As reported on WZEP AM 1460
In a scathing rebuke of Walton County District 5 Commissioner Cindy Meadows and County Administrator Larry Jones, State Attorney William Eddins presented the findings of a Walton County Grand Jury report unsealed yesterday by the Honorable Judge Kelvin Wells.
At an afternoon press conference at the Walton County Sheriff's Office Headquarters, Eddins congratulated the members of the Grand Jury for their hard work. Flanked by Walton County Sheriff Michael A. Adkinson, Jr., Eddins revealed a poor and dysfunctional Planning Department staffed with employees suffering low morale, frustration and high turnover.
The States Attorney also discovered an additional $200,000.00 error in missing fees in what the grand jury called an "egregious" finding.
Most disturbing and of particular concern are the actions of County Administrator Larry Jones and District 5 Commissioner Cindy Meadows. Eddins said evidence indicates that both Jones and Meadows became directly involved in the hiring and firing of Planning Department employees. The ordinary chain of command was not followed and supervisors were given little or no input in the decision making process.
In one case, an applicant with a connection to Commissioner Meadows was hired for a position with little input from the department supervisor. Despite having no experience in the position, the employee was hired at a higher salary than others who were already working in the identical position.
The charges stem from the arrest of former Walton County Planning director Patsy Blackshear earlier this month for lying to the State Attorney during an official investigation and then lying to the Walton County Grand Jury regarding the failure to collect $600,000 in recreation fees from developers. She faces a judge on October 20th.
The error was discovered by Walton County Planning Department employee Hal Laird, a 10 year county employee. Once Laird brought the discrepancy to the attention of superiors, he began to have difficulties at work and Meadows insisted he be fired. She ordered County Administrator Larry Jones to terminate him on July 21st without following the county's progressive disciplinary procedures. Laird filed a lawsuit in federal court early this week under the "Whistleblower Act" charging Meadows, Jones and the Commission for violating his First Amendment rights and wrongful termination.
Attorney Eddins also noted that the Grand Jury found that had the County Commission followed the recommendations of an outside consultant's report done a decade ago, many of these problems could have been avoided.
Numerous other problems were discovered including poor management, direction and supervision of department employees and management of the county's comprehensive and land use plans which have resulted in the loss of millions of dollars.
However, it was the meddling by County Commissioners in the day to day operations that drew the ire of Grand Jurors and investigators. Witnesses testified that the role of the Commission is to set policy and establish a budget. Despite these limitations, evidence indicates that a particular Commissioner is very involved in directing day to day operations of County government.
I asked Walton County Sheriff Michael A. Adkinson, Jr. if his office has been pressured or if any of the County Commissioners have tried to interfere in the way he operates his agency. The no-nonsense Sheriff had a very clear message. "Absolutely not. They would be met with nothing but a stiff rebuke from this office. I think most of those folks have better judgement that to attempt to approach me in that capacity."
State Attorney Eddins called on Commissioners to heed the findings of the Grand Jury and implement the recommended changes.
Commissioner Cindy Meadows and County Administrator Larry Jones were unavailable for comment at press time.