Columbus Mayor Jim Wetherington denied a request from Edward DuBose of the NAACP for the GBI or FBI to investigate complaints from Battalion Chief Janice Bruner about a lack of fair treatment at the Columbus Fire and Emergency Medical Services.
Wetherington denied the request at Tuesday night’s Columbus Council meeting during which the board heard a report from internal auditor John D. Redmond, who investigated Bruner’s complaint, which included screws in the tires of her city vehicle, a loosened oil filter and claims of altered time cards. The investigation by Fire Chief Jeff Meyer and Redmond came 13 months after the screws damaged tires on the vehicle of Bruner, who became the first woman battalion chief in November 2007.
“I’m satisfied Chief Meyer did what he could,” Wetherington told DuBose, president of the Georgia State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. “We don’t know where she picked up the tacks.”
DuBose said he wasn’t surprised the mayor rejected his call for another body to look at Bruner’s claims about the tacks.
“When you look at this type of case it’s not uncommon for people who experience what Janice Bruner experienced for time to lapse,” DuBose said. “You don’t know how to react. The time lapse means nothing.”
DuBose said the mayor is too close to the case and needs an objective look from the outside. “He is not calling the GBI,” DuBose said of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. “The question is, ‘What are you trying to hide?’”
While he failed to win support from the mayor, Dubose said he has talked to Muscogee County Sheriff John Darr and District Attorney Julia Slater to look over Bruner’s claims.
“The district attorney is going to take a look at our request,” DuBose said. “I plan to ask the FBI to look at it. I believe it speaks to acts of a terrorist and hate crimes.”
During the meeting, Meyer was available to answer questions about Bruner’s report but Assistant City Attorney Jaimie DeLoach told councilors a closed-door session would be required for him to respond. Meyer was called at the end of the council meeting.
Bruner’s claims went unnoticed by the council for 17 months after Redmond’s report was completed in February 2009. The report and 45 other audits or special investigations were filed in the mayor’s office, and City Manager Isaiah Hugley also had copies that weren’t made available to the 10-member council until July 2.
Councilor Julius Hunter, an attorney, said Redmond’s report was troubling and the council didn’t have an opportunity to respond. “I wish we had known back in 2009 that this had taken place,” he said.
To make sure council was aware of all reports, Councilor Evelyn Turner Pugh called for copies of the other audits after Redmond completed an audit of the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department in May. That probe led to a criminal police investigation and to Parks and Recreation director Tony Adams and Herman Porter, a staffer in the department, being put on paid leave.
Turner wasn’t at Tuesday’s meeting but she has sponsored an ordinance changing the way audits are handled. A proposed ordinance would require that before an audit is submitted to the mayor and Columbus Council, the city manager, department head or elected official involved shall file a written response with the internal auditor/compliance officer within 10 days of receiving the report. The proposal and three other drafts were delayed until the Aug. 10 meeting.
