Published Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2002
GREENVILLE
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Henderson wants more than audit
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'PEOPLE SHOULD PAY' IF ACTIONS ILLEGAL, HE SAYS
Herald Staff Writer
Freshman Greenville Councilman David P. Henderson on Tuesday called for a criminal investigation into the borough's past fiscal practices.
Henderson said council -- with five of its seven members sworn in for the first time last week -- has learned some of the borough's goriest fiscal details through newspaper reports.
Among them:
"We should launch a criminal investigation," Henderson said Tuesday after a special council meeting.
"Maybe something illegal was done. Maybe it wasn't," Henderson said. "But we need to know exactly what happened. We need to know the truth."
"We need something more than an audit," Henderson said. An audit of Greenville's 2001 finances is to be released next month, but council expects to receive some preliminary audit findings as early as next week.
If something illegal was done, Henderson said, "People need to pay."
A probe could "clean the slate," he said.
After Henderson floated the idea, council President Richard Houpt -- who denies that initials on one of Nicoloff's salary advances are his -- said he had intended to discuss the matter at council's next regular meeting. New Borough Manager Kenneth S. Weaver agreed that past fiscal practices should be investigated.
"I agree with that, but it has to go in the proper direction," said Weaver, who started working for the borough last week.
Weaver said council and its solicitor Warren Keck III, who did not attend the meeting Tuesday, should work together to determine how best to pursue the matter.
Weaver said the borough would need to determine, for instance, whether the matter was best suited for the state Attorney General's Office or the state Auditor General's Office.
You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Tom Fontaine at
tfontaine@sharon-herald.com