Lewisburg mayor knew about bad checks written by city manager and treasurer, did nothing

by Jordan Whittington, Payton Muse

LEWISBURG, Tenn. (WZTV) — A Lewisburg man was escorted out of the city council meeting this week after seeking the removal of Mayor Jim Bingham—who admitted to knowing about bad checks written by the city’s former manager and treasurer. Now, the city’s attorney is asking the council to follow up on the charge.

During a city council work session on Sept. 6, Councilman Joe Bradford exposed bad checks had been written by ex-Manger Randall Dunn and former Treasurer Donna Park sometime in 2020.

FOX 17 News called Bradford to inquire further. He tells us he found out about it during a brief encounter with Mayor Bingham on the steps of City Hall.

“He didn’t give me an amount,” Bradford told FOX 17 News. “But I have dug into it enough to know that we had $5 million in available funds when the mayor and Randall Dunn both took office.”

Bradford says he charted the available cash balance quarterly. Over the course of seven years—though 2020—it goes down to $0. He estimates sometime in 2018 is when the available funds dipped below zero.

“The mayor said the bank called and said they had insufficient funds to cover payroll, and that arrangements were going to have to be made.”

Bradford is still trying to piece together the timeline, but is finding more questions than answers.

“The missing data was unavailable when I requested it from our current treasurer earlier this year,” Bradford added. “[The mayor] said it is most likely on backups somewhere. I was trying to establish a trend at the time and was able to do so without the data. Now, I would like to have it and wonder why that time period specifically is harder to obtain.”

At Tuesday night's council meeting, concerned citizen Troy Harwell approached the podium and asked Mayor Bingham if he had any knowledge of bad checks. Mayor Bingham told Harwell he “went to the bank and inquired what happened.”

Harwell: But you knew?

Mayor: Yes.

That’s when Harwell took out Article III Section 16 of the City Charter and sought the removal of the mayor for malfeasance in office.

Bingham hit the gavel and told Harwell he was out of order. Harwell was escorted out of the council meeting by police, and later told FOX 17 News he feels his First Amendment rights had been violated since he was at a public forum and citing the City Charter.

The city’s attorney reached out to the entire council Wednesday morning asking them to follow up on the charge to remove the mayor from office. Bradford says he’s in favor of having a hearing, but needs a majority vote on holding an open discussion first. He says he is not necessarily in favor of removing the mayor.

FOX 17 News’ Payton Muse reached out to all of the other council members to ask them about where they stand on the future of mayor Bingham. They did not respond.

The city attorney said in an email she was not the attorney at the time and to her understanding, the bank honored all checks written by the city. Read her full statement below:

The Mayor stated last night that as soon as he found out about the former City Manager’s overspending he took it to the City Council. Please keep in mind our Charter does not give the Mayor any authority over hiring or firing employees. The Mayor was not listed on the account at the bank. I was not the attorney at the time but it is my understanding that the bank has honored all checks written by the City.

As for the request for removal, our charter allows anyone to request the removal or anyone in office in writing. The majority of the Council will have to determine whether it has enough merit for further investigation and a hearing. I requested that they let us know if they feel that it should move forward. If a majority does not find merit in the accusations, it will go no further.

I am not aware of any criminal charges, but I would not necessarily be informed about them. I am not a prosecutor.

Councilman Bradford is still concerned that Harwell was escorted out of the meeting last night.

“I actually would apologize that he was removed last night. No council member asked for that or wanted that, that I know of, but just by being a member of that body, I don't like that that happened,” Bradford said

We reached out to Mayor Bingham to ask about the bad checks. He told us he has no comment.