Council president calling for forensic audit of city budget
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Council President Stephen Clay walked into a roomful of reporters in the City-County Building Tuesday, while his assistant placed a big bag of shredded documents on the table.
After exchanging pleasantries, Clay explained why he brought in the bag of ripped up documents. Clay said a council staffer tipped him off that cabinets were left open, historical files were missing, and documents were recently shredded.
Clay started his own inspection and said he discovered that two council staffers were given 10 percent raises without council approval. Under Clay’s interpretation, in accordance with Section 192-205, council members must be notified of pay raises 10 percent or higher.
Clay later terminated council clerk NaTrina Debow, and her assistant who were given the raises.
Then he called for a forensic audit of the city budget.
“What I’m providing you with is information that proves why we need to have a sense of understanding on what is going on in this office. That is why we are calling for an audit,” says Clay.
Late Tuesday afternoon, 24-Hour News 8 received word that Debow had a response. From her attorney’s office, Debow stated the shredder is often left in an on position. In her statement she added that the shredder is used by everyone in office, including councillors and sometimes visitors, and that it gets emptied every three months.
As far as the missing historical files, Debow told reporters she is not aware of any files missing. She then touched on the topic of salary increases. On August 30, 2016, she informed councillors of staff raises due to attrition and addition of job duties.
24-Hour News 8 pulled video of Debow on that date informing councillors of the raises. Debow believes her pay raise and her assistant’s were documented and justified by human resources and advertised in the local newspaper.
What puzzles Debow about her termination is that she says Clay gave her a word of confidence after he was voted as president of the City-County Council.
“The night of the election and the next day, Councilor Clay approached me and told me my job was safe because I have been nothing but professional,” said DeBow.
Clay has not filed a report with the police department. 24-Hour News 8 is learning that Clay may face a roadblock to his audit request.
On February 19, Clay could be removed as council president, as Democrats and Republicans are set to vote on possibly changing council leadership.