Andrews – The Andrews ABC store is under new management.
Former store manager James Ringenberg and former finance officer Jack Frahmann reportedly quit under “questionable circumstances” last week. Ringenberg reportedly quit without notice via a letter that was delivered to the Andrews ABC Board by Frahmann at the July 19 meeting.
Frahmann also quit that evening, giving the board a four-day notice of resignation upon delivering Ringenberg’s letter. The two men disclosed their resignations on the same day the yearly fiscal audit began, leaving officials questioning the timing of their departure.
Additionally, storeroom inventory “was down to nothing,” leading some officials to believe Ringenberg and Frahmann had been “planning this for weeks.” The two men previously expressed displeasure regarding the ABC Board’s decision to hire a different auditor than the one used ever since Frahmann was hired in 2013.
Adding more controversy to the mix, after the last meeting, the ABC board discovered that a security camera facing the cash register had stopped working. Officials are trying to review previous footage to determine why and when the camera stopped functioning.
The ABC Board hired Ron Ledford to run the store, with approval from the state for him to fill the roles of both general manager and finance officer. Ledford previously worked part time for the Murphy ABC store and owned a Murphy Sears store for about two decades.
Ledford and the ABC Board will need to hire additional staff since a clerk who worked at the store for less than a month quit in sympathy with Ringenberg and Frahmann. The ABC Board closed the store for a day and half as they cleaned the building and allowed Ledford to familiarize himself with the operation.
An envelope containing a copy of Ringenberg’s resignation letter was delivered to the Cherokee Scout last week. In it, Ringenberg says he quit because of micromanagement and “egotistical arrogance” on the part of ABC Board members.