Wilmington emails show confusion over $1.8 million contractor payment

The city of Wilmington wired nearly $1.8 million to a contractor in April, three times more than was directed, according to city emails obtained by The News Journal. Now city officials involved in the transaction are refusing to talk about it. 

Honeywell, which has an energy performance contract with the city, billed Wilmington for $1,795,252 in May 2017, an invoice shows. It was stamped by Wilmington's accounts payable department on March 29 of this year, and the treasurer's office wired the money on April 5, emails state. 

The problem is that the full payment was meant to be put on hold, according to emails between city officials. The city finance department said Honeywell was only supposed to be paid $567,861, emails state. 

26-year-old shot in third Wilmington shooting this week

"Once we performed our Bank Reconciliation at the end of the month, we discovered the
wrong amount was wired," Accounting Manager Roseanne Prado wrote in a July 13 email.

How this occurred and what happens next is unclear. 

Finance Director Patrick Carter, who oversees accounts payable, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Under Mayor Mike Purzycki, department heads are directed to refer all media requests to the mayor's office, which repeatedly rejected News Journal requests to speak to Carter. 

"There’s nothing to talk to the finance director about," said John Rago, Purzycki's deputy chief of staff for policy and communications. "There was no problem with the payment. All you're seeing are internal discussions. It goes on every day in the government."

Rago declined to explain the situation other than to say the payment was "perfectly legitimate and appropriate."

"I’m not telling you anything on the record," he said. "You’re barking up the wrong tree." 

'Water Witch' fire station in Wilmington to be turned into apartments

Deputy Treasurer Mary McDermott wrote in emails that accounts payable directed the treasurer's office to wire the money, so they did. Prado said the finance department did direct the treasurer's office to pay the full amount but later emailed an instruction to wire only the half-million dollars, according to her July 13 email. It's unclear if the treasurer's office got that message. 

The emails were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request to the city.  

One member of City Council told The News Journal he is concerned the city isn't more forthcoming with details of the payment.

"The treasurer’s office is touting this high accountability, more thorough screening of city finances," said City Councilman Bob Williams. "For them to just take a hand-delivered memo for $1.7 million and just pay it, it sends up a red flag like, who is watching this?" 

Treasurer Velda Jones-Potter did not respond to multiple interview requests. Instead, she emailed a statement saying the payment was "properly authorized and executed in a manner consistent with City policy and practice."

Purzycki's chief of staff, Tanya Washington, asked Carter and Prado for an explanation on July 13, one of the emails shows.

"You’re now in the position of having to defend yourself," she said. "If there was a mistake on our part then just let me know. Please handle this as soon as possible." 

Gun murders, especially in Wilmington, continue to be toughest to solve

Prado responded with her explanation of what happened, emails show, and then Carter responded to her: "Roseanne, do NOT forward to City Council until I get back." 

But it was too late. A timestamp showed the email had been forwarded to Council Finance Chair Bud Freel. 

"Was the overpayment returned to the City??" Freel wrote. 

Marchelle Basnight, council's chief of staff responded: "Funds were not returned." 

Freel did not respond to requests for comment. Neither did City Council President Hanifa Shabazz. A Honeywell representative referred questions to the city.

Williams said Carter's direction not to share information with council "even further puts me on edge."

"I don’t know if anything improper was done," he said. "My big question was: This was brought to light. I need to know if it was proper protocol and what checks and balances are in place so this doesn’t occur." 

But so far, Williams said he hasn't received any answers. 

"I would think it would be Buddy Freel's responsibility to say, 'Whoa, let’s get to the bottom of what happened,'" he said. "Was that money earmarked for something else and now that’s going to be put on hold?"

Without providing details, Rago insisted the city "didn’t mess up."

"It was an internal financial questioning back and forth," he said of the emails. 

Asked what the half-million dollar amount represented, Rago replied: "Who knows?" 

"The fact of the matter is the payment was made. It was a legitimate payment. It was supposed to be paid. Done. Over with."

Rago emailed a statement on behalf of Carter stating the two amounts were "appropriate payments."

"There was internal confusion among finance staff as to the timing of those payments, however the payments were due to Honeywell and were appropriately transferred," the statement said. 

Williams said the city needs to confront questions about taxpayer money in a transparent way. 

"Somebody needs to just say: Hey, look, this is what happened, this is how it happened, and if it's improper, this is how it won’t happen again," he said. "To have this chasing of emails and trying to pull them apart and find out what happened is nuts." 

DELAWARE MUST-READS

Police identify paraplegic man killed by troopers

Christiana High School, honors academy closed again Wednesday 

Analysis: Harris performed well in debate against veteran Carper

​​​​​​​Contact Christina Jedra at cjedra@delawareonline.com, (302) 324-2837 or on Twitter @ChristinaJedra.