In a classic case of "He says, she says," the latest battle between                                City of Nitro Mayor                                     Russell W. "Rusty"                                  Casto, III, and his                                     former hand-picked                                Treasurer Tifney D.                                    Terry is whether or not                               she had his permission                                 to sign 35 city checks                                   in 2006 and 2007.

"I never gave her                                   permission," says                                    Casto. "I didn't find                                    out about this until                                  after she resigned."

One check, dated May                              15th, 2007, for $4,397.14, was made out to Terry. It was drawn on a different account than all of the others-which is typical for payroll checks.

However, "It doesn't appear that she spent any money illegally," says current Nitro Treasurer John Young. "All of the checks seem to be for legitimate city expenses."

And, all of the checks have been sent to the West Virginia Auditing Department, Young says. "They are investigating."

PutnamLIVE.com received copies of each of the checks May 12th, more than a week after requesting them from Young during a telephone conversation May 1st-a call that he took several days to return. Initially, Nitro Recorder Rita Cox first denied having copies of the checks a few days earlier, then produced them when PutnamLIVE.com reminded her that the city had illegally failed to respond to our Freedom of Information Act Request within five business days. She says Casto had them and provided them to her before she called PutnamLIVE.com May 12th

A concern in writing this article was how to contact Terry to get her side of the issue. Terry moved out of Casto's rental house and has reportedly moved to Ohio and does not have a listed telephone number. Minutes before this article was to be written, PutnamLIVE.com received an unsolicited email from Terry. Who tipped her off about the FOIA request is unknown, but here is what she has to say about the matter:

"Every time I had to sign for the Mayor - contact was made with the Mayor and authorization given for the signature and you will clearly see my initials next to his name," says Terry. "A hand signature was necessary as the Mayor never had a stamp made (which most officials have) for use when his signature was required but he was not present to actually sign himself (but had given verbal authorization)."

After we published this article Terry responded with another email stating, "Rusty stating that he never authorized my signature - this is a flat out lie. Rusty not only authorized my signing for him on city checks but other city documents as well. One specific situation is a Grant Application for the Nitro Police Department - we were getting the final paperwork together and the Mayor was across the street - he was called to come across the street and sign, to which he stated, 'Oh, you go ahead and sign my name I don't need to come over there.' This was witnessed by more than 3 individuals in the police department."

The controversial Terry resigned her position, in 2007, shortly after PutnamLIVE.com revealed that the city was nearly $1 million in debt, that she had paid herself, a salaried employee, more than $20,000 in overtime, and was living in Casto's rental home.

A high-ranking Nitro Police Officer advised PutnamLIVE.com that he recommended to Casto that the city press forgery charges against Terry. However, in an exclusive interview with PutnamLIVE.com, Casto seemed very hesitant to move in that direction.

"I don't know," Casto says when asked if the city will charge Terry. "I have no idea. Probably just go about our business."

In her email, Terry says that other city officials  often signed Casto's name to checks. PutnamLIVE.com left Casto a voice mail on his cell phone asking about her comment as well as requesting copies of those checks-if they exist.

We will follow-up with another article if Terry's allegations prove to be true.


Related articles:

Nitro's Finances Are A Mess

Nitro Suspends Salaried Overtime Pay

CLIFFORD: "Terry Paid Herself Overtime"

Terry Suddenly Resigns As Nitro Treasurer

Terry Lives In Casto's Rental House

Terry Restored As Nitro City Treasurer

Judge Orders Terry Out As Nitro Treasurer