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Galloways respond to SBOA report allegations
CLOVERDALE — The focus of an investigation for alleged misconduct, former Cloverdale Building Inspector Wayne Galloway and his wife Cheryl, the town’s former clerk-treasurer, have disputed conclusions made by the Indiana State Board of Accounts (SBOA).
The SBOA recently released a report asserting overcompensation and mismanagement of the town’s finances by the couple during the period of January 2019 to March 2020. The Galloways also provided an official response to the allegations.
The Cloverdale Town Council met in executive session on March 17, 2020 to discuss alleged misconduct by Mr. Galloway. Then-Town Attorney Daniel Hofmann later issued a letter to, “memorialize the Town Council’s decision terminating your employment” and directed Mr. Galloway to vacate his office on March 27, 2020.
The Galloways have argued that his eventual firing was illegally decided on in a closed session. The response notes that the executive session’s minutes indicate Mr. Galloway’s employment being considered no longer needed. The council publicly announced his termination at its regular meeting on April 14, 2020.
The response indicates an animosity between Clerk-Treasurer Galloway and Town Marshal Steve Hibler in terms of budgeting. It puts forward that during the council’s regular meeting on February 24, 2020, Hibler said that a $20,000 raise for Mr. Galloway had been pulled from the Cloverdale Police Department’s funding.
The response notes that Sgt. Adam Hull was hired in December 2019 and budgeted between $36,670 and $40,744.28. However, it states that Hull’s salary was approved for $42,500 with three weeks’ vacation. The Galloways put forward that this and hiring another officer later in the year were then straining the budget.
The response provides that Mrs. Galloway told Hibler he was “going to bankrupt the town,” and that she would “see to it that he will not be sheriff of the county.” This, it adds, “sealed Wayne and my fate (sic).”
The Galloways also allege that after the previous exchanges, Hibler told Hofmann on or about March 26, 2020 that they were shredding documents and taking other town property from the Cloverdale Town Hall. However, they provide that they were not in the office at all on this day.
The report also provides in its background that Mr. Galloway’s approved salary as the building inspector was $13,256 in 2017, $20,000 in 2018 and then $20,000 in 2019. The council then approved the rate at $40,000 for 2020.
The response provides that Mr. Galloway had requested a replacement for him as building inspector. It also notes that no individual had been interested given a $13,256 salary, though it was budgeted for $20,000 in 2018. It adds that the approval of the $40,000 salary was reviewed and approved by the council the previous September.
The report alleges that Mr. Galloway’s time cards were not approved during the period which was investigated. The response says that he kept time sheets proving he worked 40 hours a week.
However, it adds that his duties as both building inspector and town manager were performed at the same time, making this “impossible to track.” The report provides that Mr. Galloway would have had to clock out while completing a building permit and then clock back in as the town manager.
In this vein, the report notes that Mr. Galloway received two separate checks for both positions.
The report also provides that only unused vacation hours can be paid when an employee quits. The response acknowledges that he was unduly paid for sick time in April 2020, but that Utility Clerk Trina Baker was new to working payroll. It is emphasized that as such, Mr. Galloway was not doing payroll in 2020.
The Galloways’ response contests that the building inspector’s $40,000 salary was never approved. It provides Mrs. Galloway told the council about the $20,000 at a meeting in March 2020, but this was out of confusion. There was “so much miscommunication” and “hard feeling,” the report says, that it was “hard to keep up.”
The SBOA requested that the couple reimburse the town $9,119.27 due to overcompensation. The agency also requested that they reimburse the state $5,600.25 for special investigation costs incurred by the Indiana State Police.
The Galloways object to the reimbursement, reiterating that the council approved the budgets, ordinances and Form 1s related to Mr. Galloway’s employment. As to the special investigation, their response puts forward that no wrongdoing was found and that it was “politically motivated.”