Citizens of Gorin Moving Forward with Petitions, Third Community Meeting Held
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By Echo Menges
The tiny town of Gorin continues to be at the forefront of area ire, which has grabbed the attention of state offices.
A community meeting was held in Gorin on Saturday evening, March 2, 2024, which 14 people attended.
According to organizer Teel Pflum, the meeting was moved to a home in Gorin at the last minute after the group was informed the Gorin Baptist Church, where the previous two community meetings were held, would no longer allow the group to use the church basement as a meeting location.
The group’s efforts were given a lot of attention from people throughout the region when a video of the February Gorin City Council meeting, which was not held at the church, began to be circulated.
The council meeting video was recorded by an attendee and published online showing the meeting as being volatile, unruly, and brash. That video also showed blatant disregard for standard meeting operations and the Missouri Sunshine Law serving as a source of embarrassment and frustration for some Gorin citizens and Scotland County residents alike.
The community meeting was the third meeting of its kind to be held by citizens of Gorin, population 62, to further their efforts in determining how city funds are being spent, how and what city equipment is being operated, and how to obtain public documents from the Gorin Mayor.
The community meeting also served as an opportunity to relay information obtained by Pflum from various state agencies.
At the beginning of the community meeting, the group discussed a remarkably high fine issued to the City of Gorin by the Missouri Department of Revenue for allegedly not reporting financial information to the DOR since 2022.
“The Auditor’s Office told me they thought it was a $250 a day fine. That was wrong. It’s a $500-a-day fine, and as of (February 26) it’s a $208,000 fine the city owes for failure to report financials quarterly,” Teel Pflum told the group.
Pflum also gave updates on two petitions being circulated throughout the community including a petition to force an audit of city finances by the Missouri State Auditor’s Office, and a petition to remove the Mayor from office by the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office.
“We had our response from the Auditor’s Office and we got our audit petition back, which we need 11 signatures minimum. We’d like to have more than that. We have 50 registered voters in the city limits of Gorin, and you do have to be a registered voter that lives in city limits,” said Pflum about the petition to force an audit of the City of Gorin. “I will pass it around and, yes, at the top it does say that our petition (to) audit will cost the city between $25,000 and $55,000. Do not let that scare you because that is if the books are perfect. When they are not, the city doesn’t get that charge.”
According to Pflum, she was originally told the audit would not be performed until December or January by the State Auditor’s Office.
“They had several calls, after the video, that it needed to be done – from several people in higher places than we are – so it’ll be done more likely in April or May. The sooner we get (the petition) back – the sooner it will be done,” said Pflum.
The group also discussed pushing for criminal investigations and filing a Sunshine Law violation complaint.
“We also filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office. I have not heard back from them except that they received it,” Pflum reported to the group. “I filed a complaint for the Sunshine Request, and then I also filed a formal complaint request for a criminal investigation into the city and into the Mayor.”
“We also talked about talking to the Sheriff’s Office about doing a formal investigation into the city, and they said, that’s not them. That’s the Highway Patrol investigation unit. (The Highway Patrol) said they would look into it and get back to me, and they’ve called back several times and are still looking into it. They said, we really need the records from the city to have something firm for them to go on. That was also pre-video the last time I talked to them,” said Pflum.
The community group also took time to talk to former City Clerk Ginger Bass over the phone, ask questions and get a better understanding about how the city was operated prior to her resignation.
The community meeting lasted roughly 50 minutes.
The community group plans to push forward and follow through with submitting their petitions to state officials.
A video of the full Gorin Community Meeting held on March 2 is available on memphisdemocrat.com.
The Memphis Democrat has requested to inspect the City of Gorin’s public documents including meeting minutes, financial reports, and bank statements held at the Gorin City Hall in accordance with RsMO 109.180. That inspection of public documents request is expected to be fulfilled by Gorin Mayor Teresa Norton this week.
Attorney Scott Sommers of Kahoka told the Memphis Democrat he was working with Gorin Mayor Teresa Norton on February 28. He was not sure if he was representing Norton privately or the City of Gorin.
“I don’t know yet,” said Attorney Scott Sommers. “They both need a lot of help.”
On Monday, March 11, Sommers said in an email, “As far as I know I believe I am done with this matter.”
This continues to be a developing story. More information will be released when it becomes available.
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