In a way, the end of City Manager Rochelle Small-Toney’s tenure ended much the way it began: With office renovations unfinished.
The new reception furniture serves and spackle-covered walls serve as a reminder of the management decisions that led to Small-Toney’s resignation Thursday, and this week, still reflected the confusion resulting from a dismantled Purchasing Department.
In June, the city manager’s office requested a new reception desk, which was delivered and invoiced in late July.
In August, the office also ordered a leather sofa, leather chair and two small tables.
City officials earlier this week said the $3,313 invoice for the reception desk had been canceled, but Thursday said the desk has been paid for.
April Burriss, vice president of VIP furniture, confirmed Thursday the desk had not been paid for.
“That one is at least 60 days past due,” she said. “We really don’t start asking questions until it’s 45 days past.”
City officials also said they had yet to receive an invoice from VIP for the office furniture. VIP’s records show it invoiced the city Sept. 14.
Despite the invoicing delays, VIP was luckier than most vendors because the purchase order was acted on so quickly. Emails obtained under the Open Records Act show the city manager’s assistant submitted the requisition Aug. 1 and the purchase order was issued within six days.
Carla Byrd, then the Purchasing director, responded within two hours of receiving the assistant’s email, finishing with “I want to make sure this is properly completed.”
It serves as a stark contrast to the $6 million requisition backlog in Purchasing for police handguns, water-treatment chemicals and other crucial goods, many of which lingered for months without being ordered or paid for.
VIP had done business with the city for more than 20 years, Burriss said, but realized there were internal problems about four months ago at the city.
“We made a decision as a company that if we had to deal with the city we would, but ...it was probably in our best interest not to deal with the city if we didn’t have to,” Burriss said.
Under Byrd, the department lost all its experienced buyers. The former assistant purchasing director, Joy Kerkhoff, has returned to the department, and Burriss said Thursday she was confident all the billing issues could be resolved.
As for the spackling work, city spokesman Bret Bell said the renovation work in the city manager’s wing is long overdue. Some of the work involved removing wainscoting “decimated” by water leaks and wood rot. The city’s Buildings and Grounds staff did that work and also enclosed some pipes and cabling, for an estimated $3,500.
Small-Toney had budgeted about $40,000 for office repairs, and had planned to rework her office in 2010 upon being named acting city manager. Then-Mayor Otis Johnson put a stop to the work as long as she was an interim leader.