MEGAN GRAY
The Ellis County Press
PALMER–Mike Greenlee’s mayoral past is once again creeping up, this time in his re-election race to the city council.
Greenlee,
one of six candidates running for the May 10 local election, said he
has had to face repeated questions about past spending of a city-issued
credit card on hotels,restaurants and strip clubs, as well as purchases
on guns and ammunition.
The Ellis County Press
“has been known to be the untruthful paper in town,”said Greenlee, one
of two incumbents running (Councilmember Joice Price chose not to seek
re-election).
According to hundreds of documents obtained by the ECP, city auditors told Greenlee and the Palmer City Council that “Mr. Greenlee has evidently acknowledged using the city’s charge card for personal reasons.”
In
notations written by former Mayor Wallace Hughley on city auditor
documents from the early 90s, one statement read, “Expensive!”
Greenlee,
who served as the city’s mayor in the early 90s,at first denied being
issued with a city credit card, but when pressed further,he said “a
long, long time ago I had one issued by the city but it wasn’t acity
card.”
The councilman then asked rhetorically, “if these charges were true, why didn’t they prosecute [me]?”
According
to former mayors and councilmen who served with Greenlee, local
prosecutors with Joe Grubbs’ office agreed not to pursue legal action
in exchange for Greenlee “never running again” and city auditors making
arrangements with Greenlee to have the expenses paid back. These
allegations were confirmed by a successor to Greenlee and current city
council candidates.When reached for comment about the city auditor
reports and the receipts, Hughley– one of the former mayors – noted he
sports a Greenlee re-election sign in his yard.
“That
was in the past, so why bring it up,” Hughley said. “I’m darn glad he is
on the council.” When asked about the local prosecutors’ agreement,
Hughley said he was “always misquoted in papers.”
Greenlee,
whose name also appears on the signs with candidates Shannon Conger and
Linda Harper, maintained that he “never, ever spent taxpayers’ money”
on the items he’s accused of spending money on.
However,
in bank statements and receipts signed by Greenlee to places such as
Skaggs All-Star Bowl in Ennis, the receipt lists the account number for
the “City of Palmer.” The signature of Sandra Lynch also accompanied
certain purchases.
In
a memo dated August 19, 1991, the city auditors listed dozens of
“possibly questionable” expenses from a City of Palmer MasterCard.
Many
of the expenses match Greenlee’s credit card receipts. A $154.50 charge
on the City of Palmer card was spent at Sugars,a Dallas strip club. A
notation written beside the charge makes mention of a“public work.”
“I've been in city politics for a long time and have always done what's
best for the community,” said Greenlee, a member of Palmer’s Fundamental
Baptist Church. “It's very difficult to clear your name these days on
items that are not factual but continue to be published.” 
