ARETHA FERRELL-BENAVIDES CITY of DUNCANVILLE

FACT VS. FICTION

Evaluating Former City Manager Ferrell-Benavides

ARETHA FERRELL-BENAVIDES CITY of DUNCANVILLE

FACT VS. FICTION

Evaluating Former City Manager Ferrell-Benavides

Public Comments...

Duncanville Police Association details problems with City financial transactions and poorly managed benefits affecting officers and firefighters…

News Reports...

Duncanville's New Managing Director of Fiscal Services, previously Palestine’s Assistant City Manager and Finance Director, Hired by Ferrell-Benavides, was named as one of 17 city of Hutto employees involved in an unauthorized severance deal.

News Reports...

City of Duncanville's Managing Director of Fiscal Services, Brought in by Ferrell-Benavides, was Assistant City Manager and CFO in Hutto, Texas, which has around 28,000 residents, when City Council “hired a forensic audit firm to investigate how the city lost $2.8 million in reserves in the 2018-19 fiscal year. That financial shortfall led to Hutto laying off 44 employees in March.” Atmore parted ways with the City of Hutto for undisclosed reasons in 2019, and received an unapproved severance payment of $59,230.

A KXAN article reported that questions arose during the Aug. 13 council meeting as to whether any of the city officials who approved the agreements could face criminal investigations.

City Wedsite

Significant financial data missing from City's Fiscal Services - Transparency & Accountability Page: As of 04/2023: (1) The City's 2022-2023 Budget has not been posted, however was approved in August of 2022; (2) Payroll Register has not been updated since 10/2021 - 15 months behind.

City Website...

Duncanville's Audit Committee Meeting on 04/20/2023 clears up some of the misunderstanding around the false narrative of there being two books, however leaves many questions about the current Audit which was required to be completed by 03/31/2023 by law, as our current finance director has not been able to reconcile cash for two years and can provide no timeline for when audit will be complete.

We are about to enter budget season and for the first time possibly in Duncanville's History the (FY 2022) Audit is not complete by the legally required due date of 03/31/2023... now for the second time in a row.

PENDING RECORDS REQUESTS Coming Soon... hopefully...

Several Pending Open Records Request, which the City Secretary, Juanita Willman (A long-time associate and friend of Former City Manager Ferrel-Benavides), appears to be intentionally delaying. The expectation is that requests are to be completed with 10 business days, with a few exceptions. Those exceptions must be in place by day 10. Nothing has happened and it now appears this is political on the part of the City Secretary.

Business Days with no response is 15 as of 04/24/2023. The Attorney General's and Governor's Office have been notified, and as of 12:48PM on 04/24/2023 The AG's Office has reached out and will be investigating the suppression of the records requests.

This page will be updated as new information becomes available regarding these records requests and other information.

News Reports

Ferrell-Benavides has history of not honoring commitments. After denouncing rumors she was looking for another job and committing to staying with prior city for at least 5 years, Ferrell-Benavides begins looking for other jobs after only two years, and leaves just after three years on job.

Ferrell-Benavides started with Petersburg, Virginia, on 07/10/2017.

As rumors begin that Ferrell-Benavides is leaving her new job, she states 'I'm not leaving.' I'm committed to the city of Petersburg," Ferrell-Benavides said. "I have not applied for a job and I have no intentions of applying for another job. My goal was to be here for at least five years, and I'm committed to that five years. It's important that this city have stability and stability doesn't come from city managers coming and going, it comes from having consistent leadership." 08/15/2018

Just after 2 years, Ferrell-Benavides interviews for the city manager of Killeen, Texas. She was named a finalist. Before interviewing, she said this was a logical next step for her since the town of Killeen is larger with a population of about 150,000. 10/24/2019

Ferrell-Benavides, who last year was under consideration for a city administrative position in Texas and has some Chicago ties, is among three candidates who will be interviewed in a public forum Wednesday in Evanston, Illinois, the news site evanstonnow.com reported. 10/06/2020

Coming Soon...

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Coming Soon...

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Keep tips fact based. The better sourced, the more likely we can act/research/publish

OPEN RECORDS REQUEST
WE NEED YOUR HELP
(1) Make Open Records Requests and provide us with results. (2) Review requests we have made, review results, and advise if you feel items are missing. (3) Be an anonymous source. Are in a position of knowing something that more people should know? Find a way to get that information to us.

Tips will be considered reliable if it is a direct source, or has a two or more independent sources close to direct source in a position to have accurate information.

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