Less than 50 people were on hand Saturday morning to hear city council candidate Buck Sheward discuss a past and future state audits of the Henryetta city government. Sheward said there were violations found but admitted of the 25 violations he claimed to have been found by auditors in 2012 no citations or charges had been levied against any city officials. “I talked to the auditors,” fire chief David Bullard told Sheward, “and they said the city had the best records of any they had seen. That audit was checking city activities and records from 2010 to 2012.
Sheward said no one had read the audit. A check of Thehenryettan’com website said some 400 had been downloaded since a copy had been made available there.
That first audit resulted in a $4 surcharge being placed on water bills to pay for the nearly $50,000 fee charged by the state. Sheward told the group that the surcharge had never been taken off the bill. “I don’t know this but I’ve been told by several citizens that it had never been taken off. In fact, the surcharge was removed three months after it started. A second surcharge was added to the bills in February to pay for the second audit spearheaded by Sheward.
He said the second audit request came as a continuance of the first. He claims the second audit deals with questionable and foolish expenditures of city funds.
Sheward said there was a lot of money going out that, “we don’t know where it is going.” He brought up two claims to the Hall Estill legal firm in February. One of those claims was for legal expenses dealing with a petition started by Sheward to change the Henryetta city charter and allow people to vote on utility rate increases. The petition is currently being disputed in district court with the argument that Henryetta is not a charter city but rather a statutory city.
Another council candidate, Bob Patterson, read through some of the claims paid by the city and questioned why the town is spending $7,000 monthly on fuel. Bullard said the money goes to police and fire equipment as well as city vehicles. That’s for working and using equipment to fix things. Diesel is not cheap,” Mayor Jennifer Clason replied.
Former council candidate Michelle Stremme accused police chief Steve Norman of following her into a beauty shop to debate her on statements on a brochure.
One of the audience members questioned Sheward about his home being called, “abandoned, disheveled and should be condemed.” That accusation dealt with photos and statements by Sheward on his website. The city paved a street toward that house and two others. The street, according to one of the residents, prior to the paving, was said to be in such bad shape that an ambulance could not come to it when a person was ill and had to be taken to the hospital.
Sheward claimed he knocked on those doors and never got a response. He admitted he was guilty putting it on the website.
Clason asked Sheward to tell everyone,”One thing you have done for the city.”
“I’m doing it right now,” he said. Getting rid of corruption in town.”
He denied ever seeking whistle blower money for some of the corruption. He said he was using that as an example. “I did not tell that to the editor,” he said.
Sheward said he has, “never bashed city hall.” “You have bashed city hall the entire time I have been here. You have said everybody on the city council is a liar,” Clason replied.
During a face to face argument between Sheward and Clason, he accused her of grandstanding.     
Council member Janna Duggan said Clason has, “more passion in her little toe for the city than you have in your entire body.”
Duggan asked him about the violations he said were in the last audit. “So I’m wrong on one or two,” he said. She also asked him about the flyers given out to people being different than the items on the audit. “We didn’t give the flyer out with the audit. We went to get signatures for the petition. People asked for more information and we went to the folder and said here’s the information,” he replied.
Talking about a 2012 report by a retail consulting firm pointing out the need for dilapidated homes in the town to be cleaned up. “This town is a cesspool,” he said. He referred to a website report that said Henryetta is the worst town in Henryetta to live in. That report appeared on a Facebook post from a website located in Toronto, Canada.
Bullard told Sheward there are laws preventing the city from cleaning up properties. “It takes time. There are legal ways. You can’t just go in and tear down the house.”
Sheward said the problem stems from code enforcement. He said the current code enforcement officer doesn’t know the first thing about code enforcement.”
He questioned the purchase of 17 acres of land adjoining the Shurden-Leist industrial park. "He said the land was, "completely unusable." He claimed the cost of the land was between $100,000 and $185,000. 
According to city officials, that land was purchased because of a 2010 mistake by the city that ended up with waste from destruction of some dilapidated homes being put on what was thought tobe city property. The 17 acres was bought from Terry and Judy Varner for $25,000 with approval of the purchase made in a May, 2015 council meeting.
Sheward said that land purchase is part of the audit.
Other issues covered during the meeting dealt with the now-eliminated park board. Former park board member Ronald Lee pointed out there was an issue with a board member being reimbursed for expenses dealing with a fund-raiser at Nichols Park.
After a two-year period, the reimbursement was made.
"He has questions on 19, 20, 21 and 22, and doesn't agree with the audit, said Kenny Jones. "That's not true," said Sheward. "If they can't explain it in one audit," said Jones, "there will be another audit."