The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/705414
The Press-Dispatch Local Wednesday, July 20, 2016 A- 7 A NICE PL ACE TO DO BUSINESS! HOURS: M-F 9AM-8PM SAT 8AM-4PM 1050 WERNSING RD., JASPER 812-482-5141 OR TOLL-FREE 1-800-686-1444 BOBLUEGERS.COM Check out our wide selection of GM Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles. OVER 50 IN STOCK! With GM Certified Pre-Owned you get: • New 6-Year / 100,000-mile Powertrain Limited Warranty • 12-Month / 12,000-Mile Bumper-to-Bumper Limited Warranty • CPO Scheduled Maintenance Program • 24/7 Roadside Assistance and Courtesy Transportation • 3-Month Trials of OnStar and SiriusXM Radio NEW 2016 BUICK ENCORE NEW 2016 BUICK VERANO NEW 2016 GMC TERRAIN FWD SLE-1 NEW 2016 GMC CANYON CREW CAB SLE NEW 2016 GMC YUKON DENALI NEW 2016 GMC SIERRA CREW CAB SLT NEW 2016 BUICK ENCORE NEW 2016 BUICK REGAL 30 $ 199 * $ 19,991 * $ 24,998 * $ 32,875 * $ 66,957 * $ 37,668 * $ 20,868 * $ 25,386 * 33 NOW IN STOCK MPG /MO. LEASES START AT JUST or purchase for as low as $ 18,995 Ebony twilight, 2,353 miles, former courtesy transportation unit. #18563 Slate blue, 2,321 miles, former cour- tesy transportation vehicle, #18704 4x4, cyber gray, 2,966 miles, former courtesy transportation unit, #18786 4x4, white frost, #18858 4x4, onyx black, 6,100 miles, former courtesy transportation unit, #18683 Summit white, #19025 Onyx black, 2,111 miles, former courtesy transportation unit, #18688 MSRP $25,035 MSRP $28,470 MSRP $36,885 MSRP $75,270 MSRP $48,239 MSRP $24,990 MSRP $30,060 SALE PRICE SALE PRICE SALE PRICE SALE PRICE SALE PRICE SALE PRICE SALE PRICE SEE OUR ENTIRE INVENTORY AT * DEALER RETAINS REBATES. A fford a b le , A c c e s s ib le H e a lthc a re Tra in in g Fa ll 2016 Ea rn a Certific a te o f Co m pletio n in FIV E m o nths ! Dental A ssisting w /R adiology C ertification Classes in Ft. Bran ch an d Bedfo rd P hlebotom y Technician Classes in Jasper an d N ew bu rgh C linical M edical A ssistant Classes in Jasper an d Blo o m in gto n Call 812.481.5937 or em ail vujcce@ vinu.edu for com plete details Former bookkeeper demands apology from Library Board members By Ed Cahill The Pike County Public Library's former bookkeep- er appeared before the li- brary's board of directors on Tuesday, July 12, demanding that it apologize after blam- ing him for a $14,465 short- fall in its 2015 budget. During a special-called meeting of the library board two weeks earlier, board treasurer Robin Whaley stated that former book- keeper Tom Behme "did not file a budget" for 2015 in the state's Gateway system, so the state kept the library's budget and levy the same for 2015 as it was for 2014, re- sulting in an operating loss of $14,465. However, Behme – who was fired in October 2014 after he presented the Pike County Council with the names of three individuals he was recommending to re- place Whaley when her four- year term expired on Dec. 31, 2014 – told the library board that he was in the pro- cess of submitting the bud- get at the time he was ter- minated. "I submitted Form 3 and Form 4 of the 2015 budget," Behme said. "Then I was fired and unable to submit the rest of the forms." Jenny Banks, director of communications for the In- diana Department of Local Government Finance, con- firmed by e-mail on Friday, July 15, that Form 3 (Notice to Taxpayers) and Form 4 (Ordinance/Resolution of Appropriations and Tax Rates) for the library's 2015 budget year had been sub- mitted. "The remaining forms were not submitted by the statutory deadline of No- vember 3, 2014," Banks wrote. "Since not all re- quired items were submit- ted in a timely fashion, their 2015 budget and levy was re- verted back to the 2014 bud- get and levy." Behme told the board that after he learned he was be- ing blamed for the shortfall, he made telephone calls to Charles Gordon, a tax data analyst with DLGF's Gate- way Support, and DLGF rep- resentative Robert Norris. "Mr. Gordon explained to me that I was the only per- son authorized to submit the budget," Behme said. "Robin Whaley assumed the bookkeeper duties and never called Gateway to get authorization to submit the rest of the 2015 budget." According to Behme, Nor- ris said that he had called the Pike County Public Li- brary to check on the prog- ress of the rest of the 2015 budget. "There was no response," Behme said. "I was fired on Oct. 14, 2014," Behme added. "Keep in mind, the budget was due Nov. 3, 2014." Behme noted that mem- bers of the library board had also accused him of having deleted payroll files, which turned out not to be true. "I called Bret Ederly, the AVC representative, to veri- fy the problem with the pay- roll program," Behme said. "I have a letter in my per- sonnel file stating I did not delete any files in the pro- gram." Behme said that the prob- lem with the library's pay- roll program was the result of his profile being removed from the computer system, at the direction of board vice-president Phil Elkins, at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2014, "the same day I was fired." "When Robin tried to ac- cess the payroll program, she was denied, because she was not authorized to access the payroll pro- gram," Behme continued. "She called Bret Ederly and he set up her authorization and everything was there. That fact was never revealed to anyone." Behme said that since the 2015 budget did not get sub- mitted to Gateway, the 2014 budget was put into place by the state. "Did the state inform the Pike County Library about the budget? " Behme said. "I do not know." However, Behme add- ed, his successors – Dana Hughes as interim director and Deb McCrary as book- keeper – should have be- come aware of the shortfall when the library received its tax levy revenue from the Pike County Treasur- er's office. "A question should have been asked about the amount," Behme said. Behme went on to note that, according to an article in The Press-Dispatch about the special-called meeting held two weeks earlier, Ropp had criticized "the general public" for what he said was the general public's inability to understand the financial constraints that the library board operates under. "I feel this statement is an insult to the general public," Behme said. "Do you under- stand that the money that the library gets from the county is taxpayer money? " Behme told the library board its "financial crisis" was its own fault. "The trouble started when Phil Elkins called Mark Hardman and told him to remove my profile from the system," Behme said. "That was Oct. 14, 2014. It has been messed up ever since." "The statements in the newspaper are false," Behme continued. "Why don't you set the record straight and apologize? Quit pointing the finger and take ownership of the problem." Becoming emotional, Behme paused before con- cluding his remarks. "Don't do the right thing for me," Behme said. "Do it for the people of Pike Coun- ty, the people you are sup- posed to represent." "Four directors have been driven off," Behme add- ed. "The problem is with this board of directors. It's time for a change. If you are not willing to change, step down. Be a part of the so- lution, not part of the prob- lem." A fter Behme got up and stormed out of the meeting room, board member Katie Hartley – the library's for- mer head clerk – said, "I'm sorry, but he's right." "No, he's not," Whal- ey shot back, "because we did contact the state, and we did talk to Robert Nor- ris, and we did talk to Ron Wilson, and we talked to ev- erybody. They're the ones who said everything was in place, and (Behme) said ev- erything was in place at the time." "I was here the day he faxed or scanned it, put it on (Gateway), his part of it," Hartley said. "You guys de- cided to delete his profiles and everything else." "It is normal procedure when somebody leaves a company, they're automat- ically deleted out," Whal- ey replied. "Out of the com- puters and everything. That day." Whaley continued to de- flect the blame. "He was asked for pass- words," Whaley said. "He was asked if everything was filed. He told us every- thing was filed. We did con- tact Robert Norris, because I had to contact him. We con- tacted the state. We also contacted the guy who does the payroll. And he should have had that stuff done be- fore he left." "Before who left? " Hart- ley asked. "My stuff was already in the system," Whaley con- tinued. "Everything was ap- proved and ready to go, on the things I do. I don't know why he didn't have his done. Partly because he was doing other things with Friends of the Library or this genealo- gy thing." "He was also the interim director, too," Hartley fired back. "There was a lot of work." "I understand that," Whal- ey replied. "But he also knew that budget had to be in." "And he did his part," Hartley said. "His part," Whaley said. "And he should have had the rest, because everything was approved and ready to go. He's not going to stand here and say we didn't check into it, because we did. I don't know how many times we did. I don't know how ma- ny times I was on the phone with the state." "So, what I'm gathering is what he received from Rob- ert Norris and what you re- ceived from Robert Norris is two different statements," Ropp said. "Yep," Whaley replied. "And also from the payroll guy. And the computer guy never called back. You couldn't get anything out of him. And no- body's accused him of taking anything. We just couldn't get in the system." "Nobody said he was, that he took anything," Hartley replied. "It's just the way he got sort of shafted, in the way of doing it." Community Foundation grant cycle now open The Pike County Com- munity Foundation has opened its 2016 -17 grant cycle. They welcome fund- ing requests from nonprof- it organizations that are deemed tax-exempt un- der sections 501(c)(3) and 509(a) of the Internal Rev- enue Code and from gov- ernmental agencies serv- ing the county. Applica- tions from nonprofit orga- nizations not classified as a 501(c)(3) public charity may be considered, provid- ed the project is charitable and supports a community need. In this case, the orga- nizations may be required to obtain a fiscal sponsor. Application deadline is September 9, 2016. The Foundation will ac- cept funding requests up to a maximum of $2,500 per request. Visit communityfounda- tionalliance.org/pike for more information and to ap- ply. Call Cindy Gaskins at 812-380 -3161 or 812-766 -0550 with additional questions. Lions District Governor installed Trea McCandless stands next to the banner that will hang at the Winslow Lions Club meetings for a year. She was installed as the Governor of Dis- trict 25 E on Saturday, July 16, during a district Lions meeting at Glezen Revival Center. A former 2nd Vice District Governor and 1st Vice District Governor, Trea will oversee 64 Lions Clubs as far north as Sullivan County and as far east as Lawrence County. Her duties will include visiting each club in the district, attending their special activities, overseeing their administration, and serving with six other District Governors on the Indiana Council. Trea is a member of the Winslow Lions Club. Grand jury returned a 'no bill' in rape allegation A Pike County grand jury deliberated most of the day on Monday and returned a "no bill," according to Pike County Prosecutor Dar- rin McDonald. He said the grand jury was reviewing a rape allegation, but did not find sufficient evidence to return an indictment in the incident. Grand jury proceedings are conducted in private and evidence presented is kept confidential, unless an in- dictment, which is the equiv- alent of a criminal charge, is filed.