By Richard Rainey
Times-Picayune
JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — More than $7,000 remains missing from a charity fund established to help firefighters with the East Bank Consolidated Fire Department, according to a report released Monday by the Louisiana legislative auditor.
Auditor Steve Theriot concluded that mismanagement of money collected through the sale of $3 bells for the last three years led to the discrepancy in the department’s accounts.
“Because there were no controls in place when handling these funds, the risk of loss due to theft and/or misappropriation was high,” the report stated. Alongside the missing money, the report also suggested the administration could have violated the state Constitution when it returned more than $50,000 to a New York charity in May.
Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard’s administration already has taken steps to answer the criticism that accompanied the monthslong audit. A public account has been established and a committee formed to dispense the money.
Jefferson Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Bert Smith turned down an interview offer Monday, but in a written response to the report, Broussard’s administration agreed it couldn’t account for the missing money. Still, officials denied they breached state law when they returned the cash to the Rusty Staub Foundation.
Copies of Theriot’s report, signed Wednesday and released to the public on Monday, has been sent to Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, Gov. Bobby Jindal and Jefferson District Attorney Paul Connick.
The audit began with a complaint in January from the Metropolitan Crime Commission. Vice President Anthony Radosti fielded more than a dozen calls from firefighters who unsuccessfully sought the money for family or colleagues suffering through difficult times.
Radosti said it was “repulsive” that the money was kept out of reach.
“If there was ever a need, these were the people who needed it the most, who were in fact the people the fund was established for,” he said. “You can’t express the anger they must feel toward the leadership of the department and the parish administration. That must be very frustrating and my heart goes out to them.”
After the commission’s call, Assistant Legislative Auditor Dan Daigle began to investigate. Broussard’s administration launched a parallel but internal effort.
The legislative auditor discovered $6,168, collected through the sale of $3 memorial bells supplied by WWL-TV, had been kept in a private credit union account managed by a fire department employee Kathy Donovan. In April, firefighter Joseph Bonura, treasurer for the firefighters union, came forward with $17,985 in small bills he had kept in a tackle box. But after adding up all the bells supposedly sold between 2006 and 2008, auditors discovered the donations were still short be $7,105.
Tim Whitmer, Broussard’s chief administrative officer, wrote to the Legislative Auditor that poor oversight by fire department employees caused the shortfall.
“There has been a lack of good judgment on the part of some employees of the East Bank Consolidated Fire Department and a lapse in managerial oversight, and for that we all regret the consequences,” Whitmer said.
Donovan and Bonura did not respond to the auditor’s report.
The possible constitutional violation arose when Broussard’s administration returned $51,617 in unspent donations from the Rusty Staub Foundation.
The foundation donated the money in November 2005 to help East Jefferson firefighters left destitute by Katrina. Jack Collier, the former department chief, had put the money into a separate account, according to the parish response. None of the money was ever used.
The audit stated that the money could be seen as public funds, and the Constitution bans donations of public money to a private institution. Returning the money could have violated that law. Whitmer, however, argued that the money should be considered private because the Parish Council never officially accepted it.
Broussard’s administration did not wait for the audit’s results before revamping its oversight of future charitable donations. To that end, the council approved the establishment of an emergency relief fund for firefighters on Aug. 12, along with set guidelines to access the money.
Copyright 2009 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company