ST. MARTINVILLE — The special meeting of the St. Martinville City Council Friday afternoon took several turns.

It started out calmly enough, with council members voting unanimously to hire certified public accountant Avis Gutekunst as the city’s new chief financial officer.

Gutekunst earned her bachelors of science degree in finance from Louisiana State University in 1995. She received her certified public accountant degree in 2005. Although she has served as a controller for Wampold and Company in Baton Rouge since 1999, she also served as owner of Le Petit Paris Cafe in St. Martinville from 2013 to 2016.

The council was on track to support a temporary pay raise for another member of the finance staff, with a motion and second in place, when the discussion turned.

When Mayor Melinda Mitchell mentioned rewarding two other employees, Danielle Fontenette and Shekinah Hines, for their help with the finance department, Mayor Pro Tem Craig Prosper voiced his opposition, with documentation.

In a long-ranging discussion, Prosper pointed out issues with the payroll, reports of a lack of the two employees’ financial knowledge, and multiple errors in issuing payments to vendors.

“We are putting people in positions they are not competent to be in,” Prosper said.

He said one of his constituents brought up a permitting issue brought to Hines in her position as assistant to the zoning administrator that was “dropped” for more than a month.

When Mitchell said that the Fontenette and Hines had been helping put out payroll “without any problems,” Prosper added “With fewer problems,” noting that problems with deductions and other payroll issues have continued.

He also provided copies of invoices from one vendor, Doug Ashy Lumber, that had been overpaid. The invoices show that the city paid some charges three times.

“We do not know how much money we have in our budget,” Prosper said. “This all stems from November, when we put the mayor’s pick for chief financial officer in place.”

Receipts and invoices Prosper provided the council showed that as of March 30, the city had overpaid Ashy more than $1,300. The city issued another check to Ashy on May 1 for an additional $1,500.

“This looks like someone overpaying the account so they can get a kickback,” Prosper said.

He also brought up proposed modifications to city hall, including moving offices for some employees and altering some of the interior walls and doors.

Mitchell said those were only plans, and that nothing had been finalized.

“Then why am I hearing the workers are scheduled to be here Monday to begin working on putting in a door?” Prosper asked. “We don’t know how much money we have in our budget. If this came before the council and we approved it, we would be behind it. But we can’t keep spending money when we don’t know how much we have.”

District 1 Councilman Mike Fuselier and District 3 Councilman Dennis Paul Williams said they did not have any idea there were plans to reorganize or remodel any of city hall.

“This is the first I am hearing of this,” Fuselier said.

The accounting firm of Faulk and Winkler LLC was contracted last month to go over the city’s finances to bring them up to date. According to Prosper, the accountant working on St. Martinville’s books has only caught up to the end of December so far.

“She has only closed out December, which means we are still five months out of date,” Prosper said.

The CAO position became open last month after Shedrick Berard, who had been appointed to the job in November, turned in his letter of resignation to Mitchell moments before a special meeting of the city council to discuss his employment on April 4. His resignation came after multiple issues in the city administration, including botched payroll deposits, unpaid bills, misplaced grant deposits, and a weeks-long search for $18,000 in traffic ticket revenues.

Berard had been hired against the recommendation of the city’s independent auditor. Since Berard’s return to his role as zoning administrator, multiple issues have arisen with his job performance as CAO, including the fact that the city’s checking accounts had not been reconciled in months.

Mitchell said the Faulk and Winkler accountant is scheduled to address the council at its next regular meeting on May 20. Fuselier suggested that the council schedule another special meeting to focus entirely on the financial discussion.

“I don’t want to have this discussion during a regular meeting with 20 other items on the agenda,” Fuselier said. “We need to be able to take our time and ask questions to see exactly where we stand.

The meeting was disrupted at that point when Lawrence “Nanny” Mitchell entered. Prosper has had a civil protective order against Mitchell since January. Mitchell was arrested later Friday evening for violating the order for the third time in the last five months.

Lawrence Mitchell’s release on $500 bond Saturday morning has led Prosper to say he will resign his council post next week, citing the judicial system’s inability to protect him while sitting on the council.