Archives for January 2023

Law enforcement officials this week continue to investigate allegations of misappropriations of funds at the City of Hedley involving former city secretary Kim Davis Gossman.

The Hedley City Council met in closed session for about ten minutes last Thursday, January 19, during their regular meeting before accepting Gossman’s resignation and announcing that an investigation was underway. The council then voted unanimously not to press charges against Gossman, but Mayor Carrie Butler said following the meeting that the council’s vote would have no impact on whether law enforcement might file charges.

As the investigation moved forward, Butler contacted the Enterprise Monday morning and said the city will in fact be pressing charges and also confirmed that the investigation was also focusing not just on Gossman’s role at City Hall but also at the Hedley Community Development Corporation, the local housing authority.

Sheriff Butch Blackburn could not comment on the case Monday other than to confirm that an investigation is underway and that he expects formal charges to be filed soon. He also confirmed Tuesday that his office is seeking the assistance of the Texas Rangers in investigating the case.

Following the council’s meeting last Thursday night, Butler told the Enterprise at that time that the investigation was focused on payroll funds and contract labor funds and said that vacation pay was specifically being looked at.

According to Butler, the city’s auditor, Foster & Lambert, had discovered “discrepancies” in Gossman’s salary while conducting the city’s fiscal year 2022 audit, covering July 2021 through June 2022. Auditor Denise Foster notified the mayor of the discrepancies on Monday, January 9.

The council met in an emergency session on January 10; and according to the uncertified minutes of that meeting presented on January 19, no action was taken in open session. The council did meet in closed session for about 40 minutes to consult with counsel on legal matters, the minutes say.

Butler told the Enterprise last Thursday night that Gossman had returned money to the city and, at the time the council voted not to press charges, she said no money was missing from the city. Butler also said at that time that she herself was conducting an internal audit of the city.

At press time Tuesday, the Enterprise had not been able to connect with officials over the Hedley Community Development Corporation for comment or to confirm if Gossman was still employed by that agency.

The revelations about the investigations came at the end of Hedley’s city meeting which began with three citizens speaking on several issues early in the agenda. Residents Nikki Glover, Carol Glover, and Christan Coyle spoke on a wide range of issues involving water bills, water meter reading, water rates, street maintenance, and other issues. Several residents spoke negatively of Gossman, who was not present at the meeting. When the council initially voted not to press charges, the standing room only crowd erupted with cries of protest and anger from several residents.

Also in Thursday’s meeting, the council approved removing Gossman as a signatory on city accounts and named Butler and Mayor Pro-Tem Trisha Chambless as the two signatures needed for the first and second quarters of this year. Two other council members will be named signatories for the third and fourth quarters.

On Thursday, January 19, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), along with the Amarillo Police Department (APD) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), conducted a joint operation to combat human trafficking by identifying and apprehending suspects who were soliciting prostitution.

The DPS reports that as a result of the collaborative effort, the following individuals were arrested, transported to the Randall County Jail, and charged with solicitation of prostitution: Mohamed Sharaf, 31, of Amarillo Travis Brollier, 37, of Clarendon; Steven Shaw, 38, of Borger; Tilar Holloway, 26, of Pittsburg; and Dusty Smith, 37, of Amarillo.

Solicitation of prostitution, a state jail felony, involves an individual offering or agreeing to pay a fee to another person to engage in sexual conduct.

The Clarendon City Council focused attention on streets in the southeast part of town during their regular meeting January 12 as preliminary plans were made for the next paving project.

City Administrator David Dockery said the streets prioritized for improvement are all east of State Highway 70 South and include Third, Fourth, Montgomery, Barcus, Davis, Hartzell, and Wells. The city is asking OJD Engineering perform on cost analysis on those specific blocks to determine what improvements can be made for a maximum of $500,000.

Dockery said the city has that much money on hand through COVID relief funds and through capital improvement funds.

Figuring out how to deal with water drainage in that area will be a challenge, Dockery said, and so engineers will start with a boundary and topographic study of the area in order to address significant erosion issues on the streets in question.

The council’s discussion on future street improvements came after aldermen took no action on proposals for broadband infrastructure improvements. COVID relief money can be spent on broadband improvements, but Dockery said the council wants to see what the state government will do about connectivity issues in the near future.

Last week, the Texas Comptroller’s office released a map showing Donley County as an underserved area for broadband internet service. The map will reportedly help guide the state’s broadband development efforts.

In other city business, the council reviewed applications from candidate for city administrator to replace Dockery, who plans to retire this spring. Interviews of potential candidates are scheduled for January 25 at the Bairfield Activity Center starting at 1 p.m.

The city also contracted with PRPC for future grant applciations

The Hedley City Council accepted the resignation of City Secretary Kim Davis Gossman Thursday night, January 19, and Mayor Carrie Butler said an investigation is underway related to allegations of misappropriation of funds.

The action came at the end of the city’s regular meeting and after the council met in closed session for about ten minutes. Following the acceptance of Gossman’s resignation, the council then approved a motion for the city not to pursue charges against Gossman, and Butler stated that currently no funds are missing from the city.

Following the meeting, Butler said the council’s vote was intended to mean the city would not pursue legal action against Gossman, but she said the sheriff’s office may still pursue criminal charges with its investigation. The funds involved were payroll funds and contract labor funds, Butler said.

Butler said discrepancies were discovered during an audit of the city’s fiscal year 2022, and that Gossman had since returned money to the city. Butler declined to reveal the amount of money in question with the sheriff’s department’s investigation still underway. She also said she is conducting an internal audit herself.

Butler said the funds in question are related to vacation pay.

“The sad part is that if she had brought this to the board, we probably would have approved paying it,” Butler said.

The Enterprise will have more details of the case and a complete report of Thursday night’s meeting in next week’s edition.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the investigation is being conducted by the Donley County Sheriff’s Office rather than the District Attorney’s office.