Ortonville- Village Clerk/Treasurer Mary Clark is on paid administrative leave pending results of an audit, likely to be revealed this week.
‘We placed her on leave because of some accounting questions that need to be researched and resolved,? said Village Council President Ken Quisenberry. ‘There is no missing money that we know of. Poor and sloppy record keeping is what led us to taking a look into it.?
Clark had no comment.
Quisenberry said Clark was given leave on Oct. 19 after a councilmember brought questionable recordkeeping to his attention. Quisenberry said there are checks that have not been cashed and were placed in a filing cabinet. An audit will be performed by Lewis & Knopf of Flint.
‘Records should be simple and speak for themselves and when they don’t, it becomes suspicious,? Quisenberry said. ‘Sometimes it’s not finding things that is just as suspicious.?
Quisenberry noted that in addition to Clark’s actions as treasurer, her actions as clerk are also being called into question. Controversy erupted in June, hours prior to a petition filing deadline for the September village council election, after Clark had mistakenly posted as available a 2-year council trustee term. In actuality, the 2-year term was a partial term and another 4-year term was available in addition to the two that had already been announced. The error nearly caused a candidate to miss the filing deadline.
At the time of the mishap, Clark apologized and Joseph Rozell of the Oakland County Elections Division said there were no sanctions in place for such an error.
Quisenberry said this week that he was unaware if Clark had received any warnings regarding her performance as a clerk/treasurer previously. He did not consider giving her a warning.
Councilmember Kay Green, who is on the personnel committee with Quisenberry and Village Manager Ed Coy, said it was unfortunate that sensitive information regarding Clark had been leaked prior to the issue being discussed with Clark.
‘Rest assured that the council is reviewing all aspects of the alleged issues and will decide what action may need to be taken,? she said. ‘We found some things and we’re looking into them. We will sit down with the auditors in an exit interview and hear what they have to say.?
Clark has been employed by the village since 2003.
Quisenberry said all village employees are continually being evaluated, ‘as they should be. Job performance is always an issue for the village council. We want the best employees and the best work.?