In a meeting June 22 that lasted about four hours, the Board of Directors of the Green Hills Community Action Agency at Trenton voted to have the Missouri Attorney General’s office perform an audit of the agency.
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The decision came on the heels of an investigation by the attorney general’s office to determine if GHCAA improperly spent funds from government contracts and restricted donations.
The motion was made by board member Randy Sims of Daviess County.
"I made the recommendation because the books are so messed up we can’t tell if there’s $100,000 missing or $10," he said. "Nobody can tell for sure."
It would be hard to blame Sims personally for any failings on the part of the Green Hills board. This was only his second meeting since volunteering to be a member. He was asked to take the place of Linda Houghton who quit recently to pursue other interests.
"I really like helping people out," Sims said. "And Green Hills does a lot of good things. So I thought, sure, I can do that."
He didn’t know he was walking into a "hornet’s nest."
"When I pulled into the parking lot for my first meeting a week ago, there were a lot of cars there," he said. "I looked at the crowd and thought, gee, there’s a lot of interest here. Then I got in there, and — I’ll put it this way — there was a very heated conversation going on about money missing. It blew me away. I thought, what in the world did I get myself into?"
At his second meeting on June 22, Sims made the request for an audit during open session, which followed two closed sessions on personnel and legal matters.
"I made the recommendation because the agency is already under investigation by the attorney general’s office," Sims said. "As a board, we are liable if money is missing and could be held responsible. By requesting an audit we show our good faith. We show we’re trying to help by asking for the auditor’s help."
Sims told those in attendance that as a representative of Daviess County he was prepared to sever all ties with GHCAA if the audit is not performed.
"I will resign as a committee member," he said. "I’m not going to put Daviess County on the front line for this."
Sims said an audit should fill in all the missing pieces of the puzzle.
"We have to know, do we have any money?" he said. " If we do, where is it? If we don’t, where did it go? Did somebody take it? Or is it just bad bookkeeping? "
His recommendation for an audit was seconded. Another board member, Leon Hicks from Harrison County, agreed to make the call to Missouri Attorney General’s Office on Thursday, June 23, in regards to the audit.
Counties that are served by GHCAA include Daviess, Caldwell, Grundy, Harrison, Mercer, Sullivan, Putnam, Linn, and Livingston. There are 27 members on the GHCAA board.
Recent cuts to the federal budget have forced many Community Action Agencies to restructure or close their doors entirely. One of the biggest agency changes became effective on March 18, 2011. The Daviess County Service Center, located in Gallatin, and the Mercer County Service Center, located in Princeton, both discontinued services at their locations. Clients now seek services at neighboring county agencies.
The original organization was incorporated on June 4, 1965.
According to a Sept. 30, 2010, report on "Consolidated Statement of Financial Position," published in a newsletter by GHCAA and online, the agency’s total assets amount to $7,665,996 and its total liabilities and net assets equaled that amount.