Perry fairgrounds report reveals pay, alcohol violations

ATLANTA -- When Ransom Moore resigned in December as executive director of the national fairgrounds in Perry, an investigation into allegations of mismanagement of leave time and preferential treatment of an employee was underway, according to a report released Wednesday.

The Office of the State Inspector General found that under Moore's leadership at the fairgrounds, the Georgia Agricultural Exposition Authority broke state rules when it approved cash payments to employees for leave balances and when it changed rules dealing with overtime.

Some state employees are allowed to convert overtime hours into time off under some circumstances, but Moore and the authority ended that and paid the employees instead, breaking a rule, according to the report.

Ronald Goldsby, the then-chief administrative officer of the Georgia National Fairgrounds & Agricenter, wrote to the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget in 2014 to blow the whistle, saying he suspected the change broke rules about mixing different sources of funds. But Goldsby also wrote that he might suffer retribution if he made any action to stop the change from taking effect.

Inspectors also found evidence that Moore signed off on a document to let Stacey Campbell, the director of marketing and media relations, to use leave she had not accrued. The report also says Campbell and Moore were seen drinking in the executive director's office, a violation of a policy banning state employees from using alcohol at work sites.

The inspector found no evidence of an inappropriate relationship between Campbell and Moore, but did find that such behavior created the appearance of one and that it disrupted authority operations.

The authority has been working with the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget to resolve the compensatory leave accrual process, state Inspector General Deborah Wallace wrote in a Wednesday letter reporting her findings to Gov. Nathan Deal.

Moore sent his resignation to Deal on Dec. 8 without a public announcement. His resignation took effect Dec. 31. He had previously announced he would retire March 1, 2016.

Wallace made only one recommendation in her report.

"Due to the resolution of many issues during the investigation," Wallace wrote, she recommended the fairgrounds' interim executive director "review Campbell's violation (of the alcohol ban) for administrative action, if any, deemed necessary."

Campbell, Moore and James Floyd, interim director of the fairgrounds, could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday evening.

To contact writer Maggie Lee, e-mail mlee@macon.com.

This story was originally published January 13, 2016 at 7:49 PM with the headline "Perry fairgrounds report reveals pay, alcohol violations ."