THREE City of Pendergrass employees allege that the town is rife with corruption, ticket-fixing and favoritism, but that Mayor Monk Tolbert ignored evidence they gave him in June of the wrongdoing and instead, fired two of them under the guise of “budget cutting.”
On June 28, city clerk Katherine Rintoul, policeman Scott Rogers and policeman Bill Garner, along with their attorney Nancy Val Preda, said they met with Mayor Tolbert and gave him documentation and audio recordings they had been gathering for weeks of what they worried could be unethical or illegal activities by city administrator/police chief Rob Russell.
But rather than dealing with Russell, Rintoul and Rogers were fired last week by the mayor and council, supposedly as part of city budget cuts. The two say, however, their dismissals were really in retribution for their having blown the whistle on Russell.
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MONDAY NIGHT REPORT FROM FOX5 TV: Cut and past into your browser
www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/I_Team_Pendergrass_Spending_081009
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Pendergrass Whistleblowers: Rintoul, Garner, Rogers, attorney Val Preda.
Whistleblowers allege Pendergrass corruption
Among the allegations stemming from documentation and interviews with the three are:
• That Russell knowingly misappropriated city SPLOST funds from their legal limited use to unauthorized uses, including paying city “contract” employees, then misleading city auditors about how the money was spent.
• That Russell had extensively misused his city credit card for personal use, including the buying of clothes, expensive steak dinners, toys, and personal out-of-town travel. Other city funds were also misused under Russell’s direction, they said, including paying a vet bill for a city employee and giving a $3,000 city lawn mower to a city councilman to “keep him happy.”
• That the police department has serious ethical problems, including Russell having pressured city police officers to profile those who they caught, such as to stay away from people who “drive Mercedes” because they complain too much.
• That Russell and city court judge Scott Tolbert, son of the mayor, routinely fixed tickets, including violations as serious as DUIs.
• That after meeting with Mayor Tolbert in June and giving him evidence against Russell, the mayor, without city council approval, quickly negotiated a secret settlement with a former policewoman who had a federal lawsuit pending against the city.
• That as further proof the city is trying to hide wrong-doing, the day after last week’s firings, Russell and others began shredding a massive number of city documents in an effort to cover-up the town’s corruption.
For the full story on the Pendergrass whistleblowers, see the Aug. 5 issue of The Jackson Herald.
• That Russell knowingly misappropriated city SPLOST funds from their legal limited use to unauthorized uses, including paying city “contract” employees, then misleading city auditors about how the money was spent.
• That Russell had extensively misused his city credit card for personal use, including the buying of clothes, expensive steak dinners, toys, and personal out-of-town travel. Other city funds were also misused under Russell’s direction, they said, including paying a vet bill for a city employee and giving a $3,000 city lawn mower to a city councilman to “keep him happy.”
• That the police department has serious ethical problems, including Russell having pressured city police officers to profile those who they caught, such as to stay away from people who “drive Mercedes” because they complain too much.
• That Russell and city court judge Scott Tolbert, son of the mayor, routinely fixed tickets, including violations as serious as DUIs.
• That after meeting with Mayor Tolbert in June and giving him evidence against Russell, the mayor, without city council approval, quickly negotiated a secret settlement with a former policewoman who had a federal lawsuit pending against the city.
• That as further proof the city is trying to hide wrong-doing, the day after last week’s firings, Russell and others began shredding a massive number of city documents in an effort to cover-up the town’s corruption.
For the full story on the Pendergrass whistleblowers, see the Aug. 5 issue of The Jackson Herald.
Defined tags for this entry: mike
It's a small town in GA!
P.S. How do you fire staff claiming budets problems then rehire a former police woman and pay her attorney 20,000.00. And why is Rob russell taking a pay cut now to employ this police woman? why not keep the 20,000.00 and then take the pay cut rob russell!
I think Russell and Tolbert are filthy liars and are no good! The point is Russell and Tolbert talk out both sides of their mouth. To avoid problems say...I will give the employees excellent references. To save your ass say Rogers had a lot of complainants. Someone FIRE these corrupt jerks!
CORRUPTION!
ROB RUSSELL + RONNIE MAXWELL???
As for the "monster of a civic center", the city is subject to the open records request law to provide all of the cost information concerning the Community Center to anyone who requests it (in writing) to the Nicholson City Clerk (for a nominal fee, of course). So if you REALLY want to know, just write up your request and go by the City Hall (if you can catch them when they are open, between 8:00 am and 2:00 pm, gotta love those "banker's hours"!)
I think Mayor Ronnie is up for re-election this year, isn't he? Lets see if anyone runs against him that's any better. I DARE anyone to try it!
Why don't you buy a newspaper for crying out loud? Why would you expect it to be free?
P.S. You must be one of those dispatchers that would prefer to watch TV than doing your job...if you even are a dispatcher.
I really hope not. I am sure Russell was folloowing orders.. The Tolberts should go down with him,