Three days after Glennville Mayor Bernie Weaver made four new appointments to the Glennville Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, a special-called meeting was held and two employees were terminated.
Executive Director Leslie Ellis Clinton and Office Manager Stephanie Thomas have both been terminated by the Glennville Housing Authority Board of Commissioners.
Their terminations followed the release of a scathing financial audit one week prior, in which auditors raised concerns regarding the Housing Authority’s spending practices, lacking internal controls, and oversight of public funds – all while the Authority is under GBI investigation. TheGeorgiaVirtue published exclusive coverage on the audit, which identified more than $440,000 in questionable contractor payments and work performed at homes of Clinton and Thomas, among other things.
A follow-up story revealed that Clinton and Yashiaca Brown, one of the independent contractors questioned in the audit, had a connection from the Hazlehurst Housing Authority. Brown went on to work as the Executive Director of the McRae Housing Authority, but was later terminated after a financial audit identified 13 material weaknesses, including allegations of theft of federal funds, unauthorized payments to employees, questionable vendor invoices, missing property, and inadequate oversight by the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. The FBI is now investigating.
Under Georgia law, public employees have ten days to appeal adverse employment decisions before records are subject to public release. In the interim, other GHA employees will maintain operations and GHA is working with neighboring housing authorities for assistance.
TheGeorgiaVirtue will provide updates once records are available.
Previous Coverage
- Audit: Glennville Housing Authority Paid for Work at Employees’ Homes, $441K in Questionable Contractor Payments
- Glennville Housing Authority Saga Spans to McRae Housing Authority Where FBI is Already Investigating
- Glennville City Officials Replace 4 Glennville Housing Authority Board Members Amid Fraud Investigation
