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Woodbine council hears audit showing years of incomplete client-prepared work; citizen group calls for accountability
Summary
At its May 4 meeting the Woodbine City Council received an audit presentation showing multiple fiscal years of low 'Prepared by Client' completion rates and heard a community group demand transparency and accountability. Council amended the agenda to add the presentation and later adopted legal action related to litigation.
At a May 4, 2026 meeting at Woodbine City Hall, the Woodbine City Council heard an audit presentation from CKH Group that showed multiple years of incomplete client-prepared audit work and faced public calls for greater oversight.
Jenelle Gordon of CKH Group presented a progress update on the city's audits and reported PBC ("Prepared by Client") completion rates by fiscal year: "FY21 is 66%, FY22 is 61%, FY23 is 58%, FY24 is 6%, and FY25 is 0%," figures she provided while answering questions from councilors and members of the public. The council amended the agenda at the start of the meeting to add Gordon’s presentation and a separate presentation from a community organization.
Following the audit presentation, J.R. Burns of the Reclaiming Woodbine Action Group submitted a mission-statement packet and urged the council to restore accountability and transparency in city government. The group’s written statement emphasized unfinished city obligations, saying citizens "will no longer acquiesce to decisions by the Woodbine City Council that fail to serve the best interests of our community" and calling for action to complete long-delayed audits and strategic planning.
During public comment and later discussion, residents questioned the status of the city’s prior auditing firm and whether the firm had been formally disengaged. Mayor Kizziler Knight stated the city was not paying the initial auditing firm; City Attorney Brian Corry clarified the firm had not been engaged since the beginning of the year and that the city was not paying two auditors simultaneously. Administrative staff noted the previously scheduled "Audit Updates" agenda item had been removed when the agenda was revised to add the CKH presentation.
On a separate motion after the executive session, the council adopted a legal action described in the minutes as "related to litigation." The minutes record that Councilor Rick Baird moved and C.C. Higginbotham seconded the motion, and the motion was unanimously approved; the minutes do not provide further detail about the litigation or the legal action adopted.
The meeting closed with the council directing no immediate change to audit staffing in public session; staff and the council indicated some audit- and governance-related items will be revisited after training and further administrative follow-up. The minutes record that governance training had been scheduled for May 7 but several members indicated it would need to be rescheduled.
