Former Pahokee city manager cited in Inspector General report: "How not to do business"

The year 2021 was one of political turmoil in Pahokee. A faction of the City Commission moved to oust the city attorney. The mayor declared states of emergency in an effort to stop them. And now the county’s Inspector General’s Office has found that Pahokee’s interim manager awarded a bid for a city ATV to himself.

Greg Thompson may have violated state law when he declared himself the winning bidder for the all-terrain vehicle without ever submitting a bid — and then sold the ATV for a profit, the inspector general has found.

The inspector general referred the matter to the State Attorney's Office to decide whether it's a criminal case. Marc Freeman, spokesman for State Attorney Dave Aronberg, told The Palm Beach Post that the agency's Public Corruption Unit is reviewing the report.

In addition, the report has been referred to the Florida Commission on Ethics and the Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics.

“This was a case study of what not to do when disposing of government property,” said Inspector General John Carey, of how Thompson was able to buy an ATV owned by the city and then sell it for a profit.

“There was a blatant disregard for basic governmental accountability, fairness, responsibility and stewardship over taxpayer dollars that leads to a loss of trust in government.”

An attempt by The Post to reach Thompson for comment was unsuccessful. The inspector general's office gave him an opportunity to respond to its findings and he declined to do so. The city fired him on March 18, 2022, about seven months after he took office.

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ATV sales followed summer of political turmoil in Pahokee

Pahokee’s problems in the summer of 2021 stemmed in part from a dispute two years earlier, when the City Commission fired City Attorney Gary Brandenburg after he feuded with Chandler Williamson, who then was the city manager.

Brandenburg was Palm Beach County Attorney from 1985 to 1988 and later served as city attorney and a special magistrate in Pahokee and Clewiston while in private practice. Among his clients were U.S. Sugar, Motorola and Republican politicians. He died in February 2022.

In July 2021, a faction of the City Commission moved to restore Brandenburg, even though Pahokee had an attorney under contract through that fall.

Brandenburg introduced Thompson, a Clewiston City Commission member, as interim city manager that August, and he eventually took office on Oct. 21, 2021. Mayor Keith Babb was in the faction that fought Brandenburg’s reappointment, and he reported the ATV sale to the county's inspector general.

Scores of employees were interviewed. The investigation found that Thompson failed to ensure that all employees had an opportunity to buy two ATVs that he had concluded were no longer needed.

No effort was made to determine the market value of the two ATVs; the city paid $1,915 for each of them and then spent another $2,080 to repair them.

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The report also cited the city for not having a policy to direct how surplus property should be disposed of but noted that that was even more reason for Thompson to have consulted with city commissioners.

Thompson, instead, reported to commissioners in December 2021 that the two ATVs had been auctioned off, and that he had bought one of them. Thompson said he planned to raffle off the ATV and donate the proceeds to the city’s Centennial celebration.

But that was never done, according to the report. Instead, Thompson sold the vehicle and realized a profit but declined to say how much. Thompson paid $1,425 for the ATV. The report said Thompson never donated the money to the Centennial celebration because city commissioners had fired him.

Former Pahokee city manager: My ATV bid must have been displaced

Thompson, according to the report, sold one of the ATVs to Brandenburg for $4,000 but the ATV was returned after city officials told Thompson he could not unilaterally sell city property and that Brandenberg was not a full-time Pahokee employee.

As for how Thompson could have bought the ATV when the records show he never submitted a bid, Thompson said his bid offer must have been misplaced.

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He said he might have left the bid in the city clerk's office when she was not there. The clerk refused to open the bids because she was concerned about how the process was being used, the report said. Most auctions are publicly advertised, she reported.

Thompson opened the bids himself and then announced that he provided one of the two winning bids, the report said. Former Human Resources Director Jacqueline Ramsay was present when the bids were opened. She recalled seeing all of the bids; none had Thompson’s name on it, according to the report.

Thompson’s conduct “raises serious questions of propriety, professionalism, ethics, waste, fraud and abuse,” the report concluded.

State declined to file criminal charges against former city manager

Just three years ago, the Palm Beach County inspector general released another report accusing the then-city manager, Williamson, of improperly using his city credit card for about $5,800 worth of personal flights, car rentals and hotel stays over four years.

Chandler resigned when it appeared he was about to be fired, according to published reports.

The report identified another $16,000 that Williamson spent on his city credit card without proper documentation and recommended he repay the $5,800. The inspector general referred the case to the State Attorney's Office for possible criminal charges.

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Previous reports from the inspector general's office found that Williamson had improperly closed City Hall for several days and had given many city employees paid holidays without City Commission approval and approved a $150,000 check for work that had never been done at the city's marina.

Freeman said the State Attorney's office declined to file criminal charges against Williamson after reviewing the inspector general's report. There was insufficient evidence to "establish beyond a reasonable doubt" that Williamson intended to "permanently deprive" the city of taxpayer funds.

Williamson, when confronted, reimbursed the city for funds that he was alleged to have misappropriated, according to an investigative report from the State Attorney's Office that was made available to The Post.

Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government and transportation. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Inspector General says fired Pahokee city manager violated public trust