By AMANDA PINTO
apinto@thestamfordtimes.com
STAMFORD — Audits of the city's volunteer fire departments — inspired by a November probe revealing potential fraud and embezzlement at the Glenbrook station —showed mostly minor recommendations, with Long Ridge highlighted as an area of concern.
The reports detail "clean" findings for the Springdale and Belltown fire departments, some recommendations for Turn of River , and "poor internal controls," at Long Ridge, Office of Policy and Management Director Peter Privitera said at Monday's Audit Committee Meeting.
"Of all the volunteer companies this is the one that will require the most of our attention and the most of our help," Privitera said of Long Ridge.
The search for "red flags" in volunteer fire departments was prompted by the investigation into Glenbrook, Privitera said, which is still ongoing.
Auditing firm O'Connor Davies, Munns & Dobbins L.L.P, the Stamford Police Department, and the state's attorney's office all participating in the process, he said.
An earlier forensic audit of Glenbrook's department indicated "serious lapses in internal controls fostered an environment that resulted in excessive spending, duplicate payments, unauthorized disbursements, delinquent tax filings, negligent bookkeeping practices and misappropriation of Fire Department funds," according to the audit.
The report found that then-treasurer David Judge received about $12,600 in unauthorized stipends over the past seven years. Items were also shown to have shipped to Judge's personal address.
Judge also recorded "excessive," charges: phone bills of more than $615 per month, $138 per month for office supplies and $22,920 for the fire house's outer facade.
After losing re-election to his post, Judge was recently arrested for stealing $8,800 worth of stationary supplies, police and Glenbrook Fire Department President Ed Rondano confirmed.
Because of these and other concerns, Privitera said another more extensive audit has been requested.
Rondano said the auditing process has so far yielded information on how to employ "checks and balances."
He said Glenbrook is in the process of hiring an accountant.
"We will be taking steps to address the problems," he said, adding that in Judge's case the police, not the audit, uncovered the significant discrepancies. "We're going to make some changes and we will be making more changes... hopefully the city board will be happy with the changes we're making."
Although it did not have the same level of discrepancies as found in the Glenbrook audit, Long Ridge showed problems that concerned officials.
Long Ridge needs to record income in a timely manner, and have a different professional bill and receive checks, Privitera said.
"There's one person doing everything and there's really no segregation of responsibilities, it's not to point the finger and say 'something's going on here' they just have poor controls in a lot of places," he said.
Privitera said finances at the department, which receives $1.3 million from the board of finance, are "always a struggle."
"One of the reasons they're not doing year-end audits is they're channeling funds that would go into it, and they're going to fire service," he said.
Audit Committee member Joseph Tarzia said he was concerned about paid firefighters holding positions as volunteer leadership, a practice he likened to "cutting your own check."
"Maybe they need more money but they also need checks and balances and transparency," Tarzia said.
The volunteer fire departments are "combination" departments, Public Safety, Health & Wellness Director William Callion said in an interview — and have long employed both paid and unpaid personnel.
Although accounting and bookkeeping might be less-than-perfectly organized, Long Ridge Fire Chief Robert Bennett said he didn't think there was cause for concern at his department.
"We're here to protect the public, if we can't be trusted to do that ... it's not like any of us are thieves, the audit showed that." he said. "I think the things [the board is] picking on are ridiculous, but they were fixed before the were even out the door."
Bennett said funds have been tight for 10 years, and that he and his treasurer — paid employees — had handled the financial duties so the volunteers could fight fires, and stay active and interested in volunteering.
Changes were made and additional controls put in place at the request of the auditors, Bennett said.
The Audit Committee said it would request a meeting with Bennett and Callion to discuss how to move forward.
Callion said he was grateful for the information provided by the audits — which cost the city $20,000 for Glenbrook, and about $7,500 each for the other volunteer departments.
"Some of the things that came to light in the audit are of grave concern and others came out well, and that I'm pleased about," he said.