Timothy David Ray lost his bid to serve as the permanent clerk of 1st City Court in November, but that didn’t stop him from cutting a number of suspicious checks from an obscure government bank account just before he left office, according to a recent audit.What a strange case. Ray finished slightly out of the running in a city council primary a few years ago before landing the interim clerk gig. Still, Ray seemed like an up and comer. It seems like a waste to throw that away on something like this. He couldn't get himself elected there outright because he ran up against Austin Badon's many years of experience having bought office supplies for the right people himself.
Ray gave $4,766 to a Plaquemines Parish pastor for shelving that was never completed, $5,150 to an Apple store employee for questionable moving expenses, and $360 to a printing company for “business cards” that might have been unnecessary, forensic auditors said.
In total, the auditors said that Ray spent more than $10,000 in public funds on suspicious expenses during his last two weeks in office — findings that prompted New Orleans judges to refer him to the FBI and local law enforcement officials on Wednesday.
In other words, don't expect much improvement in efficiency or ethical operations at the Clerk's office just because Ray is on the way out. Which was basically Dangerblond's point the other day when I brought this up on Twitter. She also took exception to the Advocate's characterization of the office as "under the radar," which we have to agree is sort of condescending toward the readership.
I love how he calls it an “under the radar” clerk’s office. Why is it “under the radar?” YOU are the radar, dumbass. You could do a major story once a month if you aimed your radar at the courts and clerks of court in Orleans. The place is run like a banana republic circa 1972.— 〰🏚〰 (@dangerblond) March 15, 2019
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