Whistleblowers Rintoul, Garner, Rogers and attorney Val Preda

Whistleblowers allege Pendergrass corruption

Posted by
Mike Buffington
Wednesday, August 5. 2009
Comments (23)
THREE City of Pendergrass employees allege that the town is rife with corruption, ticket-fixing and favoritism, but that Mayor Monk Tolbert ignored evidence they gave him in June of the wrongdoing and instead, fired two of them under the guise of “budget cutting.”

On June 28, city clerk Katherine Rintoul, policeman Scott Rogers and policeman Bill Garner, along with their attorney Nancy Val Preda, said they met with Mayor Tolbert and gave him documentation and audio recordings they had been gathering for weeks of what they worried could be unethical or illegal activities by city administrator/police chief Rob Russell.

But rather than dealing with Russell, Rintoul and Rogers were fired last week by the mayor and council, supposedly as part of city budget cuts. The two say, however, their dismissals were really in retribution for their having blown the whistle on Russell.

Among the allegations stemming from documentation and interviews with the three are:

• That Russell knowingly misappropriated city SPLOST funds from their legal limited use to unauthorized uses, including paying city “contract” employees, then misleading city auditors about how the money was spent.

• That Russell had extensively misused his city credit card for personal use, including the buying of clothes, expensive steak dinners, toys, and personal out-of-town travel. Other city funds were also misused under Russell’s direction, they said, including paying a vet bill for a city employee and giving a $3,000 city lawn mower to a city councilman to “keep him happy.”

• That the police department has serious ethical problems, including Russell having pressured city police officers to profile those who they caught, such as to stay away from people who “drive Mercedes” because they complain too much.

• That Russell and city court judge Scott Tolbert, son of the mayor, routinely fixed tickets, including violations as serious as DUIs.

• That after meeting with Mayor Tolbert in June and giving him evidence against Russell, the mayor, without city council approval, quickly negotiated a secret settlement with a former policewoman who had a federal lawsuit pending against the city.

• That as further proof the city is trying to hide wrong-doing, the day after last week’s firings, Russell and others began shredding a massive number of city documents in an effort to cover-up the town’s corruption.

For the full story on the Pendergrass whistleblowers, see the Aug. 5 issue of The Jackson Herald.
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#1 Anon on 08/05/09 at 01:06 PM [Reply]
None of this surprises me at all!
#2 Anonymous on 08/05/09 at 01:58 PM [Reply]
Why didn't these employees leave then if the city was corrupt?? Eiter they were part of it or they were riding the money train.
#3 Anonymous on 08/05/09 at 10:48 PM [Reply]
Oh right, these days people can just walk away from their jobs.... These people are coming forward and standing up for what is right, they are putting themselves out there to do something about the corruption. You should be grateful that there are still good people out there like this, two of them have already lost their jobs because they refuse to be part of something they know is wrong.
#4 Anon on 08/05/09 at 10:53 PM [Reply]
Does anyone know what is next? What happens to those involved? What about the city? Will the Mayor stay? Rob Russell? What is next?
#5 4 him on 08/06/09 at 01:47 PM [Reply]
The article neglected to mention length of service for
Rintoul, Garner, and Rogers...it does make you wonder as
to how long they have known about the ethical issues. If for
a long period of time why are they addressing it now? Too
many blanks in this article....
#6 Hopeful on 08/06/09 at 03:25 PM [Reply]
"never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed it's the only thing that ever has." margaret mead. I will be at the next city council meeting and i ask that you join me. If we just turn our heads nothing will change, they will assume that we don't care. And the only one who is allowed to get freaky with my money is me. The next council meeting is august 25 at 6:30(unless they secretly change it and then shred it and then lie about it and then admit to it and then apologize for+and+then...............)
#7 curious on 08/06/09 at 09:10 PM [Reply]
Is this the same Chief that got the city State Accrediated in 2005 or 2006? The answer is yes. I know the Chief and think he is a good guy. If he is corupt he would have never got the police department certified. Small town politics is nasty as I can attest to that! Good luck to the Chief! And if he is so corupt why did it take yall so long to say anything? Disgruntled ex-employees got to love them. If I was the Chief I would consider a law suit. Better think before you run your soup cooler.
#8 onlooker on 08/07/09 at 12:15 AM [Reply]
Amen to that...I'm not in your community but it sure seems like a good time for those that are to attend a council meeting...and stand with those who have stood and lost their jobs for it. This would change the negative face of Pendergrass to one of a caring community that wants what is right. No one wants a couple bad apples to be the face of the whole town. Some of us are watching and rooting for you all...
#9 anon on 08/07/09 at 06:54 AM [Reply]
...as if we didn't see this coming. IF they were employees for a time, they were probably oblivious or scared for their jobs (new jobs are not exactly easy to come by). Take a look around...I can almost promise you that Pendergrass is one of a few cities in this county that has corruption and ticket fixing (Jefferson and Arcade have both been investigated over the past few years. Am I the only one who has noticed that the city of Arcade has built a multi-million dollar facility with little to no tax base?). Has anyone ever sat in on traffic court? The judges are happy to drop the speeds as to not reflect on your record, but they won't touch the fines. And the fines are typically higher at the city level (at least in Arcade) than they are at the state level.
Corruption in this county is part of the history of this county. Most counties have tried to learn from their history, it seems Jackson County is trying to ignore its history.
#10 josh on 08/07/09 at 07:18 AM [Reply]
just because someone is a "good guy" does not mean he cannot be corrupt. They have recordings of him being corrupt...and if you listen to the channel 5 report, this isn't just "ex-employees" coming forward. True, ex-employees can be very disgruntled, but there is definately more to this story than one employee losing her job for budget reasons.
#11 Oh, please on 08/07/09 at 08:16 AM [Reply]
Just exactly what planet do you live on? I'm guessing you are a family member of one of the accused.
#12 EB on 08/07/09 at 02:45 PM [Reply]
Boy does that P@$S me off that someone would even suggest that it's acceptable for some people to break the law but not so much for others. I notice you mentioned that they do keep their friends and family out of trouble up there..so you are backing up what the officers were proving on FOX 5 last night. Who's side are you on anyway? In my opinion we all need to go to the next city council meeting and raise some H*@!!
#13 Allen on 08/08/09 at 04:47 AM [Reply]
Just goes to show that there is corruption even in small towns. To me everyone in some form of politics is a crook to begin with. Look at all the crooks in the whitehouse and senate and congress. The whole United States Government is run by a bunch of low down crooks. Out for themselves. They must also be getting cuts from these dirty CEO's of the big corporations as well. Just the big word "GREED". And when three people step forward to blow the whistle, my hat is off to them. It is time to say enough is enough and get rid of the dirty rif-raf rats of politics who want to rip every one off. .corruptions runs in small community run government as well as in the Whitehouse. GREED is everywhere in the government offices. Time for the American citizen to say "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH"
#14 IT'S ABOUT TIME! on 08/08/09 at 08:47 AM [Reply]
EVERYONE IN THIS COUNTY HAS KNOWN THAT THE CITY OF PENDERGRASS HAs BEEN CORRUPT FOR A VERY LONG TIME!! I THINK EVERY ONE OF THOSE CITY OFFICIALS NEED TO BE KICKED OUT OF OFFICE AND A WHOLE NEW GROUP BROUGHT IN! ALL THE GEES AND TOLBERTS, WHO, BY THE WAY, OWN MOST OF THE CITY'S PROPERTIES BUT DON'T WANT TO PAY THEIR PROPERTY TAXES, SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED! IF THEY WERE PAYING THEIR OWN PROPERTY TAXES THEY WOULDN'T BE HAVING TO CUT BUDGET! IT'S ABOUT TIME AN OUTSIDE ENTITY DID A THOROUGH HOUSE-CLEANING IN THAT TOWN!
#15 Jean on 08/10/09 at 11:58 AM [Reply]
You don't think that maybe there are other reasons for getting the police department certified and/or the city accredited, do you?
#16 yowsa on 08/10/09 at 10:06 PM [Reply]
Fox5 Atlanta I-Team profiled this story tonight.......busted the son/judge wide open wearing the very tshirt he had just told Randy Travis that he didn't buy with city funds - caught with his britches down. lololol

Corruption is about to come to an end in that lit'l "family operated' town.
#17 Ricky on 08/11/09 at 03:42 PM [Reply]
Okay For those of you who think the police Chief is a good guy after all this , I have a few things to remind you of, 1st, okay there is evidence that he used the tax papers money in a wrong way , buying new dress clothes with tax money unless it was used for his police job which should be the only job Rob had , you cant hold as many jobs in on town and do your main job in full , his main job was police chief, period that is what he was hired for in the 1st place!! Also there was other spending that never should have went on.. The deal with the illegal immigrant driving the city vehicle and them knowing it and even knowing the guy was an illegal immigrant , not having insurance , no drives lis, etc.. Okay that a very real mess up by the city they should have criminal charges brought up against them on that one! The fixing court tickets is another issue , that should held as a criminal offense , them letting the guy off that was got for DUI and was a family memeber of one of the city councel members was very wrong!! If this was driving and not have been caught he might have killed someone that could have been a family member to anyone or worse it could have been you! A police chief not wearing better clothes to represent his police dept is another issue , to me and from being in public safety for 18 years the more you better dress for your job the more people will respect you. That is a fact! I think the city judge needs to be looked at along with the mayor because it seems he is as guilty as everyone else.. There should not be that many folks in a family working in the same place , it is bound to turn bad in the end!! Pendergrass is only half the problem in this county if you ask me there needs to be changes at every level of public safety! But what it is really going to take is the citizens ( taxpayers) of this county along with the citizens of Pendergrass to stand up and make a difference! Regardless of how this issue got started it is something that should be looked into , if the money had not gotten used in ways it shouldnt have , my question would be would there be enough to still have the 2 people employed , also why does the town of Pendergrass , need street workers , the county inmates have been doing this for as long as I can remember , this would have saved on the city budget , why even have a garbage pickup in a small city like Pendergrass?? This could have been handled by local garbage collectors. You have to ask yourself in a small town like this which is more important public safety or street dept personnel , the way Pendergrass is growing it would be public safety 1st then street dept 2nd , if you dont have public safety 1st then why even bother with the rest? I do think Pendergrass needs a fulltime police dept with a fulltime police chief but I think the chief needs to deticated only to the job he was hired to do and that is being a police chief! Also I have a question, why did Pendergrass need an ambulance and 2 motorcylces?? Thats seems to be a waist of money also.
#18 Go learn you something... on 08/12/09 at 06:24 PM [Reply]
Officer Ricky. Are you for real? If you worked for me and wrote a report the way you did your comments, you would have been without a job too. You must be a rent a cop at the mall. No real cop can write the way you do. What is this world coming to. You worked at Pendergrass at one time. You should be glad you were even given the chance to work there as long as you did. You also worked at Arcade under the old chief. Just because you were fired your throwing mud. Get real, FRUITLOOP!
#19 Whatever.. on 08/13/09 at 07:37 AM [Reply]
What is your point? He may have some grammatical errors and spelled some words incorrectly but his points are valid.
#20 Umm... on 08/13/09 at 02:37 PM [Reply]
Just a few definitions:

your: of or relating to you or yourself or yourselves especially as possessor or possessors

you're: you are

Just an attempt to learn YOU something.
:)
#21 molly on 08/14/09 at 04:53 PM [Reply]
No, teach you something.
#22 Umm... on 08/18/09 at 03:41 PM [Reply]
Yes, I understand that. It was a play on his name. I apologize if it was unclear to you...
#23 welcomed obsever on 08/20/09 at 06:49 PM [Reply]
Yes you can slam the person on his writing abilities.....you can even make fun of him,,,,just rember when you are pointing a finger ,,,three fingers are pointing back at you. This person sous as though he knows what he/she is referring to.....SO go ahead make your dumb comments ,,,,frankly I would believe the other person over your word.....by the way if you found any errors in my writing ,,,then just SUCK IT UP..
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