Earth to Puckett! (September 14, 2016)

At the September 13 Town Council meeting, Assistant Town Manager of Finance & Administration Marc Puckett started off his presentation of the latest Transparency Report with lies, continued with an almost unending stream of lies and innuendo, and finished off with a whopper that he has repeated before even though it’s been debunked both by Liberty Utilities and others (Gaffe riot — revisited, Daily Press, May 1, 2016).

In case anyone thinks the stress of his job is getting to him, this type of behavior is nothing new for the innumerate Mr. Puckett. He was essentially fired from his position as finance director at Eastpointe, MI, before being forced to resign as finance director of Flint, MI, and then Costa Mesa, CA. In the case of Flint, MI, millions were mishandled, but of course Puckett blamed it on others.

Now he’s here in Apple Valley, mishandling the millions our Town used to have, so again he has to blame others and make false accusations.

It’s bad enough that he survived the vetting process to get the job here in the first place, but considering his salary and benefits cost us taxpayers $314,000 annually, certainly there must be others who could do the job right — probably for a lot less money.

The Town Council has been made aware of his sordid track record, but don’t expect them to follow my oft-given advice that he be terminated immediately for cause. Anyone with two brain cells to rub together could see through Puckett’s dog-and-pony shows, but not our Town Councilmembers! They eat this stuff up.

No, the only way we can rid ourselves of the likes of Puckett is to rid ourselves of the council members who have created the environment in which he flourishes. Fortunately, with the election coming up, we have the opportunity to do just that.

Greg Raven is Co-Chair of Apple Valley Citizens for Government Accountability, and is concerned about quality of life issues.


Files dealing with Marc Puckett