Residents continue their struggle to return to normalcy after hundreds of thousands of dollars were allegedly stolen from the town, but an audit has found that the poor record keeping and oversight that led to the situation even raises questions about past Fairfield Fun Days, casting a shadow of doubt over the annual community celebration held this past weekend.
A lack of receipts or invoices for the event between 2005 to 2009 led Office of the State Comptroller auditors to find that there is no assurance as to how the event officials spent money.
The town board also didn’t have the authority to appoint a committee to fund raise through the event on behalf of the town, according to the audit.
The problems resulted from the same lack of town board oversight and financial controls that allowed for close to $378,000 in unauthorized payments through checks written to the former supervisor, Francis Matthews, and his wife, Randi Matthews.
The former supervisor’s wife is headed to trial to face charges for the theft of the town’s money, and law enforcement officials continue their investigation into the alleged crime.
Randi Matthews told police her husband gave her all of the town’s financial responsibilities. She hid the theft, from 2006 to 2009, from her husband and the town board through false reports and record keeping, gambling away the money over time, according to her statement to investigators.
The audit states that the alleged theft is a result of the town board and supervisor’s failure to implement controls, separate duties and conduct audits. These steps could have alerted them to the missing money much sooner, the audit findings continue.
But the findings related to the past Fairfield Fun Days activities differ from the unauthorized payments to the former supervisor and his wife, according to town officials.
Current Supervisor Richard Souza said he believes the event officials’ actions are being questioned as a result of the general lack of financial management by the former supervisor.
The event used money on appropriate activities, but the poor record keeping and financial practices of the town board make it seem otherwise, according to Souza.
“It was the responsibility of the former supervisor,” he said, “in fairness to [event officials].”
The town board had appointed Mark Kenney, a town Highway Department employee, to act as president of the committee responsible for the event, which was designed to raise funds for maintenance and improvement of the community hall.
The town board approved cash advances to the committee for activities related to the event, the audit states, but a lack of records raises questions as to how the money was spent.
From 2005 to 2007, eight cash advances to the event totaling almost $10,800, without any description of the purpose, were approved by the town board, according to the audit.
While the president said the funds went to open a bank account for the event and related activities, the expenditures can not be verified due to a lack of receipts and invoices, the audit continues.
At this year’s Fairfield Fun Days on Saturday, Kenney said the town board and former supervisor’s wife did not properly record receipts and invoices. The audit as a result does not mention any of the money raised through the event that went towards improvements at the community hall, Kenney added.
The event is now separate from the town board altogether, according to Kenney.
Any proceeds are used to continue to hold the annual event, implement a Fairfield Youth Recreation Project and provide donations to charitable causes to be chosen each year, he said. The Wounded Warrior Project was this year’s cause.
The recent problems related to the alleged thefts and audit do make it difficult, though.
“There are some people out there that don’t trust each other,” Kenney said of the impact on residents.
But the event is an important part in rebuilding the community, according to Kenney. “This is what you’ve got to do,” he said, “we love our town.”
Some residents, wanting to move past the harm done to the town, have called for current board members that served during the time of the alleged theft to step down.
Three of the four town councilman, Dennis Maxwell, Richard Hilts Sr. and Ed Blake, during the time of the alleged thefts are still on the board. Russell Zelman resigned earlier this year citing health reasons.
Hilts could not be reached this past week and Maxwell did not return a call.
Blake believes that he shouldn’t have to step down. “I didn’t feel I did anything wrong,” he said in a phone interview.
While admitting to the lack of oversight that prolonged the situation, Blake, 73, and a retired New Jersey police officer, said the town board like the rest of the community is based on small town ideals.
“Everybody is close knit,” Blake said of the familiarity between town officials and neighbors alike.
The board members would take financial reports from the supervisor as his word, according to Blake.
“We trusted him,” Blake added.
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Residents continue their struggle to return to normalcy after hundreds of thousands of dollars were allegedly stolen from the town, but an audit has found that the poor record keeping and oversight that led to the situation even raises questions about past Fairfield Fun Days, casting a shadow of doubt over the annual community celebration held this past weekend.
A lack of receipts or invoices for the event between 2005 to 2009 led Office of the State Comptroller auditors to find that there is no assurance as to how the event officials spent money.
The town board also didn’t have the authority to appoint a committee to fund raise through the event on behalf of the town, according to the audit.
The problems resulted from the same lack of town board oversight and financial controls that allowed for close to $378,000 in unauthorized payments through checks written to the former supervisor, Francis Matthews, and his wife, Randi Matthews.
The former supervisor’s wife is headed to trial to face charges for the theft of the town’s money, and law enforcement officials continue their investigation into the alleged crime.
Randi Matthews told police her husband gave her all of the town’s financial responsibilities. She hid the theft, from 2006 to 2009, from her husband and the town board through false reports and record keeping, gambling away the money over time, according to her statement to investigators.
The audit states that the alleged theft is a result of the town board and supervisor’s failure to implement controls, separate duties and conduct audits. These steps could have alerted them to the missing money much sooner, the audit findings continue.
But the findings related to the past Fairfield Fun Days activities differ from the unauthorized payments to the former supervisor and his wife, according to town officials.
Current Supervisor Richard Souza said he believes the event officials’ actions are being questioned as a result of the general lack of financial management by the former supervisor.
The event used money on appropriate activities, but the poor record keeping and financial practices of the town board make it seem otherwise, according to Souza.
“It was the responsibility of the former supervisor,” he said, “in fairness to [event officials].”
The town board had appointed Mark Kenney, a town Highway Department employee, to act as president of the committee responsible for the event, which was designed to raise funds for maintenance and improvement of the community hall.
The town board approved cash advances to the committee for activities related to the event, the audit states, but a lack of records raises questions as to how the money was spent.
From 2005 to 2007, eight cash advances to the event totaling almost $10,800, without any description of the purpose, were approved by the town board, according to the audit.
While the president said the funds went to open a bank account for the event and related activities, the expenditures can not be verified due to a lack of receipts and invoices, the audit continues.
At this year’s Fairfield Fun Days on Saturday, Kenney said the town board and former supervisor’s wife did not properly record receipts and invoices. The audit as a result does not mention any of the money raised through the event that went towards improvements at the community hall, Kenney added.
The event is now separate from the town board altogether, according to Kenney.
Any proceeds are used to continue to hold the annual event, implement a Fairfield Youth Recreation Project and provide donations to charitable causes to be chosen each year, he said. The Wounded Warrior Project was this year’s cause.
The recent problems related to the alleged thefts and audit do make it difficult, though.
“There are some people out there that don’t trust each other,” Kenney said of the impact on residents.
But the event is an important part in rebuilding the community, according to Kenney. “This is what you’ve got to do,” he said, “we love our town.”
Some residents, wanting to move past the harm done to the town, have called for current board members that served during the time of the alleged theft to step down.
Three of the four town councilman, Dennis Maxwell, Richard Hilts Sr. and Ed Blake, during the time of the alleged thefts are still on the board. Russell Zelman resigned earlier this year citing health reasons.
Hilts could not be reached this past week and Maxwell did not return a call.
Blake believes that he shouldn’t have to step down. “I didn’t feel I did anything wrong,” he said in a phone interview.
While admitting to the lack of oversight that prolonged the situation, Blake, 73, and a retired New Jersey police officer, said the town board like the rest of the community is based on small town ideals.
“Everybody is close knit,” Blake said of the familiarity between town officials and neighbors alike.
The board members would take financial reports from the supervisor as his word, according to Blake.
“We trusted him,” Blake added.
