GRAMBLING, La. -- The Grambling City Council says the mayor should resign for firing a new accountant who had uncovered $47,000 missing from water and sanitation records.

City Councilmen Edward Jones, Toby Bryan and Roosevelt Bryant said they feel Mayor Martha Andrus fired Willie Mabry because he found evidence of possible embezzlement of accounts handled by former assistant city clerk Elizabeth Jones.

The disparity was in records from October and November.

Calls to the mayor's office and home were not returned. A message left Saturday at the only home listing under Andrus was not immediately answered.

"We just hired this man to fix some major accounting problems, and he finds some financial improprieties going on, so he gets fired?" Edward Jones said. "The mayor cut him off at the very point he tried to make something out of this mess, and after he still manages to find out some things and make people aware, he gets fired for being a whistle-blower.

"Something is very wrong with this picture."

Mabry was told of his termination around 5 p.m. Tuesday. The locks on his and Andrus' offices were changed.

"Mr. Mabry had been having trouble getting a Quick Books software program installed to go through the records," Edward Jones said. "The council at our last meeting approved a motion to purchase the software so we can try to amend our budget as soon as possible, but she (Andrus) wouldn't let them install it on the computer.

"On Tuesday morning I talked to the mayor and she said she had called for the computer people to come and install the software. Then, late that afternoon, I found out what she had done to Mr. Mabry."

In November, the City of Grambling received a "no opinion" of its long-delayed 2008 budget by Monroe auditing firm Allen, Green and Williamson, citing lack of a signed letter of representation from the mayor. That led to the move to hire Mabry, who held the position for about a month before being fired.

The city council and mayor are also awaiting a ruling by District Judge Jay McCallum on contempt of court charges filed against each other after past skirmishes.

"I'm hoping that as soon as possible, hopefully by Monday if she needs the weekend to think it over, the mayor will realize just how bad all of this is and how her resignation really would be the best thing at this point," Jones said. "It's gone on too long and too far, and it's time we make a move to do what's right for the people of Grambling. They deserve more than they've gotten so far."

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Information from: Ruston Daily Leader, http://www.rustonleader.com/

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)