DANKS & DANKS
Attorneys at Law
1010 Sycamore Street
Evansville, IN 47708
February 11, 2013
I have been asked to give an opinion on the “legality and propriety” of the
Council using David Garrett’s services.
I have done so and find that Garrett’s services are NOT in contravention of
Federal, State or Local laws and the State Board of Accountancy’s
regulations.
In addition to my own research, I telephoned the Board of Accountancy’s
Compliance Officer, Brian Cusimano, who was quoted in the Courier & Press.
I explained to him the services being provided by Mr. Garrett and read to
him, verbatim, the Descriptions of Services provided in Mr. Garrett’s
Contract.
Mr. Cusimano stated that Garrett “absolutely did not” need to be a Certified
Public Accountant to perform the services and that his services were in no
way improper.
Moreover, Garrett’s Contract provides that “Garrett agrees to be bound by
all State and Federal laws and standards applicable to Certified Public
Accounts.regardless of the status of Garrett’s past or present Certified
Public Account License.” Thus, it is acknowledged in Garrett’s Contract
with the Council that he does not have to have a current CPA Certification.
Additionally, I find no improprieties relating to Garrett’s services.
Mr. Garrett graduated from college in 1980 with Honors. In 1985 he passed
his CPA exams and was Certified. He also became a CMA and TMP.
Because Mr. Garrett never served as a Public Accountant, he did not feel it
necessary to maintain his Certification and allowed them to expire in 1997.
AT NO TIME WERE GARETT’S CERTIFICATIONS REVOKED OR SUSPENDED
OR SUBJECT TO ANY OTHER DISCIPLINARY ACTION.
It should have been no surprise to anyone on the Council that Garrett did
not hold a current CPA Certification.
Mr. Garrett’s resume was submitted to the Council. In addition to providing
his employment and educational history, his resume reflects that he held the
“prior certifications”: CPA, CMA, PMP. His resume DOES NOT reflect any
current certifications.
Garrett has never referred to himself as a CPA in writing or otherwise nor
does CPA ever appear after his name in written communications.
The only reference to Garrett being a CPA is when Councilman Friend was
discussing his qualifications and, among many other things, stated that he
was a CPA. Councilman Friend inadvertently left out the word “was.” This
is the only time that anybody made referenced to Garrett’s Certification
status and there is absolutely no evidence of any attempts to mislead the
Council.
In speaking with Mr. Cusimano I learned that a “formal complaint” has not
been filed. Apparently, he was acting on a telephonic report of some type
of impropriety on Garrett’s part. He informed me that any investigation was
not even in the preliminary stage. After explaining all of the above to Mr.
Cusimano and the nature of Councilman Friend’s statement, he indicated that
he had not been provided with all the facts and indicated that he did not
feel that a violation had occurred.
It should also be noted that any complaints to the State Board of
Accountancy are to remain confidential until such time as wrong doing is
found pursuant to State statute. This Statute seems to have been violated
in Garrett’s case.
I believe that the State Board of Accountancy and the Evansville Courier &
Press have been duped by someone with malicious intent toward Mr. Garrett.
Mr. Garrett provides an invaluable service to the Council as well as to
myself as the Attorney for the Council. I have found him to be a brilliant
analyst and has been of a great assistance to me. Moreover, Garrett has
literally devoted several hundreds of hours of his time on behalf of the
Council that is above and beyond what is required by his contract without
compensation for these services.
I truly believe that the complaint to the Board of Accountancy and the
reporting to the Courier & Press was a malicious attempt to bully and
intimidate Mr. Garrett. I would sincerely hope that the Council would give
Mr. Garrett a unanimous vote of confidence at tonight’s meeting.
Scott A. Danks, Attorney at Law
for the Common Council of the City of Evansville
Footnote: This article was posted without editing, opinion or bias.
MONDAY 2/11/2013 PM
Seven members of the Evansville City Council gave gave glowing approval as to the job performance of David Garrett.
Two members, Missy Mosby and Jonathan Weaver, voted, as they did originally, against having David Garrett perform the audit of the city’s finances for the council.
Considering what went on with the financial ledgers of Evansville during the last year of the Weinzapfel administration and the first 9 months of the Winnecke administration, when two other audit firms were under contract and the public was never informed that the books were not balanced during that time period, it boggles the mind that Mosby and Weaver think there is nothing to gain from Mr. Garrett’s work.
Is there something that Weaver and Mosby are trying to keep hidden from public view?
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Attorney Danks stated that: “He was going to make every effort to determine who filed the complaint with the State Board of Accountancy’s
Compliance Officer, Brian Cusimano.”
I hope attorney Danks is as good as his word in this matter. The public has a right to know this information.
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Yes Missy sure look worried
Good!!!!
I meant Messy looked worried I always had trouble with spelling names
This whole thing has gotten off track. Unfortunately John Friend is responsible for screwing it up. John Friend said he is a CPA—–when Garrett is not. That was one of the main issues. John Friend should have been man enough to apologize for miss-speaking at tonight’s meeting but he did not.
The current job/work that Garrett is doing may not be legally required to be bid out, but it always best to do so and pick the best bid–not necessarily the cheapest.
It appears Garratt did some work for the City in the past and he did not charge for it. Now Friend needs more help and he wants Garrett to be paid for it.
Friend was wise tonight to remain rather quite and not get over excited.He was nice/polite to Russ Lloyd tonight.
Friend does not have to “apologize” to anyone. Some people would like to forget what a screwed up mess the city’s financial records were/are in, even though they had two audit firms under contract!
This investigation of the city’s finances needs to go a lot deeper and cover ALL OF THE SBOA AUDIT EXCEPTIONS that were listed in their last “attempt” at an audit. Most especially the six years of contracts, from 2006-2011, between the city and SM&G for the management of the city’s publicly owned entertainment facilities!
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Exactly right!!!
I agree , and they should be held accountable for their actions to the fullest extent of the law
This seems a little … over the top … for having been asked to give his opinion in regard to the “legality and propriety” of the matter.
Methinks Mr. Danks doth protest too much.
Methinks it was a little over the top for the editor of the Evansville Courier&Press to email attorney Danks during the meeting in some sort of CYA mode for their disgusting behavior in what was a blatant attempt at character assassination.
Of course most thinking people would expect nothing less from the Courier&Press nowadays. If it was not for their obituaries and legal notices, the vast majority of subscribers would cancel their subscription in a heart beat.
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I should have stated here that after attorney Danks outed the fact that the editor of the Courier&Press had emailed him during the meeting, making it clear that he would not be playing ball with the newspaper on any attempt to walk back what they had already done, the smear campaign continues apace in this morning’s edition.
These people are getting on my last nerve. What a sorry ass way to run a newspaper.
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Has the council voted on president and vice president yet?
Jordan…where have you been????? They voted on this in January!
I asked about it and Jack W. said it was going to be later that month iirc (I could be wrong though). I know Connie was unopposed but I thought Dan Adams had rounded up enough votes to move into the VP. Did that happen?
The officers are elected the 1st meeting in January. Where have you been? Sorry, the meeting wasn’t held at Roberts Stadium.
It’s ok. It’s much better being hosted in a cramped room where the public can only access the room via one pinch point entrance.
You still didn’t answer the question.
I remember your question and someone did answer that it hadn’t happened yet. It may have happened by now, but I don’t believe it was the 1st meeting in Jan.
Team Weinzapfel is the team that Missy and Weaver are still working for. Fired and Disgraced is what their conniving leader was. Fired and Disgraced is what Jonathan Boy and Missy should be.
Heck Ya!!! These clowns need to be out of local politics ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rails Connie is still the prezio and I think doc Adams is vice prezio I think
Awesome, I figured that’s what happened when Gallagher started being a s.a about it. Dan Adams is in my doghouse but he is certainly an enormous improvement for the VP position.
City Council….. What a disgusting Soap Opera!
Mr. Danks, thank you for standing up to the bullying reporting tactics of the Courier and Press. Keep up the good work. Weaver and Mosby are likely covering the fiscal mismanagement of the Weinzapfel regime.
Taken down by Editor because post was off message.
Danks wrote:
“In speaking with Mr. Cusimano I learned that a “formal complaint†has not been filed. Apparently, he was acting on a telephonic report of some type of impropriety on Garrett’s part. He informed me that any investigation was not even in the preliminary stage.
It should also be noted that any complaints to the State Board of Accountancy are to remain confidential until such time as wrong doing is found pursuant to State statute. This Statute seems to have been violated in Garrett’s case.”
How can someone violate a statute when no complaint had been filed?
State investigating complaint about expired credentials of City Council’s outside auditor
Accountant received $20,000 contract to review city books
By Eric Bradner
Posted February 8, 2013 at 9:29 p.m.
Have you seen a retraction or an apology?
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That lie in print may just make the CP the target of a lawsuit if Garrett loses any work over this negative publicity. Garrett may have a case against Weaver, the CP, and even the City Council unless they disavow Weaver’s on camera character assassination of Garrett.
What is just unbeleivable is that a Scripps-Howard paper would get sucked into the muck of greasy local political games. Evansville politics is more like Hunger Games. Some of these people are disgusting.
“Tributes, may the odds be ever in your favor”
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