[ad_1] Newton County cuts off payments to scuba store A Covington scuba store sold equipment and training to Newton County’s fire department dive team, even though the store’s owner, Glenn Mikos, is a fire inspector and dive team member. The county has suspended payments to the store amid FOX 5’s questions about a potential conflict
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A Covington scuba store sold equipment and training to Newton County’s fire department dive team, even though the store’s owner, Glenn Mikos, is a fire inspector and dive team member. The county has suspended payments to the store amid FOX 5’s questions about a potential conflict of interest.
For years, Into the Blue Scuba sold tens of thousands of dollars in specialized equipment and training to Newton County Fire Services, even though the store’s owner is a member of the dive team his store has been supplying.
The relationship appears to violate the county’s Code of Ethics. It went on right under the noses of county leaders, and it’s unclear why no one put a stop to it.
When a swimmer disappears into a lake or river, rescue dive teams have the grim duty of searching and pulling up the body. They might also search for important evidence of a crime, such as a weapon discarded in deep water. The state Department of Public Safety has a dive team, as do other cities and counties throughout the state.
Records obtained by the FOX 5 I-Team show more than $140,000 spent at Into the Blue Scuba for the fire department. Sales racked up after the store’s owner, Glenn Mikos, went to work for the department in 2019. He is currently a fire inspector, dive team member and scuba instructor for the dive team.
The store’s role as the dive team supplier was never put out for bid by the county.
“That’s not allowed because it creates a clear conflict of interest,” Common Cause Georgia Executive Director Aunna Dennis said. “There could be power/privilege dynamics. There could be misuse of funds.”
But the I-Team found 14 charges that came within a few hundred dollars of the threshold – all paid by the county. Three times, the Scuba store submitted invoices just two dollars under the threshold – including a $4,998 charge in August for training two team members, along with four knives and four shears.
Newton County’s Code of Ethics says, “No official or employee shall acquire or maintain an interest in any business that is engaged in the sale of property, goods or services to the County …” The policy has exceptions if certain conditions have been met, such as going through a competitive bid process.
“As soon as this matter came to my attention, I instructed that no further payment or purchases be made to the vendor in question,” County Manager Cooper’s statement said.
FOX 5 tried to talk to several county employees, including Finance Director Brittany White, whose department handles payments to vendors. All of them said they couldn’t speak about the issue and referred questions to the county spokesman.
Newton County Fire Chief Mike Conner, seen here at a Sept. 19 county commission meeting, declined to speak with the FOX 5 I-Team about one of his fire inspectors supplying goods and services for his own dive team.
Newton County’s commission chairman, Marcello Banes, spoke briefly outside a commission meeting.
None of the payments to Into the Blue Scuba appear to have gone through the County Commission for approval. Commissioner Alana Sanders said she’s asked to see those records now.
Glenn Mikos, a Newton County fire inspector and scuba shop owner, watches members of the fire department’s dive team train in Lake Varner on Sept. 12.
“They know what the county codes and the ethics are,” Denise Williams, of Concerned Citizens of Newton County, said. “They get a handbook. And so you can clearly read in the handbook that it’s a conflict of interest, and it’s unethical.”
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