AUGUSTA, Ga. () – It was a long legal session behind closed doors, but city leaders are taking no new action on suspended Housing and Development Director Hawthorne Welcher.
“I got to wait until we get all the information back from the audit etcetera and so we’ll  take it and make a decision at that time,” said Mayor Pro-Tem Wayne Guilfoyle.
Welcher was placed on leave earlier this month, after commissioners approved reimbursing the federal government $6.5 million dollars.
The feds contracted the city back in November, saying that federal rental assistance funds that were not used needed to be returned.
“This is money that we’re having to pay back. It’s not just going to be$6.5 million we have to pay back, you know, that it’s going be more and that money could be used elsewhere,” said Commissioner Catherine Smith Rice.
 “It’s not a full $6 and a half million dollars that are missing, we do have the majority of that but we do not have all of it. But a penny missing is a problem,” said Commissioner Alvin Mason.
City leaders are waiting on the results of an audit before deciding the next step on Welcher. The timeline on getting the audit done is still up in the air.
“It depends. We have not yet had a response on how long it’s going to take. Hopefully, we should know that with the next two weeks,” said City Administrator Tameka Allen.

“How much is that going to cost?”

“We do not have the cost yet,” Allen said.
“Was money stolen?”  

“We don’t know. We certainly hope not. I don’t want to jump to that conclusion. We will find out, we’ll get to the bottom of it and we’ll hold people accountable,” said Commissioner Alvin Mason.
Commissioners could be holding more legal sessions to come when it comes to the Housing and Development Department.