City Council

DocuSign Envelope ID: E8F29604-8210-4BB0-8C3E-FBC249953DEC MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL CITY OF SEAT PLEASANT SPECIAL SESSION TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2023 6:00P.M. 1. OPENING 1.1.1 Call to Order Council President McCarthy called the meeting to order at 6:04p.m. 1.2 Roll Call Present: Councilmember Donovan Bilbro, Councilmember Monica Higgs, Councilmember Hope Love, Council President Shireka McCarthy, Mayor Kelly Porter, Councilmember Gerald Raynor, Sr., Councilmember Kizzie Scott, and Councilmember James Wright, Jr. Staff: Betty Logan, Chief Financial Officer, Dashaun Lanham, City Clerk, LaShaya Johnson, Staff Assistant, and Myneca Ojo, City Manager 2. PRESENTATION 2.1. None 3. CITIZEN COMMENTS 3.1 There were no citizens on the zoom call and no written comments were submitted. 4. MEETING TOPICS 4.1 Senior Accountant Recommendation and Approval  Ms. Logan stated that she would like to request two senior accountants, and an Accounting Assistant. The report submitted this month shows that the department is severally understaffed, and they have competing priorities.  Ms. Logan stated that they have bills delinquent and they are not able to pay bills in time, and the serious problem is that they cannot provide timely, accurate financial statements. They cannot provide account reconciliations and the records have not been reconciled since 2021 with the 2018 audit. The city was using two financial statements, quick books and NetSuite and they were supposed to transfer to QuickBooks, but they never transferred. They must convert over 1.5 million dollars from QuickBooks to NetSuite, Page 1 of 5 DocuSign Envelope ID: E8F29604-8210-4BB0-8C3E-FBC249953DEC and it will cause severe problems for the audit. They cannot find the supporting documents for the transactions, as the records do not exist. They have since gone to the bank statements, to provide the auditor with proof of record transaction. The city is running into roadblocks, and they have factored into a materiality threshold, with 2-5% city assets, and issue clean opinion. They are continuing to look for documents, reconciliation, and material documents.  Ms. Logan stated that the need is for two senior accountants to do bank and account reconciliation for the city. They cannot tell you the financial status of the city, as the city is operating on a cash basis. The information was provided to the Budget and Financial Committee that the city is making decision in the blind, as the books have not been reconciled. The city needed to safeguard the assets by not providing financial information over the telephone. They will be reviewing the various financial transactions, and vendors are sending invoices to an e-mail address that has not been monitored back to 2020.  Ms. Logan stated that the Accounting Assistant is needed to assist with recording and deposits, and the department of Finance will assume the responsibilities from the Police and City Clerk departments so that they can account for and manage the report on the city assets. The environment in the department is unhealthy, as they are working numerous hours of overtime to manage the department. They are moving to processing invoices once a week, and she had informed the departments verbally. They need to receive the invoices at least five days in advance. They are prioritizing the invoice from oldest to newest. The additional resources will truly mitigate the problem, as well as manage their health. The department was reduced from five people to two and the need is crucial, as the city had brought in contractors, and they were not competent.  Ms. Ojo stated that she wanted to thank Ms. Logan for her assessment of the department. We knew it was bad but did not know how bad as we did not have anyone with financial acumen. She concurs with the recommendation, and she is asking for the council to support the two senior accountant positions.  Councilmember Wright stated that are they asking for an accountant or bookkeepers? Page 2 of 5 DocuSign Envelope ID: E8F29604-8210-4BB0-8C3E-FBC249953DEC  Ms. Logan stated that she is asking for Accountants with at least five years of municipal government experience, reviewing account transactions and a degree. The city revenues are overstated, and they need a person to record expenditures on an accrual basis.  Councilmember Wright inquired if Account Temps can be a firm that can be utilized?  Ms. Logan stated that she has been in the process with a local accounting firm that provides accounting assistance, and she has received resumes, and checked their backgrounds.  Council President McCarthy stated that she knows the need and she would like to see the department fully staffed, and her concerns is the timing due to the budget process already in place. Do they plan on rolling this into the FY24 budget?  Councilmember Love stated that she had a conversation with Ms. Ojo after her conversation with Ms. Logan and the money is there and they can move money from different places in the budget.  Motion to Approve the Position Description for the Senior Accountants to be amendment for $75,000 as the salary cap for each position.  Motion by Hope Love, second by James Wright Jr.  Final Resolution: Motion Carried  Yes: Monica Higgs, Hope Love, Gerald Raynor Sr, Shireka McCarthy, James Wright Jr, Donovan K Bilbro  Abstain: Kizzie Scott 4.2 Approval of Staff Assistant Revised Position Description Motion to Approved the Revise Position description for the Staff Assistant. Motion by Hope Love, second by James Wright Jr. Final Resolution: Motion Carried Yes: Monica Higgs, Hope Love, Gerald Raynor Sr, Kizzie Scott, Shireka McCarthy, James Wright Jr, Donovan K Bilbro 5. LEGISLATION Page 3 of 5 DocuSign Envelope ID: E8F29604-8210-4BB0-8C3E-FBC249953DEC 5.1. Ordinance O-23-11 Adoption of Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Budget 2nd Reading.  Ordinance O-23-11 Adoption of the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 was introduced by the City Council and read by the City Clerk on Monday, June 12, 2023. The second reading was held on Monday, June 20, 2023.  Motion to Approve Ordinance O-23-11 to Adopt the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Budget  Motion by James Wright Jr, second by Gerald Raynor Sr.  Motion Carried  Yes: Hope Love, Gerald Raynor Sr, Shireka McCarthy, James Wright Jr, Donovan K Bilbro  No: Monica Higgs, Kizzie Scott 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 6.1. None 7. ANNOUNCEMENTS 7.1. MML Summer Conference, Ocean City, MD from June 25-28, 2023 7.2 Regular Work Session, Monday, July 3, 2023, by Zoom Webinar at 6:00p.m., Meeting Link details are available on the city's website, Seat Pleasant, MD 7.3 Community Block Party, Saturday, July 8, 2023, Cabin Branch Dr., from 1:00p.m.-4:00p.m. 7.4Ward II Community Ward Walk, Thursday, July 13, 2023, Seat Pleasant Elementary School, 6411 G St., Seat Pleasant, MD 20743 8. ADJOURN Action: 8.1 Adjourn and Logout-Motion to go into Closed Session under General Provisions Art. § 3-305(b) (1) To discuss the appointment, employment, assignment, promotion, discipline, demotion, compensation, removal, resignation, or performance evaluation of appointees, employees, or officials over whom this public body has jurisdiction; any other personnel matter that affects one or more specific individuals”. The City Council departed the Special Session at 7:04pm The City Council reconvened in the Special Session at 7:31pm The meeting was adjourned at 7:33pm Page 4 of 5 DocuSign Envelope ID: E8F29604-8210-4BB0-8C3E-FBC249953DEC Submitted by, Dashaun N. Lanham, MMC City Clerk Page 5 of 5