People’s Settlement Final Report Released
Today, Tom Wagner published the final report of his investigation into People’s Settlement. The findings are as follows:
- They did not meet the standards of the Green Energy Savings Program
- Their accounting standards are inaccurate
- Questionable real estate transactions have been referred to the Attorney General
- Department of Education audit findings were not reported to the board
A few things stand out in this list. I believe that the Green Energy Green Savings Program is an SEU (Sustainable Energy Utility) pilot project that certainly has ties to Harris McDowell (he sits on the board that approved it from the SEU side) and Nobel Laureate Dr. John Byrne who sits on both boards. I will be looking at this from a reporting standpoint. It is possible that if the numbers were fudged for this pilot project, that it throws the voracity of the program into question.
Keith Lake (who sat on the original SEU Task Force) may be getting deposed by Beau Biden in the very near future as I believe that he was the presumed beneficiary of the real estate transactions.
On the surface, #4 would seem to indicate that the board was kept in the dark, but it seems to be a matter of not accurately updating their records to indicate a change in the new board chair. It will be interesting to see what Beau does with it, as another member of the board is Karen Weldin Stewart, the Insurance Commissioner.
Tags: SEU, Tom Wagner
Great reporting. I just skimmed through the report; let the chips fall where they may.
Subjective impressions:
1. Wasn’t there a preliminary report with a lot more allegations? IIRC there seem to be a lot of “not substantiated” items.
2. PSA had decent answers for some of the items but Wagner didn’t budge an inch.
3. The PSA practices seem to be damning, but the overall amounts involved are ridiculously low.
4. A few wealthy individuals or corporation could make PSA whole by donating some accounting services and some cash. The fact that none stepped forward shows how far Delaware’s philanthropic community has fallen since P.S. Du Pont provided the startup money for PSA. So much for the Republican theory that state funding for social programs can be replaced by charity.
5. If a philanthropist does step up to make PSA whole, the board needs to resign. They probably need to resign anyway.
6. Wild guess but I can’t escape the nagging feeling that somebody wants PSA destroyed so they can get their hands on their properties. I don’t see anyone stepping forward to help them get back on their feet and serving the community.
regarding anon’s point #4, why reward poor performance? Why offer more cash to a compremised organization, when there are plenty of other non-profits honestly serving the community.
regarding anon’s point #4, why reward poor performance? Why offer more cash to a compremised organization, when there are plenty of other non-profits honestly serving the community.
Not rewarding it, replacing it. Cash should come with offers of accounting assistance. I imagine that is how it started back in the day.
Anyway, I’ve been reading blogs way too long. I just discovered I said all the same stuff back when the preliminary report came out.
I don’t know any of these people and have no dog in the fight, other than that the PSA benefited many of my relatives in their youth and it is a great historic organization that is still needed. Different color people but same mission.
And, parts of Wagner’s report just rub me the wrong way.
Harris McDowell is written all over this mess. The issue with the properties, Beau Biden better step up to the plate. I have found no mention (doing quick preliminary read), of the mortage taken out on PSA for over $400,000? Has the mortgage been paid? What about the property that went from PSA directly to Keith Lake? The State of Delaware stated during the preliminary report no state funds would go this agency until a complete investigation was down. So how did these “state funds” end up on the balance sheet of PSA?
We who knew the truth from the beginning informed the community of the out of control Board of Directors who never understood their fidicuary responsiblity was to the Agency, not the Executive Director. What say you now Nancy Willing?
The issue with the properties, Beau Biden better step up to the plate.
The report shows an issue with one property involving $10,000. That is an issue for Small Claims Court (OK, Delaware has JP not Small Claims court, but up to $15K you can take to a JP).
Beau wouldn’t get a referral on a civil matter, I don’t think. He would get a referral for a potential criminal complaint, no? And if that 10K were deemed theft, wouldn’t it be grand theft?
I understand the difference, I was just trying to provide some perspective.
For anon’s point 4 — with a non-profit like this, the very first step in having people with money help you out is giving them some confidence that the people in charge will put alot of that money into the community served, that the leadership is capable of detailed custodianship of those dollars and that the leadership is fiercely committed to executing on the stated mission. If I were advising some philanthropist thinking about getting involved here, I would wait to see what the PSA does in terms of fixing its leadership problems and in fixing the infrastructure that accounts for the money. Probably the best model in the city for this kind of deal is the West End House on Lincoln St.
anon – I was more asking than telling. The question in my mind from a philanthropist standpoint is who would someone make the deal with? The executive director or the board? I am sure that here is a model for this, but I don’t have enough experience to know the mechanics.
If I were advising some philanthropist thinking about getting involved here, I would wait to see what the PSA does in terms of fixing its leadership problems and in fixing the infrastructure that accounts for the money.
Any philanthropy should be accompanied by accounting help and conditioned on the resignation of the board.
The “wait to see” path means PSA will be dissolved and the properties sold off. That is a valid position, but just be clear about it.
And does the Executive Director get to stay?
Probably not. I really don’t care. That’s up to whoever puts up the money.
We are talking about an organization with state funds of $300 something thousand, right? And the improprieties they are accused of are some small fraction of that. This is not that hard to fix if you take out the crazy political allegiances and personalities.
Put up some money and a part-time donated accountant, put in a new board with some corporate types and some honest folks from the community, and start over.
Disclaimer: I may be sweeping out the good with the bad, I don’t know and I’m not sure it really matters.
Before Keith Lake was caught with his hand in the till, before he refused to tell the Board of Directors what he was doing, before all this became public, PSA had budgets of over $1,000,000! The previous President of the Board wanted him fired for insubordination, refusing to deliver documents the board was entitled to receive. However, board members Lake had seduced to go on the board (his peeps) refused. His peeps refused to fire him or to ask the appropriate questions. Documents it is alleged were destroyed previous to the first audit.
I don’t think Wagner went far enough, this is a gloss over of what we on the inside of this mess knew to be fact. I hope Yvonne Brown, the Past President is interviewed by Beau Biden because she and a couple of others have the real scoop. We know of people who had information and asked to be interviewed by the AG. To date, none of those people were called.
This is a political hit all the way. There is no theft involved, just a bunch of jargon for some haters to quack about. Why not talk about the employee that sole $100,000 from Winterthur?
Baby Biden has failed to protect the victums at Peoples Settlement and he wants to go to the US Senate? We need action Mr. Biden. Put Lake and Willing & Company in jail now. You have not done your job.
Ummm. Biden got the report on Monday. And really, try to spell ‘victim’ right. It’s not that big of a word.
The argument in favor of “political hit” is:
1. The discrepancy between the numerous charges in the preliminary report and the few charges in the final report. In the preliminary, the number of charges was artificially amplified by cutting and pasting stuff multiple times that was derived from the same root issue. In the final, it was not acknowleged that most of the allegations were not substantiated.
2. The length of time that passed between the preliminary and the final. The preliminary with its excessive allegations created a disincentive for other donors or agencies to work with PSA. So the preliminary destroyed PSA’s ability to raise funds and left them hanging that way for a year.
I’m open to the argument against political hit.
anon — do you know anything at all about how non-profits work? The PSA was cut off from United Way funds a year or two back because they could not assure themselves that their funds were being accounted for or used properly. People who give you money give that money with strings and at minimum you have to have mechanisms to deal with those strings.
I can’t begin to fathom what political gains can be made by pointing out the mismanagement of this agency. Who would gain by this agency actually getting its act together, accounting for its funds properly, using its funds properly and being a healthy recipient for funds intended to serve that community?
Actually, yes, I have run an urban not-for-profit and had to fend off plenty of attacks from political opponents (not financial though; our books were squeaky clean).
I know about big-city urban politics; not so much about Wilmington. I see PSA perceived as a political base, and an opportunity to embarrass Democrats.
Nothing wrong with pointing out mismanagement. Just saying, the way it was done looks like a siege.
The PSA situation would have been a great opportunity to use the Delaware Way – have some political leader organize a financial rescue, while having a private sitdown with PSA leaders explaining they have to go.
The PSA isn’t much of a political base anymore and since it spends a decent bit of taxpayer money — including an early run at a energy program — I don’t see much problem in making sure those funds are spent well. The rumors about issues over at the PSA have been swirling for awhile and the combination of those rumors and the UW cutting them off was apparently enough to finally have the state take a look. Changes at this organization have been done because of pushes from the outside — not because its Board or its ED have been especially proactive in sharpening up their game.
The Delaware Way works for the people who are a part of it. And it is something of a closed system. The PSA really doesn’t have anyone who is plugged in enough to the Delaware Way to get them out of this hot water.
Yes, this is a “political hit” the way the Gordon-Freebery investigation was a “political hit”: an investigation of people who are allegedly misusing political power and, ultimately, tax dollars.
Didn’t the leadership of another Wilm non-profit end up in jail a few years ago?
Several of these org’s apear to exist primarily to employ the Exec and staff (often family).
Misusing tax dollars? True. Here is what Tom Wagner says about that to PSA:
Pay outstanding amounts due to State Agencies. These amounts include $2,145 due to unsupported expenditures and $8,500 granted to PSA for services PSA received at no charge.
$10,645.
Tom Wagner is tracking $25 gift cards.
Do you really want to stack that up against Gordon and Freebery?
still no link, still a lizzy liar
There are also still questions re: grant money paid directly to the ED; using grant funds for daily operations (not for programming); incredibly poor accounting; repurposing grant funds and so on.
There are also still questions re: grant money paid directly to the ED; using grant funds for daily operations (not for programming); incredibly poor accounting; repurposing grant funds and so on.
Mostly all true, it seems. However, that is not Tom Wagner’s problem.
Correction: use of the state funds is definitely in scope for Tom Wagner. I thought you meant non-State grants. I don’t need to be inaccurate.
But the total amount Wagner identifies as misused stands at $10K.
I thought this part was especially ugly. After alleging that $42K was misused:
Due to the quality of the records that supports the expenditures of the GEGS program, it would not be cost effective to determine how the entire advance payment of $42,648 was spent.
Reminds me of Commandant Lassard from “Police Academy” after the famous podium scene:
‘
Well now you are reaching and exposing that you really haven’t been involved with non-profits — state grant funds (a do private ones too) come with contract T&Cs that require you to agree to audits as they see fit. And Wagner’s job is to see that state funds are accounted for and used as proposed. People would like to see him do more of that, rather than less.
Yes. But the state could be made whole with a check for $10K. Not worth a years-long siege. That shows a hidden agenda.
This is not about making the state whole — it is also about decisions about future funding. And then what do you do about the grant funds repurposed for operations? And how about the deliverables (required by the grant) not met or partially supplied? Or the 10K for cash that the AG is reviewing?
These people brought this completely upon themselves — there is much in this audit that should have been just plain basic operating procedures.
cassandra_m is really hating on PSA. She doesn’t have a clue,they help a lot of poor people. Just keep reading Wagner’s report and repeating what you read, doesn’t mean he is factual. There are lots of untruths in the report that she has no idea about. He was on a seek and destroy mission. Have you ever heard there are two sides to every story. I have in sides on this one. As for United Way they were reducing PSA’s funds for 10 years, wanting PSA to utilize more of their own funds, PSA knew for years that last year would be there last with them. UWD President makes over 170,000. cassandra_m needs credible sources to speak against PSA…
“Anon”=Keith Lake or some Lakey lackey. If there are untruths in the report, refute them or STFU.
anon@11:08 is pretty clueless here — the PSA has had lots of time and opportunity to rebut Wagner’s charges and have not done a particularly good job at it. And I’m sure that the United Way did give the PSA a heads up that their funds would be cut off — especially since they couldn’t get any assurances of good custodianship of their money, either. Wagner found what was there to find — he didn’t create any of the PSA’s incompetency. The PSA did and they should man up, own it and get it fixed. What they do is crucial and they have been definitely slacking on this front — because they can’t get their economic house in order. (And they don’t have a particularly ambitious or visionary Board or ED.)
I am under the advisement of professionals in the legal community, so there won’t be much left for me to say here. But PHEW. Cass.
Puhlease. Why don’t you go ahead and call Collin O/Mara, Call Michele Taylor, give a good read of our lawyer’s comments that can be found in the attachment to the audit before you further dig that hole you are digging in your seeming hatred of a certain PSA board member.
I am sending our presser to geek whose email I have at the ready so he can forward it to you. Read through it. Make some calls and get back to me.
btw, call the AG while you are at it. Do. Really.
AND geek can also clear up any illusions as to who is NOT responsible for writing the above anony posts.
He can verify, one way or the other, that it is not who anon4 is saying. That’s what geeks are good for among other things.
How much was spent on this audit
I’m not the one digging a hole.
And I’ve read the attachment from your attorney and it is more of the usual handwaving — not much different than what you do in talking about this issue. This is not about a single board member, it is about an ENTIRE Board as well as an ED that is persistently failing this institution that ought to be leading in this community. And persistently failing on the BASIC stuff — like accounting.
So you are quite free to gin up whatever delusions you need to live with and you are free to lie to yourself about what got said here in this thread, but there are not many here who will join you in either behavior.
Actually dearie, if you read through the presser that I sent to geek and the audit response you would know what’s going on that is taking us forward at this agency and that we been working like hell to ensure that PSA is on track.
And I implore you to call the people mentioned above. Call them and get back to me. For real. Do it. OR STFU. Don’t insult the people of this state by pretending to give a crap about what is going on if you don’t want to pick up the phone and get the information you obsess over. It it at your fingertips.
This is hardly dillusionary. It is very real and I do implore you, especially as some one who espouses a leadership position among the civic associations of the City of Wilmington. You are not in some kind of a mask here. People know who you are, Cass. You need to do right by the people in your city.
The people who need to do right by the city are the people at the PSA. No one has audited me to find that I can’t account for money appropriately. The subject here is the PSA, and their failure of leadership.