PSA Press Release: Lake is Exonerated

Nancy Willing sent me this press release sent out by Frank Murphy today:

The Board of the Peoples Settlement Association today announced that Keith Lake, its Executive Director of 16 years, has been cleared of all allegations of misconduct.  After a special investigation lasting more than one year, the State Auditor of Accounts provided Peoples Settlement with a report finding no evidence of illegal conduct or missing state funds.  Representatives of Peoples Settlement recently met with the Auditor’s Office, and confirmed that Mr. Lake was exonerated of any wrongdoing.

The Auditor’s Office recommended that Peoples Settlement address certain financial management issues, and the Board reported that it began to implement significant changes earlier this year.  In July 2009, the Board retained Bob Rieman, the former Chief of Accounting for the State of Delaware, to conduct an internal review of the organization’s finances.  He was assisted by pro bono attorneys Francis Murphy and Lauren Pisapia.  Mr. Rieman, who also served for almost 20 years as a Financial Manager for the University of Delaware, said that “there is simply no evidence that Executive Director Keith Lake misused or diverted state funds.”  He said that Peoples Settlement has taken steps to improve its financial controls, and the allegations in the reports by the State Auditor’s Office had no merit.  Mr. Rieman also said that the specific findings in the reports related to handling funds and obtaining receipts were easily explained and fairly common audit issues.  “If you review prior reports by the State Auditor of other non-profits and state agencies, you will see the exact same findings as in the case of Peoples Settlement.  I spent years protecting the State from fraud and there has been no misuse of State funds by Mr. Lake.”

According to Board President Greer Peacock, Peoples Settlement acknowledged the need to address weaknesses in its financial management and retained Mr. Rieman for that purpose.  “As the former Chief of Accounting for the State of Delaware, the Board felt that Mr. Rieman was the perfect candidate,” she said.  She also said that the Board was working to improve the organization’s financial standing.

Since April 15, 2009, the Peoples Settlement Board added seven new members including, John Byrne, Ph.D., distinguished Professor at the University of Delaware and co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Karen Harris-Stewart, an Information Technology Specialist with the City of Wilmington, and former Accounting Supervisor for the Port of Wilmington, and attorney Thomas LaPenta, former Board Chair of Goodwill Industries of Delaware, and an Assistant Vice-President with the University of Delaware.

The Auditor’s Office recommended that DNREC reevaluate a $71,080 Green Energy grant awarded to Peoples Settlement in 2008.  Attorney Francis Murphy said that Peoples Settlement had already asked DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara for a comprehensive review of the grant and all expenditures, and the Secretary agreed.  The review is underway, and Peoples Settlement is confident that it handled the grant properly.  The Green Energy project has received tremendous praise locally and nationally, and may become a national model.  Recently, the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) asked Peoples Settlement to help create a comparable program.

I am certain that Mr. Murphy is doing a great job defending his clients.  I have seen him several times, the first of which was when he wrote an opinion that the Sustainable Energy Utility was still operating legally, despite their legislative authorization being expired.  Mr. Murphy is also the Lawyer for the Delaware State Senate.  It is funny how the same people keep popping up at all of these McDowell influenced organizations.