Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Malakoff City Administrator Vincent Bailey Jr. (left) introduces Malakoff’s new fire chief, Brian Horton, to the Malakoff City Council at their Oct. 20 meeting. Horton, who was previously the Ferris fire chief and the emergency management coordinator for Ferris and Ellis County Emergency Services District No. 5, also was a firefighter/driver in Athens for 21 years, as well as serving as assistant chief in Canton for 10 years. “I’m glad to be back in East Texas,” Horton told the council.
 

MALAKOFF—Oct. 20, Malakoff City Council heard the annual audit report for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2024, with the accountant’s opinion being the best possible, with him remarking that “you guys are in good hands” and are open to recommendations, which all have been implanted, he stated.
That Houston-area based accountant, BrooksWatson Senior Audit Manager Louis Breedlove, said the audit shows an unmodified clean opinion, which he commented is “what you want to see.” Breedlove said the audit included seeing what kind of financial controls take place, involve sample testing to ensure accuracy and use compliance testing to make sure items such as state or federal grants have their attached strings followed stringently.
Breedlove noted the City of Malakoff’s unassigned portion of its fund balance was up $450,000 year over year, which he said is an 11% increase from the fiscal year previous to this particular audit. He explained the fund balance is where savings are located that could theoretically continue city spending if an emergency arose, and said his company puts a bare minimum at 16% of that needed spending to be held in the fund balance.
Moreover, Breedlove continued, BrooksWatson recommends that number to be at 30-50%. According to the accountant, the City of Malakoff is at 52%, which he said is “a good, healthy position, by plenty.”
In other business, the council:
• Approved the Malakoff Crime Control and Prevention District’s request to reappoint Gladys Jackson and Thomas Posey (the mayor pro tem, who abstained from the vote), for additional two-year terms.
• After a public hearing, approved adopting the crime control district’s budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, and which ends Sept. 30 of next year, which Posey said includes about $239,000 in revenue and around $216,000 in expenditures, leaving an exact excess of $22,683.
• Approved the Malakoff Economic Development Corp.’s (EDC) request to reappoint Danielle Copeland and Haywood Thomas for additional two-year terms.
• Following a public hearing, approved adopting the budget for the Malakoff EDC for the fiscal year running from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, 2026, which City Administrator Vincent Bailey Jr. told the council includes $90,000 budgeted for grants.
• Approved authorizing Bailey to continue services with Eddie Peacock, PLLC, in preparation for City of Malakoff audits, with Peacock assisting the city on such matters for 40 years, the city administrator added.
• Approved a monetary gift for City of Malakoff employees for Christmas, which Bailey said is “routine work this time of year.”