprehensive review of all city credit cards in circulation covering transactions for at least the past two years. The complaint also requests presence of a member of the Waycross Police Department to facilitate a potential transfer of the case to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for further investigation into possible financial crimes.
Interim City Attorney Huey Spearman informed commissioners of Gray’s complaint during their meeting Tuesday, December 16. A blind draw was held to determine the five-person board to hear the case along with two alternates.
The panel selected from the 12member pool is composed of Ossie Andrews, Rev. Fer-Rell Malone, Dr. Earl Martin, Tim Peacock, and Dr. Jené Walker. Shawn Taylor and Marian Solomon-Gaines are the alternates.
Gray’s is the third active complaint before an ethics board. The second was received by the city November 14 from citizen Shawn Sanders against Commissioners Diane Hopkins and Felder regarding the use of the C.C. McCray City Auditorium.
Sanders, the father of the late Sgt. Kennedy L. Sanders, cited violation of two Georgia laws governing public officials in his action. Both statutes O.C.G.A. 4511-5 and 45-11-10 are related to extortion by public officials, Waycross Interim City Attorney Huey Spearman said.
The board selected to hear Sanders’ complaint — Lorene Regulus, Rev. Kit Brinson, Albert Bussey, Peacock and Taylor — met Thursday, December 19 and voted to recommend to the city commission dismissal of the action.
