At the Spring Lake Board of Aldermen’s work session Monday, Mayor Kia Anthony announced that former finance director Gay Tucker had repaid the town over $18,000.
Tucker was sentenced in 2022 to four years in prison for embezzling $567,070 over a five-year period from the Town of Spring Lake.
“This is just a drop in the hat to pay back the money she stole,” Anthony said.
Anthony said this was the first payment that Tucker had made towards her ordered restitution.
According to the N.C. Dept. of Justice, “Between 2016 and 2021, Tucker wrote checks from the town’s bank accounts for her personal use, forging the signatures of other town officials, including the mayor and town manager.”
In 2021, the state Local Government Commission took control of the town’s finances because of financial mismanagement, including the eventual convictions of embezzlement and aggravated identity theft by Tucker.
Proposed town charter amendment
What happened: Board members discussed altering the town charter to lengthen terms of office and changing from a “board of aldermen” to a “board of commissioners” No action was taken.
As planned, a public hearing was held at 5:30 p.m. preceding the 6 p.m. meeting.
Resident Henry Ponder spoke in favor of the proposed amendments to the town charter, including extending board terms from two to four years. He also said that he would support increasing the board seats from five members to six in order to give the mayor a right to vote.
“This would keep the board in odd numbers so there could still be a tiebreaker vote,” Ponder said.
No one spoke in opposition. The public hearing was closed after four minutes.
Why it matters: Changing titles from “aldermen” to the gender-neutral “commissioner” will require a change to the town charter, originally written in 1951. Over the years, the board has discussed changing election terms from two years to four years for board members and the mayor, and decided at the last board meeting to hold this public hearing.
What’s next: The board will vote on the amendments at the next meeting on May 13.
Discussion on mayor’s right to vote
What happened: For the second time in two years, Anthony asked the board to consider amending the town charter to include the mayor’s right to vote. She said in a prepared statement read to the board that cities and towns like Fayetteville, Cary and Apex have thrived by adapting their charters to allow their mayor to preside over meetings and actively vote on all matters.
Why it matters: Currently, the mayor only votes in case of a tie. In January 2022, the board discussed changing the mayor’s voting authority, though took no action. Alderman Marvin Lackman and Alderwoman Robyn Chadwick at the time were against a change to the mayor’s voting authority, citing the size of the town and Robert’s Rules of Order, an established standard of parliamentary procedure, allowing for clear decisions for voting with odd numbers.
What’s next: After four out of five board members spoke out in opposition — including Alderman Raul Palacios, Mayor Pro Tem Soña Cooper, Chadwick and Lackman — the consensus was not to move forward with a change.
Discussion on financial policies
What happened: The board planned to discuss financial policies that needed to be updated in order to comply with the town’s Financial Accountability Agreement with the Local Government Commission. However, in an email sent to the board on April 19 and shared with CityView, Town Finance Officer and LGC Staff Director Kendra Boyle asked that any financial policy discussion be collaborative between town management, finance staff and LGC staff before policy adoption. She highlighted in particular “policies directly related to financial processes and procedures and internal controls.” Boyle could not attend the meeting so incoming Town Manager Jon Rorie gave a presentation on finances.
Why it matters: Board members expressed looking forward to hiring new finance staff as Rorie comes aboard next month. During his presentation, Rorie spoke about the need for certain financial policies and keeping cash reserves.
What’s next: The LGC staff, including Boyle, will be brought in to further discuss financial policies with the policy committee. The committee includes Chadwick, Lackman and Adrian Thompson.
In other news, Anthony said that she and Palacios would be attending a meeting at the Cumberland County Board of Elections in order to try to keep Spring Lake as an early voting site. According to Anthony, Spring Lake is on the “chopping block” due to low voter turnout.
The board went into closed session for less than 15 minutes, citing N.C. general statutes for confidentiality and attorney-client privilege. They adjourned after returning.
The Spring Lake Board of Aldermen will hold its next regularly scheduled meeting at 6 p.m. on May 13 at the Grady Howard Conference Room of the Spring Lake municipal complex.
Jami McLaughlin covers Spring Lake for CityView TODAY. She can be reached at jmclaughlin@cityviewnc.com or at 910-391-4870.
