A car rental at a vacation getaway in the Outer Banks, multiple book buys at Amazon and other purchases at Target, LL Bean and a lizard have created a financial mess for the Sullivan Free Library and a crisis for Library Director Karen Fauls-Traynor who charged personal expenses to her library-owned debit card.
While the focus on Fauls-Traynor continues to intensify, the situation has led to multiple resignations of library board members, who have left a list of suspicions behind.
Sherry Menninger was the fourth member of the Sullivan Free Library Board of Trustees to resign over concerns about alleged misappropriations of taxpayer funds. Among the latest accusations are additional reports that Fauls-Traynor used library money for music downloads and numerous purchases at area convenience stores. Included in the questionable expenses was a charge of more than $50 spent at PetsMart, which former Trustee Donna Bonfardeci said paid for Fauls-Traynor’s son’s iguana.
Fauls-Traynor, who denies any wrongdoing, said this is one of many pieces of misinformation floating around.
“It is not my son’s iguana,” Fauls-Traynor said.
According to Fauls-Traynor, the iguana used to belong to her son, but after a weeklong visit to the library, patrons didn’t want it to leave. So the library purchased another. The “replacement” lizard became ill and with the resultant disfiguring condition, Fauls-Traynor said her family decided to leave the more aesthetically-pleasing reptile in the facility and take the ill one home.
The total financial impact is unknown, but library accounting documents show Fauls-Taylor has reimbursed some $650 for personal purchases using the library’s debit card. There is no record of payments to reimburse about an additional $300 of expenses questioned by the board, and yet other charges appeared not to be questioned at all.
Menninger’s Jan. 20 resignation joins those of Shamus Loftus, who served as president until his resignation, Peg Williams and Bonfardeci. The trio all tendered their resignations within 24 to 72 hours of the Dec. 16 trustees’ meeting. All four expressed concern about the integrity of the library’s finances in their notices of self-termination.
In addition, Menninger’s self-termination expressed concern about the prior resignations and perception of the library’s management.
“I have retired as treasurer, in good standing, from several community organizations,” Menninger wrote. “After over six years as a Trustee of the Sullivan Free Library, I do not want to be affiliated with an organization where there are allegations of misuse of taxpayer money by the director. Whether this is true or not, there still remains a semblance of doubt.
“Therefore, to uphold my reputation within the community, I am resigning my position as trustee of the board of the Sullivan Free Library effective Jan. 21, 2009.”
Bonfardeci and Loftus think there is good reason for that doubt.
According to Bonfardeci, when questioned about the debit card procurement of a rental car at Outer Banks Chrysler while on vacation in Florida, Fauls-Traynor reported the card looked identical to her own and was used by mistake. Loftus and Bonfardeci want to know why the card ever left the library.
They said they also would like to know why so many of the purchases made with the debit card were delivered to Fauls-Traynor’s East Walnut Street home in Oneida.
Fauls-Traynor said she would like to further explain the circumstances but wasn’t sure how much she was allowed to divulge on the topic; however, she did offer that all her personal purchases have been reimbursed to the library.
“Anything ever charged was reimbursed,” Fauls-Traynor said. “It has been dealt with ad nauseum.”
Fauls-Traynor said the matter has been rectified to the satisfaction of the auditor and library attorney Robert Cox of Syracuse.
“The charges and reimbursements matched exactly,” Fauls-Traynor said.
Though some have pointed fingers at Bonfardeci as the catalyst for the recent problems at the library, Loftus said he credits her for having a positive impact on the financial direction of the facility.
“I was excited when Donna came in and encouraged a review of the library finances,” Loftus said. “I felt more accountable as an officer, and Donna began working to organize things to have as clean an audit as possible.”
Bonfardeci said she took a week off from her own business to begin getting those documents in order.
“There were no bank reconciliations and the debit card was run amok,” Bonfardeci said. “I suggested hiring a group to set up the books, and the library hired Gustafson [& Company of Canastota].”
Gustafson created the books for 2007 so an independent audit of the $1.7 million USDA Rural Development loan funds could be conducted.
“We couldn’t have them come in to audit the books because there weren’t any,” Bonfardeci said.
It was during that process the alleged personal purchases were discovered. According to Bonfardeci, many of the problem areas she identified were confirmed by the independent audit and recommendations for corrections made.
Loftus closed the debit account in August.
“The taxpayers of the town of Sullivan aren’t dumb, they just don’t want to believe this,” Bonfardeci said. “It’s a shame Shamus isn’t on the board any more. I never thought people would attack him because of the questions I raised.”
“The board was meeting with resistance every step of the way,” Loftus said. “We have questions about where did [the money] all go, and who will be watching the store? The concern is still there, even if we’re not. It’s still fixable, but it’s scary. Donna only helped the board, and she did a tremendous amount of work trying to set things straight.”
Bonfardeci said she thinks all those who resigned shared one thing in common.
“We all want to see the library succeed,” Bonfardeci said.
