On June 7, former Buncombe County CFO Tim Flora sent an email to the Board of Commissioners, members of the press and the N.C. Department of State Treasurer. Flora, who claims that he was forced to resign by Chair Brownie Newman and Senior Staff Attorney Michael Frue on May 30, 2018, alleges that the county’s audit report incorrectly lists him as employed as CFO as of June 30. He also suggests that the board ignored his concerns about former County Manager Wanda Greene and other county employees.
Open email from Tim Flora:
Brownie,
I finally got around to reading the 2018 Financial Statements and Audit Report for Buncombe County as well as watching the May 14 presentation to the Board. Congratulations on getting an unmodified (clean) audit report. This reflects well on the organization and fine staff who work for it, especially considering the turmoil of the past couple years.
I did notice an oversight that I would like corrected. Under the organization chart and on the County Officials page I am listed as the Chief Financial Officer as of June 30, 2018. If you remember, it was May 30, 2018, when you and Frue forced my resignation. This was effective June 15, 2018, at which time you appointed an interim Finance Director.
This mistake and your ongoing half-truth comments I have seen this past year compel me to respond. You continue to foster a narrative that the County’s financial infrastructure was flawed and allowed for unfettered corruption. And I feel as if I am your scapegoat. I am proud of the good work done by myself, Finance staff, former external auditors, and past Buncombe County Audit Committee members in building and maintaining sound financial policies, protocols and processes. Through the combined efforts of these people and others, controls were established, controls that exposed and led to the investigation and ultimately guilty pleas of Wanda, Mandy, and Jon. This was done despite the extensive power and latitude given by the Board to these most-senior county executives that allowed for collusion, coercion and management override.
I read over the audit report and its many findings. It made for good headlines, especially when you consider how extensive, costly, and late the audit was. When you drill into the findings, however, I don’t see the years-long-lack-of-financial-controls failure that you imply. What I did see was the inadequacies of the County’s current staffing situation and the importance of having a CPA on staff in a senior Finance role. You had two, myself and my controller, both gone prior to the audit completion. This left no in-house expertise and a vacuum of experience and knowledge to sufficiently address the County’s yearend audit and financial statement preparation needs.
I considered providing a meticulous response to the findings, whether to justify or defend them, because that is what I would have done if in the County’s employ. Then I realized it would be lost on you and the Board. Why? Because you don’t want to hear what I have to say. When in 2009 I was the County’s internal auditor and brought potentially fraudulent activity to the attention of management, I was chastised. Later when I became management and again brought potentially fraudulent activity forward, I became a target. When I told the Board I had concerns and did not trust the county manager, I was ignored. When you did—once—decide to listen, it was at an inquest with a forgone conclusion, an inquest engineered by the now-known-crook Mandy as part of a yearlong whisper campaign to rid herself of me.
I often wonder if over the years the Board of Commissioners performed its oversight responsibilities, would I have succeeded in my role as CFO. I was never given the chance. By the Board not doing its job, I was forced to do mine. When I did, my reward was punitive. You failed me. The County failed me. And in the end, it was County constituents and hardworking, honest staff who were failed.
I look forward to you correcting the CAFR as mentioned above, posting the corrected version and updating the Local Government Commission.
Sincerely,
Tim Flora
Way to go Mr. Flora!
Brownie – break out the aloe, that was the best slow burn I have ever read! What a joke of a Commissioner.
Yeah Tim!!! Let’s expose it all. Too many in official position intentionally chose to become deaf, blind, and dumb to the fraud and the misdeeds that were going on because too many citizens that had elected them to serve, were in their face exercising their First Amendment right to hold them accountable for their actions. Those who were in office at the time, cannot swear under oath that no one alerted them to the criminal actions that have since been exposed. At the BC Commissioners meeting on June 7, 2011, they testified that they withheld funds to the public access media station to silence the people who were exposing the corruption. The admitted conspiracy with the City of Asheville to provide Public Access through a FRP that was also denied. I requested an itemized equipment audit for the “award winning” BCTV govt channel in July 2018, that I am still waiting on. Did any public news media investigate the “losing” government channels to see what their budget was? Buncombe County denied the public media funds to privilege themselves with an “award winning” government TV channel… and still continues to win awards that sit stacked upon each other. Did someone say audit? Transpanancy? Accountability? Let’s get it straight, there are more charges that need to be filed in the ongoing investigation of the corruption in Buncombe County and the City of Asheville.