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Officials: Century’s Natural Gas Boss Has Been Operating Without Required Certification
June 4, 2019
The Town of Century gas superintendent has operated the town’s natural gas system without a required valid state certification, according to town officials. But exactly how long it has been is not yet clear.
Both Mayor Henry Hawkins and Council President Ann Brooks confirmed Wally Kellett’s natural gas certification has expired. Hawkins said it recently expired, while Brooks said it expired November 30, 2018.
The expiration came to light last month during a inspection of the town’s gas system. Inspectors were able to conduct the inspection only because Town Clerk Kim Godwin is still a certified operator; she was promoted to town clerk from the natural gas supervisor’s job in April 2018.
Godwin said she was unable to provide a copy of Kellett’s certification paperwork to determine the exact expiration date because it is only in his possession and he was out of town at a conference in Clearwater, Florida.
Hawkins said Kellett’s certification renewal would soon be complete. The mayor also noted that Century passed the inspection.
NorthEscambia.com file photo.
Comments
22 Responses to “Officials: Century’s Natural Gas Boss Has Been Operating Without Required Certification”
Hope everyone is having a good evening , I am just so glad we are getting some rain . I just wanted to comment on a earlier post , not about the Mayor or anything going on in town politics , but about comments about a young lady working in the office. I also was in that day and yes she was so busy , but because of circumstance beyond her control she was manning the store by herself and yes she is new to this job , but I was impressed by her hustling to take care of us all the best she could . She is not a little girl but a mother of a beautiful little child , driving over a 100 miles a day to her work in order to support her little family . And also the comment about a bar , as far as I know she has never darken the door of one .Again hats off to her , treated me with respect and kindness, thank you . I really think she will become a very good employee for our great Town . Thanks for allowing me to post
wow small town ineptitude at its grandest! guess you get what you pay for in service and professionalism…
ProPrivacy on June 4th, 2019 5:24 pm
ProPrivacy,
The Mayor was proven to be a liar multiple times. The Mayor has demonstrated a lack of leadership and knowledge for the job. This is not a matter of opinion but a matter of fact. I do not know the man and do not have a dog in the hunt. But, based on what has been reported by northescambia.com, the Mayor has been caught making multiple lies to multiple people. If the Mayor is dishonest maybe he is not fit to serve the community and TOC should look for new leadership?
And the talk goes on~~~~~~~ when does the actions begin to rectify the wrongs that CONTINUE to go on……….When does the management learn that everything has to have accountability and balance?????? If you don’t have the money and knowledge…..don’t try to do something at the expense of others.(the citizens). So the town is in a financial crisis…..but Wally is away at a conference……
How many trips have the employees taken ??? What have they learned???Is their performance on the job any better as a result of all of these trips??? What is the total cost of these trips????
Seems to me that if we hire qualified persons and they go to the job and work 40 hours a week and drive their own vehicles to and from work, ~~~~~~these might be good suggestions.for starting to get back on track..PLEASE !!! if you care about our town and took the oath to do your best for it………..then just DO IT~~~. OR RESIGN AND LET SOMEONE ELSE TRY TO GET THE TOWN BACK ON TRACK~~~
THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO CARE AND TRY TO DO WHAT’S RIGHT…….MRS. BROOKS is one….who else will step up to help out and just do the right thing????
The mayor cant be recalled because he is a non voting member of government. The Govonor IG closed an inquiry and said unless the Mayor or Council reports the financial emergency they closed the case. If the council wanted to remove him it would take a majority vote.
If he continues to try to operate in a dysfunctional manner not keeping the council fully abreast of the dealings that will be known.
If the council continue to be dysfunctional that is also known.
Why haven’t they followed up and secured a grant for the lift stations. Are they all waiting for someone else to do it?
Citizens going to a meeting don’t make them do what they were elected to do. The outcome of the election should have been sufficient.
Handwriting is on the Wall.
Three million in the hole from spending the gas tax..people not being billed, service run out of the urban services boundaries and not annexed, accountant and attorney failing them and not fired.
Too little too late.
Considering everything that has occurred since Mr. Henry Hawkins, Aka..the Mayor Has been in this office, it should not be very difficult to have him impeached. We all are very aware of fact that not only is this a Mayor problem, it is also a Council problem. Why has our Town Council let us down so badly. Maybe because you all act like a bunch of spoiled, entitled brats and are more concerned with your own self presence in the community then you are the community . I would like to ask each of the council members, how many of you really care about the Town of Century? I think a lot of people, not just Century residence are wondering. For the Century City Hall office…. A friend was in there today making a payment. A young girl who looked like she wasn’t old enough to be out of high school was working alone. She had customers in the lobby, as well as the drive-through window . To say the least she was very rattled, nervous and obviously confused. Can someone at City Hall explain why?? When asked, she stated that she had only been employed for one week. Obviously , not very well trained. She was put in that position with no one helping her at such a busy time of the month. And ….. why on earth are these unknowledgeable, kids being hired to take care of such important positions within our City Hall. We’ve already heard about the billing clerk, we don’t even get our bills on time. Why would The mayor And city Council expect her to complete such an important, critical job preparing any taxes for our city. This child is not old enough to even understand the importance of the job. Maybe they taught her some accounting at her last job, Odom‘s bar. To our council members, you all voted on the people who are employed at City Hall yet you guys are complaining and arguing over a job not being done. Stop arguing and do something about the problems. Train these individuals properly to do their jobs correctly so they can take pride in their work and have pride in this town. Also, instead of laying blame completely on the Mayor and Town Clerk, remember, All of you are in this together, right or wrong. Take control and stop bickering. I believe you all have forgotten that making our town, THE TOWN of CENTURY , great again is what is important!!
It is no longer about fault finding. What is the best decision the keep water flowing in, sewer discharging, trash picked up, road and bridges repaired for the people needing those services for the best cost.
A financial emergency should have been declared by the mayor and council years ago instead of misappropriation of funds to keep it afloat.
Can’t hide that fact anymore.
Now what? The truth is staring you in the face.
I have a question for all of you complainers. Where were you at when it was time to hit the polls and vote? Furthermore, I absolutely believe without a doubt in my mind that Mayor Hawkins is doing the absolutely best job he can do with what he has to work with. The man inherited an absolute mess. Mayor Hawkins is only criticized the way he is bc the former Mayor Freddy didnt have northescambia.com reporting on his every misstep and mistake or the readers breathing down his throat criticizing and shaming him for the better half of his tenure. The citizens of Century Florida ought to be ashamed of themselves for speaking and wishing failure on the Mayor. What ever happened to a little encouragement can go a long ways? Mayor Hawkins keep up the good work sir. There are some of us that are very proud of you. God bless you sir.
WELL, WELL WHAT IS NEXT IN THIS STORY? AS I SAID BEFORE. WHO AND WHEN IS SOMEONE GOING TO JAIL??? CAN’T WEIGHT TO READ THE NEXT STORY, AS THE TOWN CENTURY TURNS !!!!!!!!!
Victoria
The towns people can’t throw them all out. They could petition to dissolve the incorporation. Are they ready. Services most likely would be transitioned to ECUA, a water board and the county.
Council and Mayor may prefer to keep their money and loans and insurance and proud cocky..I’m the mayor status than do what a public servant is supposed to do.
The state, governor could assist with transition for the people.
They could most likely be prosecuted if they don’t follow the two wake up calls by the grand jury and league of cities.
Play Ball
Two strikes so far..
Hawkins said it recently expired / Nov 2018 isn’t recent / when is he ever going to tell the truth up front
If you want your vehicle to appear more on point than your leadership, look no farther than Century. The entire town is a laughing stock.
Everyone wants to blame only the mayor but I think the town’s people needs to get together and throw them all out and get all new people in the office we maybe better off we may not but it can’t get no more messed up than it already is . Then maybe we and then maybe we can get some jobs and things the town needs look at the people wanted to lease the helicopter plant and who was the three voted no wow lucky guess we need someone to help our town not keep hurting it and the people in it just saying
Most likely if his certification has expired there may be a whole round of test involved to now renew. If so this just doesn’t happen overnight. Out of town trips may be in store for re-certification now other than just being able to renew. This could cost the town of Century even more money for his schooling.
Having a certification lapse is a paperwork issue; it is not more or less common than you might think.
It is a thing that happens – somewhere on the scale of “sometimes,” right between “routinely” and “rarely.’
While I do agree that Century does have its problems when it comes to town management, let’s keep the focus on the leaders, and not on the middle management.
Middle management is only a mirror of the people both above and below.
The trick is knowing who to look for when the middle managers reflect well, and who to look for when they reflect poorly.
In the case of paperwork: look up.
In the case of actual system function, look down.
What and when will be the straw that breaks the camels back?
I have a door knob with more sense and ethics than the TOC (Town of Century).
The ENTIRE town of Century is a joke and a mockery of how a town is NOT supposed to operate. When will the County or State intervene and remove the Mayor? It’s always one thing after another…pathetic!
“…he was out of town at a conference in Clearwater, Florida.” Another colossal waste of hard to find tax dollars in Century. But just maybe this boondoggle in Clearwater was required training; however, I doubt it.
At least they can afford custom graphics for his truck.
Every time you think you’ve heard it all, another screw up.
Sad for the Town of Century and the Really Really GOOD and Honest people there.
You deserve and should have Much Better “leadership” (used loosely).
Well run places have people who keep track of certifications and give plenty of warning before one reaches the expiration date.
The Escambia County School District has excellent Certification persons overseeing thousands of Certificates of many types and does an outstanding job of managing them.
What is wrong with this situation?
Where is the oversight??