Actions of Baneberry Under Investigation

At the request of the District Attorney General’s Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, the State of Tennessee Comptroller’s Office initiated an investigation into actions of both current and former management and staff for the City of Baneberry. The scope of the investigation spanned the time from July 1, 2013 to May 31, 2015. Investigative findings state that a former city mayor and a city employee used city-owned equipment for private purposes and that the former city mayor and former city officials entered into an improper agreement. The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office recommended that current City Commissioners should establish the cost incurred to use city-owned equipment on private property and seek reimbursement.

Incidences that were noted in the report include a city employee using city-owned equipment to perform grade work on private property, according to the employee at the direction of the late former Mayor of Baneberry. The employee also bush hogged for a private citizen, allegedly at the direction of a former mayor( who denied the instruction), and was paid by the citizen but contended that the work was not completed on city time. However, investigators could not determine exactly when the work was completed. The same former mayor stated that he had an agreement to use some city equipment for person use because he had donated equipment to the city and that the current Mayor of Baneberry gave permission for its use. However, the current mayor denied that he was asked to borrow equipment. Additionally, the former mayor stated that he had sold the city a tractor from a business that he previously owned. For the full report on the investigation click here.