City Hall yesterday sent out a press release regarding findings of a State Board of Account investigation regarding “procedural errors with a City employee.” The unnamed employee in question is Prairie Creek Supervisor Dustin Clark, who was put on administrative leave while still receiving his regular salary. The announcement was brief and includes no mention of the findings of Indiana State Police, who were asked to investigate the matter by Mayor Ridenour back in May, although the debacle started as early as September of last year. The announcement reads:
On April 18, the City of Muncie asked for a State Board of Accounts investigation to verify that all money was accounted for after concerns were raised regarding some procedural errors with a City employee. Following standard procedure, the employee was placed on administrative leave.
The City is pleased to report that the State Board of Accounts has confirmed that all money is accounted for. The City is confident that there was no fraud or misuse of funds, and will be reinstating employment.
The announcement comes one day after Muncie’s main social media account restricted commenting and moved the feature to a separate Facebook page, making comments from the public harder to view than before and potentially changing the rules for how this government agency can handle social media. Notably, a Facebook announcement of the press release was posted by the City of Muncie and removed shortly thereafter.