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NEW CITY AUDITOR PYRON LEAVES POSITION

By Erin France/Of the Commercial Staff
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 9:44 AM CDT

A month after the city hired Internal Auditor Alan L. Pyron, the position is once again empty.

Pyron submitted his resignation Tuesday. It states that he left the city’s employment for personal reasons and another opportunity.

“It’s just best for me and my family that I move on,” he said.

Pyron indicated that he had received another offer from a private industry with a considerably larger salary.

“I took the job cheaply and kind of regretted that decision after I got here,” he said.

Mayor Carl A. Redus Jr., said he did not know that Pyron had been disbarred from practicing law in Tennessee on Dec. 7, 2005, when he was hired. “We run background checks on everybody,” Redus said. “Background checks do not always come in before you hire someone.”

When asked if he had requested Pyron’s resignation Redus answered: “He’s looking to make a change.”

Redus received the resignation after he discovered Pyron had been disbarred.

Pyron said he did not inform the city of Pine Bluff of the disbarment when he applied for the internal auditor position.

“I didn’t disclose that because it wasn’t pertinent,” he said.

Pyron said his resignation came after the competitive offer.

“I’ve never been fired,” he said.

Pyron was recommended for disbarment by Tennessee’s Board of Professional Responsibility. One complaint alleges that he dropped a case after the client refused to give him pain medication. A second complaint alleges that Pyron was a part of an investment scheme where he helped a client obtain more than $22,000 from a third party, who never regained the funds, according to the web site of the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee.

“I am not guilty of those charges at all,” Pyron said. In the first case, Pyron said he dropped the client because he discovered she was selling drugs. “She turned that around and made false accusations against me,” he said. In the second case, he said he was hired under false pretenses and that he had never spoken to the third party in question.

Pyron said he was unable to defend himself at the disbarment hearing due to prolonged hospitalization because of a staph infection. The lawyer he hired to represent him was unable to attend the hearing because of his presence at a murder trial, Pyron added.

It wasn’t the city of Pine Bluff that changed his mind, Pyron said, although there were certain aspects of the job that he said was uninformed about when he took the position.

“I didn’t expect to be stuck at $45,000 for years,” he said. “I was there to help the citizens of Pine Bluff, but I have to do what’s best for me and my two young children.”

City council members said they were surprised at Pyron’s sudden resignation.

Third Ward Alderman Derwood Smith said he had only recently heard that Pyron was no longer working for the city.

“We’re not told a whole lot about what’s going on,” he said.

Smith said the position was essential for local oversight, but he’d also like to see more transparency when it comes to city government decisions.

“The aldermen are not inside like we used to be,” he said. “I think we should be. We should know what’s going on. We don’t know because it’s kept a secret.”

First Ward Alderman Irene Holcomb said she was not told about the internal auditor leaving, but that it wasn’t critical for her to know.

“It was totally up to the mayor,” said 3rd Ward Alderman Bill Brumett. “I wondered what a guy with those credentials would be doing in that position.”

Brumett and other council members said they thought the position of internal auditor was an important one. The city has not had an internal auditor for about two years.

“I would like to see us have someone we could trust to be in such a position to make sure that monies are properly utilized,” Brumett said.

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