UCDD Board Places Wendy Askins and Larry Webb on Administrative Leave (SEE VIDEO OF MEETING HERE)

In an emergency meeting held Friday morning in Cookeville, the board of directors of the Upper Cumberland Development District voted 16 to 5 to place Executive Director Wendy Askins on administrative leave for 30 days along with her deputy director, Larry Webb of DeKalb County, pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
The action comes as the result of a NewsChannel 5 investigation over recent allegations regarding the Living the Dream project and alleged mismanagement of UCDD funds.
Neither Askins nor Webb were present at the meeting
The five members voting against administrative leave preferred an immediate dismissal of Askins.
Both Askins and Webb will be paid for two weeks of the 30-day leave. As part of the motion, the board also voted to take their credit and gas cards, along with keys and vehicles and they will not be able to sign any checks while the investigation is underway.
Earl Carwile was appointed as interim director and Ashley Pealer was named as interim deputy.
Meanwhile, the board voted to rescind a vote in a previous meeting adopting language from bogus minutes approving a transfer of $300,000 to Living the Dream and asked attorneys to get the $300,000 back by whatever legal means is necessary.
The board also voted to seek new auditors while requesting a state investigation of the man who has been their auditor for several years, Tom Jones. In light of the revelations by NewsChannel 5’s investigation, board members question why Jones has never turned up any findings during his audits of agency finances.