NEW PALESTINE — From employees being paid too much money, to not submitting claims on time for approval, and asking council members to sign vouchers that have been denied, the list of the town council’s complaints about the clerk-treasurer continues to grow.
Tonii Pyle was elected the town’s clerk-treasurer when she ran unopposed in 2019. Her job description includes preparing budgets; implementing policies; keeping records of all council proceedings; handling correspondence on behalf of the town; preparing agendas and executing any assignments given by the council. She also is responsible for accounting for all receipts and disbursements in the town’s accounts.
But Pyle is not performing many of those duties properly, council members say.
“Immediately prior to our last meeting the council received probably around 400 pages of documentation in a very unorganized manner,” council member Bill Niemier said. “We had to sort it out, organize it, because it was very haphazard.”
That and other major issues were brought to light during the most recent council meeting, on Thursday, May 21, which lasted over three hours. The vast majority of the meeting was spent talking about issues created by the clerk’s office, including getting invoices submitted on time for the council’s approval.
Pyle, who didn’t attend the meeting, instead sent her assistant, who struggled at times to answer the council’s questions.
Pyle’s inability or unwillingness to do basic accounting duties for the council have become so worrisome that the council discussed hiring a payroll service to make sure town employees get paid properly after pay issues were detected.
Town officials looked over three quotes from businesses wanting to do the job but decided to table the issue until they could get more information.
Issues between Pyle and the council manifested almost immediately after the council fired longtime town manager Dave Book in March. Book, who is Pyle’s father-in-law, had campaigned hard for Pyle to get the clerk’s position, even bringing a signup sheet into town hall asking town employees to sign it in order for Pyle to get her name on the ballot.
In the end, Pyle won the November 2019 election and replaced longtime Clerk-Treasurer Becky Hilligoss, under whom she had trained as Hilligoss’s assistant for several months before taking over in January. Pyle then hired Hilligoss as a consultant and worked with her for several weeks before the council cut off funds to pay her.
The council has since discovered that Pyle paid Hilligoss a higher fee as a consultant — $4,000 — than the $3,000 the council had approved.
“I also find that perplexing,” council president Brandee Bastin said. “I’m confused and concerned.”
Pyle, who also hired an assistant, also retained an attorney after Book was fired and the relationship between the clerk and the council began to deteriorate.
Pyle’s attorney, Alex Intermill, suggested to town officials that they hold an additional-appropriation hearing on June 6 to approve spending up to $20,000 for the clerk’s attorney fees.
The council has repeatedly refused to pay Pyle’s attorney fees.
Bastin noted that the town — which has an attorney, Gregg Morelock — has never appropriated money for a separate attorney for the clerk-treasurer.
“It’s never been done,” Bastin said.
Council member Angie Fahrnow, brought up the fact that Pyle’s office has already spent some $18,000 so far this year that was not allotted in the 2020 budget.
“We have paid that out, helping the clerk-treasurer’s office,” Fahrnow said.
The council also insisted Pyle stop submitting claims to be signed that have already been denied. The council also told Pyle to stop submitting claims to have her lawyer paid.
After the meeting, council members declined to speculate further on the fractured relationship.
“I use gasoline to start a fire,” council member Clint Bledsoe said, “I don’t pour gasoline on a fire.”
Bastin said she’s trying her best to keep the lines of communication open between the council and the clerk’s office, but she, too, is frustrated.
“I think this takes time and I think this takes patience and I hope we’ll move in a positive direction soon,” Bastin said.
As an elected official, Pyle cannot be fired. Nor can she be recalled, as some states allow. Niemier, however, noted the council can certainly bring to light all the things the clerk is doing to prevent town business from being done so that community members are aware of the issues.
Pyle did not return emails or calls seeking comment.
