Rocky Mount Today

Rocky Mount City Council members debated a corrective action plan that the city manager would implement in the wake of a state audit report that allegedly found questionable financial practices and expenses, however, talks did not go as planned. 

State Auditor Beth Wood reported before the May 26 special council meeting that city workers removed $47,700 in utility bills Councilman Andre Knight alleged owed, the Rocky Mount Telegram reported. Additionally, Wood's report accuses City Manager Rochelle Small-Toney of having steak and lobster dinners at the expense of taxpayers. The report also alleged that Councilman Reuben Blackwell's Opportunities Industrialization Center should not have funds from downtown redevelopment projects. Blackwell is the CEO of the firm, according to the Rocky Mount Telegram. 

Instead, the meeting took turned into an internal debate, with even accusations that the audit report was done to attack African-American public officials, the Rocky Mount Telegram reported. In addition to Small-Toney's actions, the city council discussed write-offs of every utility account since the city has written off over $21 million in bills since 1999, Councilman Andre Knight told Rocky Mount Telegram. If the council decides to look at all the write-offs, they would have to vote and City Attorney Jep Rose would be able to release customer's utility records, which typically isn't public information.

"We’ve always found ways to deal with what we don’t agree on and move forward on policy, without descending to name-calling, calls for corrective action and illegitimate concepts that have nothing to do with governing," Blackwell said, according to the Rocky Mount Telegram. "So, if we want to have peace, let’s do right and not just choose a vantage point about a utility bill.”