Thursday, August 4, 2016

CODE ENFORCEMENT EMPLOYEE USES CITY OWNED VEHICLE FOR PERSONAL USE - CITY REFUSES TO ANSWER QUESTIONS



Alice Taylor,  a Code Enforcement Officer with the Planning Department was caught using a city vehicle that is apparently assigned to her (apparently because the city refuses to say if it is a Planning pool vehicle or one assigned to Taylor) at the Goodwill store in West Little Rock.


Taylor was shopping in the store and then seen carrying a bag of items she purchased to the city owned vehicle. As Taylor was opening the car door she was asked what city business she was conducting. Taylor refused to answer and quickly drove off.

One Freedom of Information request and several follow up questions were made to the city.  The FOI request was answered but the city balked on answering the following questions:

1.  Is vehicle 13A291 a pool vehicle in the Planning Department or is it assigned to Taylor?

2. Is there a policy/procedure regarding personal use of a city owned vehicle?

3. Are city employees permitted to use city owned vehicles for personal use?

4.  What city business was Taylor conducting at the Goodwill Store on August 1, 2016 at approximately 3:30 p.m.?

The public has a right to have questions answered by their city government and its employees, both elected and hired.