As we reported earlier, Eric Stevenson, Commissioner Lumon May’s attorney, has requested the county attorney provide an accounting of the actual costs for removing yard debris from his and his family’s lots on Yonge Street.
County Clerk Pam Childers allegedly received an anonymous complaint asserting that Commission May had ordered county employees to land clear and clean the lots. The complaint led to a State Attorney’s investigation and a grand jury that returned a “No True Bill”—meaning no crime had been committed.
Childers followed up earlier this month with an invoice to May for $4,253.74.
- County Administrator Wes Moreno’s investigation and review of the vehicles’ GPS data revealed the hours listed on the work orders were fraudulent.
Moreno’s investigative report, dated Feb. 12, said Walker shared a video that he had taken of the property. On the video, Field Supervisor Walker provided commentary about the pile’s size and placement on private property, and the work was initiated by a commissioner. See Moreno Report.
- Walker told Moreno that Jamey Higdon had directed him to pick up and remove the debris. Walker later called the county administrator to correct his statement and said that Higdon had only told him to use his best judgment.
A former commissioner told us that he would always get follow-up calls if a road crew inspected site and found the debris was beyond the right-of-way.
In his letter, Stevenson made clear that his client never requested the county to clean his property. He never gave permission for the road crew to go his property or was even told they planned to do it.
He wrote, “While he does not believe he should have to reimburse the county for services he never requested, out of respect for the Grand Jury, and because he does not want there to be a perception that he has received a public benefit, he is willing to pay the county for the actual amount the county expended for the removal of the debris.”
Read Signed Letter to Rogers.
