Course, at the request of local chiropractor Dr. Allan Gratia.
The former EDC board, which included members Debbie Breen, Lynn Palmer, Eric Cothran, Laura Devenport, Patricia Mc-Mullan, and Manny Longoria, had made the approval in Aug. 2025.
The EDC approved the $15,000 contribution go to the city so that municipal officials – which would include current city secretary Jill Dickerson and former city treasurer Allyson Wright - could provide oversight of the project.
However, according to newly appointed EDC member Andrea Jankoski, Dr. Gratia was not informed that the city had allocated the funds until she personally notified him prior to the meeting Wednesday — nearly 10 months after the expenditure had been approved. The EDC voted unanimously to request the $15,000 back from the city to distribute it to Dr. Gratia.
Jankoski and board member Nancy De Foster then questioned the EDC’s recent audit, which was conducted by Donald L. Allman, the same auditor for the city.
“I prepared the audit from the previous fiscal year…,” said De Foster, “I was looking at the balance sheet, the statement of net position, and the number on the 2024 audit. They were identical. The capital assets, our infrastructure, and our equipment values were identical. That didn’t change from 2024 to 2025.”
Jankoski also expressed concerns that Allman had not requested to look at expenditures.
“How do you audit financials for an organization if you don’t look at the actual expenditures and question them?” Jankowski stated.
Jankowski went on to question the zero findings in the city’s recent audit.
“Findings are not unusual in audits, nor are they necessarily negative,” Jankoski said. “What concerned me was that the city audit resulted in no findings at all. I was uncomfortable by how limited the audit process appeared to be, particularly because no additional supporting documents were requested beyond the basic materials provided.”
The EDC moved to search for a different auditing company.
In other business, EDC board president Kim McAleb gained accessed to the “outdated” EDC webpage and obtained her own email address: kim. [email protected].
De Foster later raised concerns that the board members did not have updated ordinance manuals – something that should be provided by the city secretary or city attorney, according to the Texas City Attorney’s Association.
McAleb’s own manual was from 2017.
“We will get this straight,” McAleb said, assuring members that they would receive a copy of the updated bylaws.
The EDC also moved to post a part-time administrative position to the EDC, publishing an updated meeting schedule on the EDC website, seeking out new legal counsel, and further discussing the Buck Creek Properties at another meeting.
Dickerson did not provide a statement on why Dr. Gratia had not been notified about the $15,000 approval expense, or why the EDC had outdated bylaw manuals, though the Bulletin sent multiple requests for comment.
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