BATON ROUGE - After taking office in January, District 2 Councilman Anthony Kenney requested an internal audit of the Jewel. J Newman Community Center.

The audit released earlier this month found city-parish property missing, unaccounted for, or shipped to locations other than the center. 

The findings go back around 10 years, and auditors found things owned by the community center mixed up with things that apparently belong to the district's former council member, Chauna Banks.

Banks said part of the confusion stems from her not being allowed to access the facilities during the audit. 

"My only issue with the audit is to disseminate, discern, and separate what the city did pay for, and what they did not." Banks said.

Auditors found that Banks had retrieved several items, with others still being stored at the locations until the audit was done.

Among the missing assets were a $13,000 copier and $5,000 copier. Auditors also found a TV, with rugs, a community center, refrigerators, and freezers stored at a shuttered fire station near the center.

"All the equipment was placed at the fire station until, not only did we decide what we were gonna do, but also come to the agreement we had with the city on the fire station being a full-service pantry," she said.

The audit also detailed boxes of clothes, a mattress, and other personal items stored alongside city-parish property.

Of 144 receipts, 69 were not able to be located. Banks says that upon leaving the office, the receipts were left at the center with the center manager, who says she was fired. 

Auditors found that some online purchases were shipped to Banks' home, which is against city-parish policy. Banks said it was too dangerous to have the packages delivered to the center.

"It's a community where there were no cameras, and we had break-ins and robberies. I would send things to my home. If I got a notice on my phone saying that it was there, I would send the staff to retrieve it, or when I got off, I would get it in the next day or so. Whenever I went back to the center, I would bring it," Banks said."

In response to the audit, Councilman Anthony Kenney released this statement.

"My team and I look forward to continuing to serve the vibrant citizens of District 2 and building upon the amazing work that is to come."