Looks as though corruption was standard operating procedure in South Bay. The Inspector General's office audited the operations there and found some of the following. This is over and above the situation outlined with the Riviera Beach official. Click title for link.
Among key findings:
— The perennially cash-strapped town was unable to account for assets topping $753,000. After weeks of digging, about $430,000 in assets were tracked down, but $315,859 in equipment was never located.
— Ten acres of town land were being used by a cement company that had not paid South Bay rent since 2007. No lease had ever been required. South Bay recently won an appeals court decision allowing it to evict the company.
— Some town properties were unusable, in falling-down disrepair or dangerous. One former American Legion Hall owned by the town, for instance, had a collapsed roof and no windows.
— Alston, the former city manager, had a town-supplied car which he drove for 60,000 miles, racking up $11,885 in gas billed to the town — even though his license was suspended for more than a year.
— The new city manager, Leondrae Camel, had been using a personal credit card to help pay city expenses. But, said Camel, he had to: Banks and American Express had turned down the town’s applications for a credit card.
![Dr. W. H. Cotton’s ode: “Oh, My Lake Worth, Florida!” [circa 1920].](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yhHyCn84ZIQ/WezjlEL-0tI/AAAAAAAAPZ4/CzkhriK6zpEJJ3d9Je1495d49gIhnMlxACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/LakeWorthPioneers.JPG)
