Navasota city employees resign after investigation into misuse of city fuel cards
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NAVASOTA, Texas (KRHD) — Three former city of Navasota employees resigned and signed restitution agreements after an investigation found they used city-issued fuel cards to fill up their personal vehicles. As of Thursday morning, July 30, no criminal charges have been filed against the three former employees.
Since the investigation is ongoing, the city could not do an interview, but City Manager Robert Hemminger released a video on Facebook to address the situation.
"This conduct is unacceptable and does not reflect the standards we expect from anyone entrusted with public resources," Hemminger said.
Navasota residents are raising questions about how long the misuse had been occurring and whether it could have been caught sooner.
"I think the biggest question that people have, how long has this actually been going on?" Lisa Wells, a Navasota resident and business owner, said.
Burt Bearden, a Navasota resident, pointed to a prior audit as a missed opportunity.
"I feel like the controls and credit card expenses were called out in our audit back in 2024. And, you know, we were assured that those issues had been addressed," Bearden said.
Wells acknowledged that this type of misconduct is not unique to Navasota.
"Those things do happen. They happen everywhere. They happen every day. They happen all the time. It's just an unfortunate situation that it happened here in Navasota," Wells said.
Residents shared ideas for changes they would like to see the city make going forward. Wells called for more frequent oversight.
"I think more regular audits need to be there," Wells said.
Bearden suggested a more comprehensive approach to controlling fuel access.
"One idea would be to bring in a city-owned bulk fueling system with internal security cameras, you know, I.D., things like that. But most importantly is a very strict supervisor control and review of expenses by city employees," Bearden said.
Wells said the city has an obligation to the people it serves.
"Those are taxpayers' money and people have questions about that," Wells said.
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