I think I see it....

the light at the end of the tunnel that is! And no I don't think it's a train....

Some of you are aware that as board member for the Ferndale Children's Center, I have been dealing with a legal matter since October. Our former Center Director was allegedly (do I still have to say allegedly if she plead "no contest" yesterday... not quite sure on that one... I am thinkin' I don't have to say that anymore) embezzling funds from our non-profit preschool. One of the other board members (who will remain nameless unless she wants to stand up and raise her hand.... K.R.) discovered this and we have been dealing with it since October.

Here's an excerpt from an article written in the Ferndale Enterprise on November 20, 2008.

"Ferndale Police Department is investigating criminal allegations at the Ferndale Children's Center involving irregularities in the financial records. At the end of October, the center's board of directors reported that they had discovered irregularities during a review of their books, said FPD Chief Karl Poppelreiter. Search warrants were served Monday by the FPD at the financial institutions and Eureka residence of long-time center employee Roberta Smith, according to Poppelreiter."

After we discovered this we had to terminate her and do a major comb-thru of the financial records. Wow that was a job! In addition to that, I took over all the bookkeeping, tax accounting, payroll, etc for the Center. We appointed an interim director (thanks Sarah K!) and have been trying to move forward in a positive way.

It took so many months to get the investigation completed by the police department. Then it went to the District Attorney's office. I never knew this stuff took so much time!

Here's another exerpt from a Ferndale Enterprise article dated April 2, 2009 (Headline: Police chief seeking felony charges against former preschool center director).

"...Chief Karl Poppelreiter delivered the investigation findings to the Humboldt County District Attorney's office on March 20 and requested former FCC employee Roberta Ann Smith of Eureka be charged with embezzlement by an employee and check forgery. Both crimes are felonies.

"The department's investigation uncovered approximately $24,000 in missing funds and credit card charges that allegedly went towards Smith's personal use between January 2007 and October 2008..."

Anyone close to me knows what a whirlwind this has been, both physically and emotionally, for all of the board (and our spouses!). Yesterday Roberta Smith had her day in court and plead "no contest" to one count of grand theft. Sentencing will take place in a month or so. It's expected to be 5 years probation and restitution. We don't know the amount of restitution yet. K.R. and I spent the afternoon trying to come up with "the number" to pass onto the DA's office.

I already feel some relief that this is coming to a close soon. I can't tell you how draining this is been. Unfortunately it really makes you question your ability to trust and judge character. I will say, however, that I don't think Roberta is a bad person.... she just made some big mistakes.

I truly believe everything happens for a reason. I am not sure why this happened except it did bring us, as a board, much closer. In addition, I am happy that I have become much closer K.R. in particular. I really learned a lot from this experience even though I probably couldn't put it into words.

I just want to publicly apologize to Andy and my kids for having this take so much time away from our family. Thanks for putting up with all of it!