RIDGECREST, La. – The Ridgecrest Town Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. today on whether to retain a town clerk accused of taking at least $1,840 in town funds for her personal use.

&uot;We will meet to discuss her employment,&uot; said Mayor Guy Lain, referring to Pauline Palmer, who served as town clerk since March 1997.

Palmer had used at least $1,840 in town funds to make a personal purchase, used petty cash for personal purposes and made checks payable to herself that she was not entitled to over two years, stated a state auditor’s report released this week. The report also stated that $957 of the town’s petty cash cannot be accounted for.

Palmer, who was still working for the town as of Wednesday, would not comment on the investigative audit report. Lain also would not comment, saying he could not do so because the Seventh Judicial District Attorney’s Office is expected to investigate the matter.

District Attorney John Johnson was out of town and could not be reached for comment Wednesday, and Assistant District Attorney Ronnie McMillin said he was not familiar with the case.

&uot;I didn’t know what was going on,&uot; said former Mayor David Cobb. &uot;A couple of times, she asked for check advances, but I didn’t think anything about her asking for her checks a couple of days early.&uot;

Cobb described the audit’s findings as &uot;pretty accurate.&uot;

Through interviews of town officials and others and reviews of town records, officials of Legislative Auditor Dan Kyle’s office determined that Palmer:

Borrowed $722 from the town’s petty cash.

Submitted petty cash vouchers for expenses she did not incur, allowing her to keep $600 for personal use.

Paid herself $175 out of the town’s General Fund to repair her personal vehicle.

Overpaid herself $120 for sick leave to which she was not entitled.

Used the town’s charge account to buy a $144 air conditioner for her personal use.

Paid herself $45 in General Fund money to which she was not entitled.

Received a $100 expense advance and failed to supply receipts for $34 of the amount advanced.

Palmer repaid the town $195 in 1999 and $20 in 2000, leaving a balance of $1,625 still not paid to the town.

All checks paid from town account must have two signatures: Palmer’s signature and that of the mayor or the mayor pro tem. But Palmer has unsupervised access to Cobb’s signature stamp.

Palmer borrowed money from the town by issuing payroll checks to herself in advance on 71 occasions. Palmer claimed overtime on 70 of those occasions, but there was no documentation of hours worked, according to the report.

The auditor’s report stated that Palmer bought amounts of copier toner that were in excess of the amount needed by the town.

The report also stated that in December 1998, Cobb borrowed $92 from the town’s petty cash but repaid the loan in March 1999.

&uot;I got a check to pay a bill, but … I&160;did pay it back,&uot; Cobb said Wednesday.

In the report, Kyle urged the District Attorney’s Office to investigate the allegations. Palmer and Cobb could be charged with malfeasance in office and unauthorized use of a movable and violation of Article 7, Section 14 of the Louisiana Constitution, which prohibits such loans from public funds, according to the report.

Kyle’s office recommended that the town implement policies and procedures to ensure that employees do not borrow from the town, pay personal expenses with town funds and not make payroll advances.

It recommended that the town document all hours worked by town employees and that signature stamps be kept under strict control of the people whose signatures those stamps represent.

The mayor should also regularly review the town’s financial transactions, it said.

In a letter to Kyle, Lain said that some policies and procedures had already been put in place, that more would be implemented in the future, and that the town would cooperate fully with the District Attorney’s Office in the matter.