PINEVILLE, La. (KALB) - An audit conducted by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor and later released on April 16 made accusations against the City of Pineville, ranging from ethics violations and credit card fraud to the tampering of government records by the city’s former mayor, Richard “Rich” Dupree.
Dupree is accused of violating state law by instructing the city’s human resources staff to backdate the hiring date of a new employee by one business day, to ensure that the given employee would be eligible for the city’s health insurance a month earlier than planned. The LLA flagged the incident as potentially illegal: “By instructing staff to alter City records, Mayor Dupree may have violated state law.”
KALB questioned current Mayor Joseph “Joe” Bishop about the incident, requesting what preventative measures were being taken to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. Mayor Bishop responded to questions, saying, “It’s my responsibility to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
“I’ve met with my HR [human resources], also my finance director, and my chief operations officer, and we all put a set of eyes on paperwork now, before it’s signed.”
Pineville Mayor Joseph "Joe" Bishop
Within a financial audit separated from the LLA’s investigative audit, one of the city’s five credit cards was flagged for not providing enough evidence to prove that transactions made on it were properly vetted.
Auditors labeled several flagged transactions as not serving a “clear business purpose,” describing the incidents as “indicative of waste and abuse.” Mayor Bishop confirms that the city’s internal auditor turned over information on the discrepancies to the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office, saying it is now “out of my hands”. The Rapides District Attorney’s Office told KALB that an investigation is ongoing into the potential ‘white-collar’ crimes, but they are unlikely to be prosecuted.
On a broader scale, auditors point to the city’s lack of written policies and “lax control environment promulgated by the previous administration” as a main contributing cause for the flagged issues.
According to the LLA, the city lacks a written policy for:
Through a public records request, KALB obtained receipts for many of the flagged transactions, considered to be involved in potential ethics violations. The receipts display several payments to “Enchanted Celebrations” ranging from $480 to $800 per transaction. A majority of the purchases were made for the hiring of mascots on an hourly basis, with many consisting of licensed cartoon characters such as Disney’s “Mickey Mouse” and “Woody.”
Pineville - Enchanted Celebrations Invoices by KALB DIGITAL on Scribd
Auditor officials confirmed with KALB that the leading agent for Enchanted Celebrations, until mid-2023, was Brittany Constantino, otherwise known as Brittany Meshell. Constantino previously served as the city’s ‘Director of Operations and Special Events’ and, for a short period, held the position within the city simultaneously with her title as the lead agent for Enchanted Celebrations.
Constantino has additionally made claims to have had an affair with Former Mayor Dupree in a since-settled lawsuit, costing taxpayers $188,500.
“Mayor Dupree...he served his community...I hate what happened to him and his family...not just him, but his entire family...But, we have to put that behind us and move forward.”
Pineville Mayor Joseph "Joe" Bishop
When questioned on whether the city’s ethics training and/or lacking of a written policy could be cited as a cause for the discrepancies cited in the audit, city officials reinforced statements similar to Mayor Bishop’s.
“As an elected official, you take ethics training, and also the employees here, they take the training too, in case they know of any wrongdoings. We go to classes once a year,” Bishop said.
When questioned on the effectiveness of the training, District 1 Councilmember Randy O’Neal responded, “You always uncover things after the fact and...personally, I mean...I don’t know if I’d like to comment any further than that.”
During a city council meeting on May 13, city officials voted to ‘update’ the city’s ethics policy and “require written confirmation from City employees of compliance.”
“We just thought it was important to add an extra layer.”
Pineville City Councilmember Tom Bouchie, District 4
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Pineville audit investigation finds unapproved raises, possible state law violations
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