Galveston city leaders call for accountability after an audit uncovered policy violations within the park board. Employees allegedly used their private businesses for city events and approved payments to family members, raising concerns over ethics and transparency.
After an audit showed conflicts of interest on the city's park board, members of the Galveston city council are calling for responsibility and changes to the city's rules. The report said that park board workers broke the rules by using their own businesses for city events and giving money to family members without checking with anyone else first.
Seawolf Park, a famous place to visit in Galveston, was the site of one important discovery. The report showed that the worker who was supposed to choose event vendors had hired their own personal company to do some of the work. At first, the worker said it had only happened a few times, but a past worker said it happened all the time.
"Where I take extreme issue with this is there was profit taken for somebody's business, clearly breaking park board policy on city property," Alex Porretto said.
Another troubling finding was that a park board worker hired his wife's business to do training work and then personally approved the payment.
These results came to light after the city started to look closely at the park board because of Angela Barton's case of theft, in which thousands of dollars were taken. Members of the council asked why no one has been punished for the latest violations, even though Barton is no longer working for the agency.
Porretto continued, "If there's no disciplinary action... this is inappropriate."
The audit suggested changes to the policies, such as making it necessary to get permission before working on a private business and not letting workers approve payments to family members.
In answer to the audit's results, the council is now thinking about taking two parks off the park board's hands.
