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WGBPA takes a hard look at disarray of financial records
Officials won't say whether problem is embezzlement or sloppy bookkeeping
By Chantal Lamers
Members of the Willow Glen Business and Professional Association are having a tough time keeping up with their own bookkeeping, says President Bob Waligore, who is piecing together the association's revenues and expenses over the last year and a half.
"I look at the books and everything seems to be OK--but I don't know where the money went," Waligore says. "It's been a real headache."
Waligore won't comment if anyone is suspected of embezzlement. While some former board members believe the possibility that money is missing is a ridiculous possibility, other board members aren't discounting the possibility that accounts were abused.
Nanci Kline, economic development officer for San Jose's three business improvement districts, says it would be relatively difficult to embezzle money from the association.
Kline says, for example, this year the association has a budget of $58,000 generated from an assessment tax that each business pays to work in the Business Improvement District in Willow Glen. The city places strict rules on how and where the association can spend that money.
She says anything that comes from that budget is paid for by the association. Then, the association sends a copy of the invoice and check to earn a reimbursement from the city.
She says she can only talk about receipts submitted to the city. "There wasn't anything funny with the bills," she says.
Kline says the only money the city doesn't control is the revenue generated from events such as Dancing on the Avenue and Founder's Day. But Kline says WGBPA usually just raises enough money to pay for the event and help seed the event for the following season.
Waligore says for the past few years, the accounting books hadn't been managed well.
"At this point, we have some questions about some things," he says. "Anything that becomes an issue we'll address at that time."
However, he does offer his explanation for why the association is having such a hard time balancing its books.
Waligore says the problem stems from the association's last business manager, Demetri Rizos. He says Rizos paid for various expenses from the incorrect accounts during the three years he was the business manager.
For example, display posters for Founder's Day would be paid for out of a festival account while rent and office supplies are paid from another account.
Waligore says Rizos wrote checks with no regard about from which account the money should come.
"He didn't write checks in the ledger or keep a running balance," Waligore says.
But Dot Cohen, who took over the presidency from August 1999 to March 2000, believes there was no misuse of money by anyone.
While Cohen was president, she says the board gave consistent treasurer reports. Cohen says she even offered Waligore an opportunity to look over the books.
Cohen says there isn't much money in the association's account to take. "My feeling is, for a couple thousand dollars, why would anyone want to take that?"
She says Rizos did a good job keeping the books. Cohen also says she isn't sure what Waligore is trying to uncover.
Jeannie Caton, who sat on the board for about five years, says if there is any problem with the books, it is how the books were managed before Rizos came aboard.
"The state of the books, when he came along, was totally unorganized. He made great strides. He's the best thing that ever happened to the organization," Caton says.
Rizos, who resigned from the association in January, was paid $42,000 a year. He was an employee, not a member of the board. His salary came from city money. The newest board of directors, which was voted into place in March, voted against hiring a full-time business manager to replace Rizos.
Chris Carris says that last November a number of business owners along Lincoln Avenue asked to see a financial statement from the association. He says the members, who pay to be incorporated into the association, hadn't seen a statement in 1999.
Carris says board members reported there wasn't enough money to finish the Christmas lights, clean-up the streets or put out a quarterly newsletter. Business owners wanted to know where the money was going. Carris says he and other business owners thought there should be more money.
The business association receives its money through several different avenues: Members of the improvement district pay into the association; the city gives grants to the association for events such as Dancing on the Avenue and Founder's Day; and money also comes from businesses and organizations who sponsor the annual events.
"Money may have been misused," Carris says. "We haven't found that out yet. It is odd; it is weird."
Carris says until Waligore is finished reconstructing the books, the association won't have a good grasp on what took place.
In the meantime, the association also lost its newest treasurer. Scott McDonald, a stock broker with Edward Jones, had to resign from his position. McDonald, who's been acting treasurer since March, says it's against his company's policy to let him act as a bookkeeper.
McDonald says if anything went wrong while he was keeping books, it could reflect poorly on the investment firm.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
