Whitfield files protest against parks director
City Council Member Ivan Whitfield announced Wednesday he had filed a formal complaint with Pine Bluff police concerning the Parks and Recreation Department and its director, Samuel Glover.
The announcement, which came before a Public Works Committee budget meeting, shocked many in the room.
“My concern with Parks and Rec is nothing personal. It’s straight business,” said Whitfield. “I’m from the police world.”
Whitfield said he was concerned about how tax money was being spent. Whitfield said he first sought counsel from the city attorney’s office but to no avail. He then contacted the Pine Bluff Police Department and made an informational report based on what had been discovered by the City Council months ago.
According to the report, obtained by The Pine Bluff Commercial, Whitfield made reference to three incidents of alleged misuse of taxpayer dollars:
■ $20,000 spent to pay off a citizen’s bill.
■ $2,500 given to a private downtown event.
■ A $500,000 contract signed by the parks director without
approval.
“As I leave this council, I leave with good conscience knowing that I asked for an investigation into the 2022 budget, and it failed,” he said. “I tried to get an audit. We asked for one thing and they posted something different. I tried to get an investigation and it did not happen and now I’ll take my stuff to the prosecuting attorney and hopefully, they will look into it.”
Whitfield lost his reelection bid and leaves the council at the end of the year.
In August Whitfield called a special Public Works meeting to look over information from an internal audit of the Parks and Recreation Department. Glover explained then his actions were a result of the city taking over Harbor Oaks Golf Club, which included acquiring the golf cart contract.
“When we laid out our plan to move forward with getting the golf course open, our initial start date was the middle of July towards August,” said Glover, who added that he was an authorized signee. “Those plans did change and when we went into the agreement, it was an assumption, which means we took over that lease, which is why we had to start paying.”
In Glover’s defense, Assistant City Attorney Joe Childers said that, when the city assumed the golf course contract, it not only assumed the privileges and rights of having the course, but also the obligations. Childers also said the city needs to clarify the policy on who can sign a contract because department heads have signed contracts in the past.
Whitfield said he didn’t recall anywhere in the contract that the council members received where it said the city would assume the debt of Mike Wilson, who was the previous overseer of Harbor Oaks.
“I realized there is some misuse of funds and if you don’t make a report, it didn’t happen so I made a police report,” said Whitfield. “We asked for an audit because we didn’t want it to be long [and] drawn out. There were some things added to it that mudded the water and the one company that was going to do it didn’t want to touch it.”
Friday morning, Pine Bluff City Attorney Althea Scott responded to Whitfield’s inquiries with the following answers pertaining to Glover:
■ When it came to Glover paying $20,000 to pay out a bill belonging to Mike Wilson, who is the former owner of Harbor Oaks, Scott said her office is pursuing reimbursement of those monies that were inadvertently paid on Wilson’s behalf. “I am initiating the recovery of those funds through issuing a demand letter,” she said. “Should Mr. Wilson fail to satisfy this debt within the time specified, this office will be forced to seek any remedy available through our judicial system.”
■ Concerning Glover entering into a $500,000 contract with the same company that received the $20,000 without the council’s approval, Scott replied with the following: “This office is weighing the options available to the city, to determine the best way to legally resolve this issue.”
■ Whitfield’s last concern was Glover funding the block party host, Will Jenkins, $2,500 for the event. “As I understand it, this event was hosted by [Parks and Recreation], in conjunction with the UAPB homecoming festivities,” said Scott. “Mr. Glover hired Mr. Jenkins to perform a service. If this is the case, I agree that it would have been more prudent for Mr. Glover to delegate this assignment to a member of his staff. However, based on the information that I have, he is authorized to hire Mr. Jenkins to perform this service, albeit not advisable.”
Scott advised Whitfield in the email if he had any additional information that was contrary to the information that she had received to let her know. She also said because Glover is the mayor’s employee, the mayor has exclusive control over any disciplinary actions that should be imposed.
“The documents are there. It’s like ‘Don’t say anything’ and ‘I can’t do that,’” said Whitfield. “I can’t leave my position knowing that what I perceive as corruption going on and not at least put it in the record.”
Glover declined to comment for this story.