BELLE — Circumstances behind the Dec. 8 resignation of former Belle alderman Tony Gieck allege that financial documents prove Public Works Director Tony Baretich received “overpayment from falsifying of timesheets, mileage pay, and comp time accrual.”

The source of the document, a fellow employee, presented the Belle Board of Aldermen a 10-page packet during a closed session meeting detailing Baretich’s timesheets, mileage and compensation requests and alleging that they were “knowingly overstated.”

Baretich was hired on with the city as public works director in August 2020 and is still within his six month probation period.

According to the 10-page document that The Advocate received anonymously, the employee had enough suspicions about Baretich’s paperwork to confront him around Oct. 10.  Following the confrontation the employee said, “once drive-time errors were brought to his attention, he began reporting more accurately.”

However, the employee still brought the documents to the board of aldermen’s attention in December, after determining consistent overpayment between $12 and $35 per pay period had continued, even after their discussion with Baretich.

“I have a great deal of concern after reviewing Tony’s expense forms and pay stubs,” the document read. “These areas of concern include the exaggeration of reported miles traveled, travel time claimed, falsifying time sheets and knowingly accepting additional pay not due to him. All lead to extra compensation at the expense of the city of Belle.”

The document was not signed by the employee who submitted it, but states that the city has overpaid Baretich by $149 for mileage and has compensated him for a total of $2,115 for mileage and $2,394 for compensation time. The document does not state which, if any, of those figures included over compensation or what the accurate pay should have been. According to the time sheet copies, both Baretich and the former treasurer separately entered extra compensation time erroneously.

Allegations from the packet included:

Baretich claiming that he is paid one full hour of compensation for any overtime, regardless of the time taken to complete the task. If the task takes more than one hour, he automatically gets two hours of compensation.

During a call with The Advocate, the mayor confirmed the city policy does not support Baretich’s claim. The source claims they have been unable to account for numerous suspicious compensation requests. According to the policy, Baretich is eligible for time-and-a-half of his pay rate for actual hours worked. Additional time is not paid for an after-hours call.

Baretich attended 10 days of training in Columbia at the Elk’s Lodge and 10 days of training in Warrensburg at the Warrensburg Police Department for water and sewer certifications. The report alleges that Baretich “over claimed mileage from each trip, according to a MapQuest search between the Belle Administration Building and the training destinations. The source says that Baretich should have claimed 138 miles round-trip to and from Columbia and 256 miles round trip to and from Warrensburg. On training treks to Columbia, he claimed 150 miles round-trip, and between 275-300 miles round trip from Warrensburg.

Additionally, Baretich claimed drive time as overtime compensation, which the source says was falsified or exaggerated on every occasion. They also stated that in the past, the city has not compensated employees for their drive time to travel to training, only their mileage for using their personal vehicles.

Baretich has turned in nine expense forms, of which eight have been paid out and one is pending payout.

The source told the board that they had asked Baretich about discrepancies in his forms and was informed by Baretich that “Mayor Steve Vogt and Treasurer Michell Jones told him we paid drive time.” The source said “there is currently no personnel policy on this; however, it is something that needs addressed and put into place later to prevent abuse of our travel policies.”

According to city officials Vogt and Alderman Sundi Jo Graham, who spoke with The Advocate on Dec. 16, the board heard the report and then asked Baretich to come into the meeting to explain himself.

“According to the employee, Baretich was told by both the mayor and the former treasurer that employees were paid comp time as well as mileage. That is what he reported on his time sheet,” Graham said about the conversation. “Unfortunately, we were unable to verify with the former treasurer and the mayor couldn’t recall the exact conversation.”

Furthermore, Graham said the city does not have a policy stating mileage and compensatory time were not allowed. She says that is the fault of city leadership and can be corrected for the future.

Graham also noted that the employee’s direct supervisor signed off on Baretich’s forms. If there was something wrong with them, it should have been noted then.

Baretich was asked to leave the board chambers after explaining himself. Vogt said on Thursday that a motion and second were made to terminate Baretich from the city’s employment. Gieck and Alderman Courtney Abel voted yes and Alderman Jeanette Struemph and Graham voted no. Gieck said previously that it took the mayor 20 minutes to talk it through and make up his mind to vote to terminate Baretich.

Baretich was called back into the chambers to be informed of the board’s decision, at which time Gieck said he added to his explanation. Vogt said they asked Baretich to step outside again, and based on the new information, a motion and second were made to reinstate Baretich as a city employee. Again, Gieck and Abel voted no and Struemph and Graham voted yes and the mayor needed to break the tie.

“When Tony (Baretich) came in and explained better, that is when I changed my vote,” Vogt said about flopping his vote to re-employee Baretich. “In reconsideration from when I voted to terminate Tony, I thought more about the facts. He was originally told when he was going to do his training to keep track of time and mileage, and he took that as counting his time while he was driving, plus mileage.”

Vogt reiterated that the policy does not state what can and cannot be claimed when traveling to training and workshops. However, he said that he is currently drafting a policy to present at the next meeting. He added that the board will also review comp time policy.

“Besides not having a written policy on that, we are right in the middle of trying to get bids for installation of the water meters, comparing the three proposals, warranties and efficiencies,” Vogt said. “Secondly, he just got his water and sewer licensing, travel, and hotel. He couldn’t do those online, he had to do them physically. If we had fired Tony, we would have had to incur the expenses on advertising and training again. Hopefully we could have gotten somebody who was already trained, but we didn’t have that luck last time.”

Vogt added that of course, Baretich is still a probationary employee until after six months, and if something happens in the future before or after that period, he could still be let go.

“I guess I didn’t think of all the information initially,” Vogt continued. “Time sheets were presented. Some members of the council thought it was done on purpose for lack of a better word. I think it was an honest mistake. I thought about it quite a while before I voted the first time, and I want to do the right thing even if I have to change my vote. I hope it was the right thing.”

Following the vote, Gieck submitted his resignation saying he “wouldn’t be associated with a board who would harbor a thief without consequences.” Graham disagreed with the suggestion that Baretich knowingly made the errors or that he was knowingly committing theft.

“I believe that those who voted for his termination made that decision not on factual evidence, but on assumptions,” Graham told The Advocate. “I repeatedly expressed concern that the employee needed the opportunity to explain himself. Finally, the employee was brought in and asked to explain the accusations, he did so very thoroughly, which gave me no reason to believe he’d done anything fraudulent.”

Graham said that after the vote was taken and the employee was called back in to be informed of the board’s decision, Baretich was told by Vogt that it was the” consensus of the council.” Graham said it was not the consensus of the council, as it was a split vote. She added that when Baretich asked why he was being terminated, no one could answer. It was at that point that he was sent back outside.

After the vote to reinstate Baretich was passed with the mayor flipping his vote, Baretich was informed that he was still employed by the city.

“It is my opinion that he did the right thing by changing his mind,” Graham said about Vogt. “It is also both my professional and personal opinion that the employee’s character does not line up with the accusations against him.”

Graham said that she hopes after the citizens of Belle hear all sides of the story that they would agree. She added that the employee was not disciplined nor asked to pay any of the funds back because they believe it is an honest mistake and there is no policy stating that mileage and comp time could not be paid out.

Graham said from her point-of-view, the matter concerning Baretich has been resolved, however, “we are working to put a clear policy in place so that there is no lack of communication moving forward.”

As Gieck has officially resigned for his position as alderman, Vogt said they have had two persons express interest in the position.

“I have asked former alderman Ken Stanfield if he would temporarily fill the position,” Vogt said. “He has agreed, but it is still up to the board to approve that.”

Appointing Stanfield to the Belle Board of Aldermen is currently on the Dec. 22 special meeting agenda.