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Reacting to complaints about possible conflicts of interest, Mecklenburg County commissioners voted Tuesday to remove County Manager Harry Jones and one of his top lieutenants as voting members of a committee that looks into alleged misspending.
The move means Jones and County General Manager John McGillicuddy can serve only as ex-officio members of the county board's Audit Review Committee.
Their roles have come under scrutiny since the committee began evaluating county management's response to recently revealed accounting failures at the Department of Social Services.
Some commissioners said the arrangement could undermine public confidence in an ongoing investigation because Jones and McGillicuddy would, in effect, judge their own performance.
On Tuesday, the county board agreed to add commissioners Dumont Clarke and Karen Bentley to the committee. Two members of county management will provide information to the panel.
“There was an obvious conflict of interest on some issues,” Commissioner Dan Murrey said.
In their final act as voting committee members, Jones and McGillicuddy voted last month to remove themselves from the panel.
County officials established the Audit Review Committee in 1999 to oversee financial audits and make recommendations to the commissioners. They took action following the indictment of former county elections director Bill Culp, who pleaded guilty to taking $134,000 in bribes and kickbacks.
The original committee included two commissioners, two county administrators and a community member.
The committee has helped lead a county investigation into why officials cannot account for tens of thousands of dollars that were supposed to help needy children. The issues include a $10,000 check that was made out to a county employee.
Complaints about the makeup of the committee surfaced in July after it issued a report that endorses reforms county managers implemented to correct problems found by auditors.
Counties such as Guilford, Wake, Durham and Forsyth have audit review committees and none allows staff to sit on the panel.
Fred Clasen-Kelly: 704-358-5027
