Published Wednesday, February 03, 2010 8:41 AM
Updated Wednesday, February 03, 2010 8:42 AM

 

BCWS audit results delayed

Berkeley County Council did its own rendition of a Barnum and Bailey Big Top during its January meeting last Monday night, as the finance committee meeting in which the results of a year-long Water and Sanitation Authority audit were to be made public deteriorated into across-the-dais sniping and accusations of backroom politicking.

“It’s embarrassing that public officials are acting this way during a public meeting,” said council member Dennis Fish. “I was embarrassed as a council member that this went on.”

Amid accusations and cross-accusations, the finance committee voted 5-2 to postpone the public reading of the Berkeley County Water and Sanitation audit for 30 days.

“I haven’t had adequate time to review the audit,” said council member Tim Callanan, who is also chairman of the BCWS committee.

Callanan said there was supporting data relative to the Water and Sanitation audit that he has not yet received and wanted to postpone the publishing of the report another 30 days to give him time to review the data.

“In order to ask intelligent questions about the audit I need additional data,” he said. “The audit has a booklet of results on it. I was basically told it was not going to be a problem when I asked if this could be postponed until February.

“If I had known this would have been on the agenda, I would have objected last week,” he said. “A courtesy of a phone call would have been nice.”

According to the data on the Water and Sanitation audit produced by the accounting firm of Greene, Finney and Horton, the 113-page audit has been available to council members since Dec. 11, 2009. According to finance committee chairman Jack Schurlknight, council members have had access to the audit for over a month.

“I don’t see what the problem is,” Schurlknight said. “They have had more than a month to read the audit. These were the same people who said last summer that the taxpayers of Berkeley County shouldn’t have to wait until December to hear the truth, and now it’s the end of January, and they want to postpone it until February? That makes no sense to me.”

Along with Callanan, council member Cathy Davis also said she had not had time to properly review the audit findings.

Fish, Phillip Farley and Steve Davis also voted to delay the findings 30 days.

Davis said he would take responsibility, citing recent surgery and recovery for not having yet read the audit report.

Council member Caldwell Pinckney: “It is time for the truth to come out and be told. The truth is always out there and this truth has been waiting to be told.”

The BCWS audit will be read at council’s regularly scheduled Feb. 22 meeting.