Last December, following the inauguration of the city’s new administration, mayor and council requested the Chamber provide financial records on the Boot Hill Cemetery gift shop. When the documents were not forthcoming, the city pressed harder, resulting in the resignation of Executive Director Patrick Greene, President Don Taylor and two other board members. Left with a leadership void, J. R. Botts took over as interim executive director. Susan Wallace and David Bales assumed the roles of president and vice president respectively.

In April, Botts signed the audit contract with Pat Walker of Heinfeld, Meech and Co. accounting firm. The city, which was not party to the contract, then authorized the Chamber to use city bed tax money to pay for it.

The accounting firm began work in May, focusing its efforts on Chamber-made inquiries and Chamber-provided documentation.

The review’s preliminary draft was scheduled for presentation to the mayor and council on July 12, but was canceled per Walker’s recommendation that an outside agency conduct an outside investigation. Copies of the preliminary draft were given to the Chamber and Marshal Billy Cloud.

In September, the Epitaph filed an Arizona Public Records Request with Cloud, the Chamber and the city. Cloud denied the request because of the review’s draft status, the possibility he might initiate a criminal investigation, and to protect the reputations of Chamber board members whose actions the accounting firm was still reviewing.

In October, Dan Barr, a leading expert in Arizona Public Records law, said Cloud was in violation of that law by not releasing the draft.

In an interview a couple of weeks later, Cloud said a copy of the Chamber’s by-laws was provided to Heinfeld, Meech and Co. and reduced “some of the possibility” of criminal action, but he would not rule out the possibility of starting a criminal investigation.

In November, the Epitaph filed Arizona Public Records Requests with Cloud asking to review three incident reports, all of Cloud’s payroll time sheets, expenditure sheets and emails between Cloud, City Clerk/Manager George Barnes and City Attorney Randy Bays.

Cloud responded to all requests with an email to Epitaph reporter Matthew Casey and copied all of the University of Arizona Board of Regents, the University of Arizona Provost and President.

In the email, Cloud recommended Casey for possible discipline to the Board of Regents, alleging Casey tried to “manipulate” his investigation through an October phone call to Mayor Jack Henderson from Epitaph staff. The purpose of the call, which was made by another Epitaph reporter Kellie Mejdrich, was to ask the mayor if he had the authority to order Cloud to release the financial review’s preliminary draft, as news staff was awaiting results the night before publication. In accordance with UA Journalism School’s code of ethics, Mejdrich identified herself to Henderson who remanded the question to Bays and gave her his cell phone number.

Casey then called Bays and left a detailed message asking for comment. Bays never returned the phone call.?Marshal Cloud ultimately denied the Epitaph’s request to review the emails, but did produce for review the incident reports, his payroll timesheets and expensiture report.

Before the Nov. 14 regular council meeting, George Barnes said the chamber had not yet received the final copy of the review because it had yet to pay the approximately $13,000 bill. The Chamber’s agreement with the city called for it to use bed tax funds to finance the review. However, the Chamber’s bed tax contract with the city expired on June 30 and was not renewed.

Executive Director and President Susan Wallace said the Chamber received $27,000 in bed tax money before the contract expired, but was forced to use approximately $25,000 of that to pay regular bills associated with promoting the town.

So the City Council approved Chamber use of money from the Boot Hill Cemetery gift shop and Wallace used it pay the approximately $11,000 balance.

Final copies of the review were delivered to the Chamber, the city and the Marshal’s office. Barnes said the city chose to honor the Epitaph’s “reasonable” public records request and released the documents.