New beginnings are underway in Bandera in more ways than one.
Last Tuesday, Judge Mike Towers swore new city council members Debbie Breen, Brett Hicks and Tony Battle; Battle was also appointed as the new Mayor Pro Tem.
Following the swearing-in of new members, the council heard from the city’s auditor, Neffendorf and Blocker.
Keith Neffendorf said the city’s finances were strong, but he raised concerns about bookkeeping and consultants.
“The consultant made numerous journal entries without supporting documentation,” he said. “We had to go back through that, and after 48 journal entries totaling roughly $10 million, we had to qualify our opinion. Everything is okay except for the fact that we couldn’t satisfy ourselves with all those journal entry adjustments the consultant made.”
Councilwoman Lynn Palmer asked what needed to be done differently moving forward.
“Well, if you hire a consultant, get them to provide supporting documentation in a contract and hold them to that contract,” Neffendorf replied.
Hayley Blocker added, “We corrected the ones we could figure out that were wrong in the 48 entries. So we worked through a lot of those.”
“The bottom line,” Neffendorf said, “is that you need good financial information to run this city.”
Regarding the journal entries that couldn’t be validated, Neffendorf recommended starting fresh.
“At some point, you’re going to spend more dollars trying to figure out what was wrong in the original entries than makes sense to do, and if you can get a clean start and keep it that way from that point on, you’re much better off,” he said.
Newly sworn in members Hicks and Breen have different approaches to their new roles, but both share a priority.
“We need to take care of basics and address issues we haven’t tackled, like the sewer system,” Breen told the Bulletin. “We need to get a lot of those types of things done so that we’re in a better position.”
Breen added she wants to take care of basics, such as the budget and sewer issues, and maintain the small-town feel of Bandera. For her, it’s about balance, wanting to balance the budget and improve the city while maintaining the pleasant small-town feel.
Hicks also wants to maintain the small-town feel of Bandera. He says he has an open-minded, non-specific approach to his new role on the city council.
“I’m not coming in with any kind of personal agenda or anything like that,” he said. “There’s not x, y, and z that really drove me to run other than I’m from this area. I live here, I raise my family here, I love this city; so I’m just coming in with an open mind.”
Hicks continued, “I’ve not done any kind of politics in the past, and I’m not a political person. I just want to bring common sense and hopefully help make Bandera all it can be.”
He then mentioned the rising appraisals and economic concerns within Bandera, saying, “Inevitably, there’s growth and change that everyone is going to have to deal with, but I don’t think that has to change who we are, and I don’t think it will. So, I think as long as you have people that really love the community, are tied to the community, and feel good about its rich history, then we can continue on that path. And it doesn’t have to look differently but it can evolve in some aspects.”
Bandera City Council meets next on Tuesday, Dec. 12, at 6 p.m. at Bandera City Hall.
