http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-glenbrook.12.15dec15,0,3066509.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines
By Donna Porstner
Staff Writer
December 15, 2006
STAMFORD - The Glenbrook Fire Department's president said yesterday the lackluster financial controls uncovered by a recent audit were intended to ease the burden on volunteers who run it.
The audit, completed last month by O'Connor, Davies, Munns & Dobbins LLP, found financial mismanagement and unauthorized spending by former treasurer David Judge, including purchases shipped to his home and work addresses on the firehouse's dime. The city is auditing the financial controls of its four other volunteer fire departments.
"I've been a member 35 years. This hurts," fire department President Edward Rondano said in an interview yesterday. "I've always felt the Glenbrook Fire Department has spent the city's money responsibly."
The volunteer department gets about $1.1 million annually in city funding, most of which pays the salaries of its nine paid employees.
State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is investigating. Finance Board Joseph Tarzia also has asked Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane to get involved.
Rondano, who is responsible for the administrative functions of the volunteer department, said Judge was given a stamp with his signature that allowed him to single-handedly write checks that require two signatures while was recuperating from knee surgery.
Rondano said he didn't want to drive to Judge's home in Bridgeport to sign a check every time the department paid a bill.
"In hindsight, we should have gotten it back when he was back on his feet again. I forgot all about it," Rondano said during yesterday's interview.
In the interview and his written response to the city, which hired the White Plains, N.Y.-based firm to do the audit, Rondano said there were logical explanations for most of the purchases flagged by the auditors.
He said the $12,600 in stipends Judge paid himself over several years - money which the auditors said Judge was not authorized to receive - is an accepted practice approved at the company's meetings. Although the department's bylaws do not allow for it, Rondano said the department has paid all of its treasurers a stipend since 1970. The bylaws should be changed, he said.
The $250 check written to cash and cashed by Judge in January 2005 was for the state Department of Environmental Protection as recorded in department records, Rondano said. Judge cashed it and used the money to get a bank check because the DEP would not accept a check drawn on the firehouse's account, Rondano said.
The QuickBooks computer software designed for contractors Judge bought with $530 in funds in 2003 was used for both his private business and firehouse business, Rondano said.
"It's an indirect benefit for the firehouse," he said.
Having firehouse purchases shipped to members' homes is not unusual, Rondano said, saying he and others do it all the time because it's more secure.
When items arrive at the firehouse - including bills - they tend to disappear, he said. The department plans to get a post office box, he said.
The $1,100 Judge was reimbursed was for a Dell computer was purchased for the fire marshal's office, Rondano said, who could not explain why the auditors could not find an invoice or supporting documentation. All invoices are supposed to be stored in a file cabinet on the second floor, but he could not be certain those records were there.
"They are correct - our record-keeping is not the best," Rondano said. "The firehouse is pretty lackadaisical because we trust each other."
Rondano said he was told an employee went through the file cabinet before the auditors came and speculated the employee, whom he did not name, might have removed the invoices.
"We didn't lock them down," he said. "We didn't think they needed to be secured like jewelry."
In his official response to the city, Rondano said the audit might have been prompted by the same person who tried to oust him as president several ago. He hinted that the employee might have held a grudge and wanted to get back at him and Judge, who served as president for 10 years previously.
"This was all directed toward Dave Judge from the beginning," Rondano said.
The city's Office of Policy and Management began reviewing the financial controls after officials in city hall received an anonymous tip last winter that checks were bouncing and some purchases were questionable.
Glenbrook Fire Department officials were quiet about the audit until yesterday, declining to comment when reporters called and not returning phone calls seeking comment. Rondano said he was reluctant to comment publicly until he had time to review the auditors' findings and research the answers.
"This is all just very one-sided toward Dave and I think Dave just shut down because he did so much for the firehouse for so long," Rondano said.
Judge did not step down as treasurer as a result of the investigation like the auditors made it sound in their report, Rondano said. He said Judge ran for re-election in June and lost to the current treasurer, David McMahon of Stratford.
News coverage of the audit has hindered fundraising efforts, he said. Some residents have returned solicitation letters with copies of newspaper stories about the audit instead of donations, Rondano said.
The Board of Finance's Audit Committee is scheduled to meet at 4 p.m. Tuesday to review Rondano's 12-page response.
City Director of Administration Ben Barnes said yesterday it appears the Glenbrook Fire Department sacrificed financial oversight for the convenience of members and he hopes they have learned from their mistakes. Not only is it important to spend taxpayers' money wisely, but it's also important to have transparency to instill public confidence, Barnes said.
Residents who live in the fire district depend on the department, he said.
"These internal control issues, I think in the long run, can jeopardize their mission, which is why we are taking it seriously," Barnes said.
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