Authority member questions slow tracking of missing appliances
A Fayette County Housing Authority board member questioned Tuesday why it is taking three weeks to find out the fate of five missing refrigerators, given the executive director’s own prior lauding of a computer-based automated inventory tracking system. Board member Angela M. Zimmerlink held up a copy of the authority’s 14-page inventory control policy and noted that a simple, one-page form must be filled out whenever an appliance is removed from inventory.
“Why isn’t the staff able to do this (check) immediately?” asked Zimmerlink, who added that if anyone in the public discovered a large item missing from their backyard storage shed, he or she would likely have contacted police by now.
Executive Director Thomas L. Harkless said authority staff is busy chasing down the “paper trail” that inevitably would be left if the missing items were properly moved into housing units for tenant use. He said project managers have until the end of today to comply with that mandate, after which he will notify police that a theft has likely occurred.
“I don’t necessarily know that somebody threw five refrigerators on a truck and took them somewhere,” said Harkless. He added that after he spoke with a reporter late Monday afternoon about the unaccounted for appliances, he was told that two compact hot water tanks on the initial list of missing items had been tracked to a proper disposition at White Swan Apartments.
Quoting from one of Harkless’ prior executive director’s reports, Zimmerlink recited his high praise for the computer software system that has enabled automated tracking of inventory items. She said that given a steady stream of verbal assurances and capital expenditures to improve the system, it shouldn’t take long to figure out if something’s missing.
“I couldn’t understand why it would take three weeks to track inventory,” said Zimmerlink, who said she didn’t know about the missing items until she read a story in Monday’s newspaper. Board member Beverly Beal also said she was not informed about the problem when it was first uncovered.
A maintenance department employee noticed the first week of June that the items were missing from the authority’s Bierer Wood Acres inventory building, which is surrounded by a 10-foot-high fence and a locked gate. Under questioning by Zimmerlink, Harkless said there was no evidence of a break-in at that storage facility.
While noting that he has utmost faith in the integrity of the authority’s employees, Harkless pledged that if the missing refrigerators aren’t accounted for by 4:30 p.m. today, he will “get to be the tough guy” in a likely internal investigation that would parallel police notification.
“You don’t have to be (television detective) Columbo to figure this out,” said Harkless, making an apparent reference to the likelihood of an inside job should the refrigerators not be tracked to an appropriate place.
Board Chairman Kenneth L. Johnson said that it looks like an inside job right now, given the absence of break-in evidence and the fact that no one can document what happened to the refrigerators. However, Johnson said he is confident that documentation will be unearthed showing proper disposition of the refrigerators, just as it was for the hot water tanks.
“If anybody wants to jeopardize their job and their salary for $1,500, then they’re a fool,” said Johnson, referring to Harkless’ estimate of the value of the missing refrigerators.
Harkless added that given the authority’s $14 million to $16 million annual budget and the multitude of inventory it must monitor, a $1,500 loss is relatively minor.
“We need to find that $1,500 (worth of items). But overall we’re doing a good job,” said Harkless.
Board member the Rev. Howard E. Dantzler Sr. zeroed in on the possible intentions of the housing authority source that tipped the Herald-Standard to the missing items. Dantzler said that person’s motives must be brought into question, and he noted “there is still an element in the community” that wants to give the authority a black eye in terms of reputation.
In a general discussion after the meeting, solicitor John M. “Jack” Purcell said he doesn’t blame the press for using information obtained from the source. However, Purcell said that by going to the media the source might have in turn tipped off the thief, if it turns out that the items were stolen.
Asked how the two hot water tanks were finally tracked down and what caused them to be unaccounted for in the first place, Harkless said, “I didn’t get an explanation yet.” He said he was told about the discovery immediately after he hung up with a reporter Monday, as he was heading out the door at the end of the workday.