BUENA VISTA (WSLS 10) - A Buena Vista City Council member is looking for answers.
Bill Fitzgerald says he uncovered evidence that employees of the city-owned golf course were racing golf carts and improperly using a tractor, causing thousands of dollars in damage that the city will need to pay for, but it's been weeks since the incident, and he says the City has not taken any steps to hold anyone accountable.
Fitzgerald says employees of the Vista Links Golf Course were driving golf carts on a dirt track in the woods, causing an estimated $11 thousand dollars in damage, just to the carts alone.
Fitzgerald says when he first learned about the damage, he went to see it first-hand.
He took pictures of the carts and says he got his cost estimates for repairs from the golf course.
"From 12 to 16 thousand, for a City that just don't have it, and for that to happen, I mean it's terrible," said Fitzgerald.
He says that figure includes a tractor that was damaged after being used improperly in a separate incident.
"From my understanding, one of the employees was on it and just making the front end jump up and down like you see in them hydraulic cars, making it jump up and down until it bent the front end out from under it, and it was over four thousand dollars worth of damage," said Fitzgerald.
WSLS spoke with a source at the golf course, who wished to remain anonymous, that confirmed that both incidents happened in July, and the names of the employees responsible were passed on to the City on July 29th.
Fitzgerald says his first thought was to try to file charges against those responsible.
"We brought the police department in, but Jay Scudder, our City Manager, just stopped me every way I've turned," said Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald says Scudder told him, charges won't be filed.
"He told me that nobody was going to get fired over this," said Fitzgerald.
WSLS asked Scudder about the issue Thursday.
He responded "[I'm] not going to speak about that, it's a non-issue."
WSLS also approached City Police Chief Keith Hartman, who says the City is not pressing any charges at this time.
He agreed to an interview, but after speaking with Scudder, declined to comment further.
After the meeting, Fitzgerald took WSLS to the field where he says employees were racing carts in the woods behind the course.
WSLS found a golf course pencil left on the ground.
Fitzgerald says if nothing else, he'll let others know what's going on.
"I want to make sure every citizen of Buena Vista knows how the City is being ran," said Fitzgerald.
Without a formal police investigation, Fitzgerald says he's going to try to let as many people in the Buena Vista community know about the damage to the carts and the tractor, so that hopefully something can be done.