UCHRA Executive Director Luke Collins Terminated

The policy council of the Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency voted to fire Executive Director Luke Collins Wednesday.

Putnam County Executive Randy Porter was one of several executive board members who voted to ratify the policy council’s decision. The policy council voted 14-12 to terminate Collins

“I felt like the agency, for quite a while now, has been going in the wrong direction,” Porter said. “The fund balance had been going down each year, several programs had been losing money, we had to pull the employment workforce development section out from the UCHRA because of mismanagement. I just felt like the agency needed to be headed in a different direction and that it needed new management.”

Policy Council member and Pickett County Executive Richard Daniel said he voted to terminate Collins because of the controversy involving the agency.

“It’s time for that to end and that agency needs to focus on the people it serves in the region and not on the controversy swirling around the director,” Daniel said. “I think it was a good move to do this.”

The board that governs the Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency placed Collins on Administrative leave with pay in February pending the outcome of an independent investigation. Collins allegedly took comp time and had the organization pay for some expenses that appeared to be personal.

The results of the independent investigation were presented to policy council and executive board members in a closed session Wednesday morning. Board members were told not to comment about what occurred in that meeting.

“There has been a history of poor management decisions and dishonest practices,” Cookeville Mayor Ricky Shelton said. “Ultimately that agency is supposed to help people it serves. If it’s being hindered by poor management decisions, those people don’t get help.

Shelton voted to terminate Collins Wednesday. He also voted to terminate Collins in a 2016 vote, which did not pass at the time.

Fentress County Executive J. Michael Cross voted against terminating Collins and said he believes there has been a witch hunt to get rid of the embattled executive director.

“Everybody knew in advance who was going to vote no and who was probably going to vote yes,” Cross said. “There has been an attempt to discredit Mr. Collins for a number of years and it’s the same people and same office each and every time. The credibility of some of the accusations I have to question.”

Cross said he couldn’t make a vote to terminate Collins without knowing what was in the comptroller’s report.

“There is an ongoing investigation by the state comptroller’s office. We know that investigation has been completed, but it has not been released,” Cross said.

In addition to the independent investigation, the Tennessee Department of Transportation began conducting an audit against the Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency’s transportation program. The TDOT audit came in response to several allegations of misconduct against Collins, including a report that he used the agency’s charter service to travel to to a political event in Nashville with several other people in 2017.

The state comptroller has also launched an investigation into the management of the agency under the watch of Collins. Board members have not been presented the findings of the TDOT audit or the comptroller investigation.

Mark Farley continues to serve as interim director of UCHRA, an organization designed to assist low income families, the elderly and disabled.

Despite the controversy surrounding the agency, Randy Porter says the agency is moving in the right direction.

“We’ve seen some huge changes after bringing Mark Farley in to run the UCHRA on an interim basis,” Porter said. “I think Mark has already got the agency headed in the right direction, but we just need someone full time that can take it from where Mark has brought it to and keep us headed in the right direction.”

Richard Daniel also agrees that the agency is moving in a positive direction.

“From the report that we received today, I think it’s moving in the right direction. I think we will see some definite improvements in the agency,” Richard Daniel. “The agency is in financial trouble and the sooner that those problems get corrected, the better off the agency will be.”

Policy Council Chairman and Van Buren County Mayor Greg Wilson will be appointing a search committee to start the process of looking for a new director.

A search committee will be appointed to find a new permanent director for the UCHRA

The full board of the UCHRA will meet for a special called meeting Tuesday, May 15th at 10:00 a.m.