Galletly Trial Opens in District Court

Editors Note: Each evening we will post a summary of the day's proceedings in the case of the State of Oklahoma vs. Bill Galletly, Grove City Manager.


The Galletly Trial--Day One--Monday

A five-woman, one man jury was seated Monday and one witness for the prosecution completed testimony, in the first day of the trial of Bill Galletly, Grove City Manager, on charges of bid splitting to avoid the Oklahoma Competitive Bidding Act.

Bonnie Buzzard, Grove City Clerk, was the only person to complete testimony, answering questions from Ben Loring, Delaware County District Attorney's office, on issues such as minutes, record keeping, city policies, ordinances, the bidding process, and her supervisor (Galletly). She identified photos of the work done at City Hall during the remodeling and identified work done by both city employees and contractors.

Lisa Allred, City Treasurer, was called to the stand following Buzzard but did not complete her testimony. She answered questions from the Prosecutor on what her job entailed, invoices, purchase order processes and she identified purchase orders connected with the city hall remodel project. She had just begun the same procedure for the White Building Project when the afternoon recess was called by District Judge Robert Haney.

In his opening remarks, Loring identified the two alleged violations, the punishment, and called his opening remarks much like a "puzzle…you see the picture on the box and then get into putting the pieces together." He told the jury that they "will hear more about the Competitive Bidding Act than they will ever care to."
He said the law is to protect tax dollars and said Galletly was ultimately responsible for compliance with the Act.
He said the Council approved $3520 for remodeling, not the $38,000 that was ultimately spent, and while $60,000 was approved for the sewer/gas line to Rocket Gaming, and ultimately $175,000 was spent. "Either way, the dollar limitations for triggering the Competitive Bidding Act were not bid out."

Jack Gordon, Jr., attorney for Galletly, told the jury that the city did not need contractors because most of the work on the White Building project (Rocket Gaming) was done by GMSA employees and the little outside work that was done for pipe burying under roadways and dynamiting rock was arranged by Jack Bower, Utility Superintendent.
"Mr. Galletly did not split any contracts," said Gordon. On the city hall project new doors that were installed to comply with the Americans for Disabilities Act were not part of the project.

"Bottom line, Galletly did a heck of a job with lots of politics involved," Gordon said.

Prosecutor Loring brought with him two legal boxes full of paper, Randy Mathia, his investigator, and a third person to handle the Power Point presentation. Gordon brought a yellow pad, 3-4 files and a bottle of water. Loring is clearly the government prosecutor, plodding through exhibits, while Gordon is the folksy "let's get on with it" defense attorney. Even Judge Haney appeared to want the trial to take a speedier route. But Loring had warned the jury prior to starting…"this case involves a lot of paperwork, not the most exciting case, it won't keep you sitting on the edge of your seats."

The jury consists of a telephone company employee, an unemployed male, a bank employee, a purchasing manager, a retired healthcare worker and another retiree. A male alternate is retired from a corporate position. Only one or two actually live in Grove but all are Delaware County Residents. Fifteen persons were in the original jury pool for this case, including one who admitted signing the Grand Jury Petition to investigate Grove government.

One of the more interesting questions posed to the jury pool was by Gordon, who asked "does anyone know Earl Shero or Karl Blade?"

The trial, according to Judge Haney, is set to last through Wednesday as he has another trial set for Thursday morning. With 19 witnesses still to be called by the prosecution, one could wonder if it will be finished in three weeks. For those that expected fireworks Monday, it was more like watching paint dry.
Tuesday's session begins at 9 a.m. in the Delaware County Courthouse, Jay.