BY SARA GREENE
Leader staff writer
Accounting irregularities discovered in an annual state audit spurred the Beebe City Council on Monday to hire Leonard Fort as the interim code-enforcement officer, replacing Alan Ridings temporarily.
Council members told The Leader they couldn’t comment on the decision pending an internal investigation in the code-enforcement department budget.
A spokesman for the Department of Finance and Adminis-tration Division of Joint Legislative Audit told The Leader that auditors couldn’t comment on “accounting irregularities” or how long the investigation might take.
Fort had been the city code-enforcement officer from 1991 to 1999.
In other business, the city condemned two properties and pledged $1,400 toward a Fourth of July fireworks display.
The condemned properties are an abandoned home at 112 W. Illinois St. and the burned remains of a home at 613 California St.
The city’s Fourth of July celebration will be held at 4 p.m. at the Beebe Fire Department.
There will be a horseshoe competition, poetry reading, a martial arts demonstration, music by the Luke Williams band and a 30-minute fireworks display at dark.
The event is free.
