CASCO – Much heat, little light shed at meeting regarding allegations of fund mishandling by town manager.

CASCO – The latest chapter of what has been termed locally as the “Casco Fiasco” took place in a sweltering conference room at the town’s community center on Tuesday night.

About 70 residents packed the stifling room in a barely civil interchange between selectmen and residents, which at times devolved into name calling, mocking laughter, shouting, standing ovations and charges of lying and collusion – only temporarily subsided when one resident, fed up with the display of incivility, asked, “Is Christ in this room?”

The rancorous debate came after newly elected Selectman Ray Grant attempted to move the board into executive session to discuss Town Manager David Morton, whom some residents have accused of mishandling a town fund.

After being prodded for evidence to back up what was termed by some in attendance as a “witch hunt” against Morton, Grant was unable to produce evidence to satisfy those at the meeting. And as a result, many left the meeting concluding the charges against Morton are the result of a feud being played out among members of the Board of Selectmen, as well as in the Casco community.

“There is definitely a perception that on this topic, you as a board have a personal vendetta agenda against Dave, and that leads to a lack of confidence on the part of the citizens about your motives and your process on this topic,” resident Kevin Hancock said.

But those interested in exploring the alleged improprieties forming the crux of the feud – namely how Morton managed the Casco Helping Casco fuel fund account – are equally frustrated that the debate has turned away from investigating the specifics of the case.

“This has turned into, ‘Blame the messenger,'” said Jeannine Oren, one of Morton’s lead accusers. “We just want to examine the evidence. That’s all we’ve ever wanted, to be able to present the evidence pertaining to Mr. Morton’s handling of the Casco Helping Casco fuel assistance fund.”

Casco Helping Casco

The “Casco Fiasco” began last January, when two residents, Oren and Jenn Murray, began asking questions regarding the finances of a heating fuel assistance account modeled in 2008 on Windham’s Neighbors Helping Neighbors and managed by Morton. Throughout the last nine months, and further heating up in March and April during the Barbara York racist e-mail conflagration, Murray and Oren have been adamant that the town conduct a full audit of the Casco Helping Casco fuel fund after they noted discrepancies in how the money was being managed by Morton.

On May 19, Portland-based auditing firm Purdy Powers & Co. presented its audit of the charity fuel fund to the Casco Board of Selectmen, which paid Purdy $4,300 to conduct the audit. To the chagrin of Murray and Oren, the partial audit, they say, failed to detail each expenditure within the account, something a full audit would have done.

“We are highly concerned that the audit did not include or allow the questions we had about the account to be answered,” Oren said Wednesday morning when called for comment.

Oren has several concerns regarding Morton’s handling of what was designed to be a fuel assistance-only fund. First, she said, the fund was merged with the Casco Fire Association fund with poor record keeping on the part of Morton. She also said the account shouldn’t have been included in the town’s General Assistance account, which the state reimburses at a rate of between 50 and 90 percent. Finally, Oren believes Morton violated state law by authorizing non-fuel purchases with Casco Helping Casco funds.

“When we went door to door raising money for Casco Helping Casco, back when gas was approaching $4 a gallon and the economy was starting to tank and people were losing their jobs all over Casco, we specifically told people their donation would be used to buy fuel for Casco residents in need,” Oren said. “What happened is David Morton used the money for other uses such as rent payments for people on welfare.”

“And a full audit, which he doesn’t want to have since it would bring these violations to light, would show exactly where the money was going,” she continued.

In Purdy Powers’ eight-page audit summary, which was provided to meeting attendees on Tuesday night, several expenditures indicated non-fuel uses of the money, including two checks for electricity, two for rent, two for church food pantries and a $300 check spent on a bean supper. In all, about $2,000 was used on non-fuel disbursements, according to the audit.

Morton speaks

Morton was almost silent at Tuesday’s meeting, not wanting to stir emotions anymore than they were. But in a phone interview on Wednesday, Morton adamantly denied mishandling funds in the fuel fund, while at the same time acknowledging two errors, in the form of rent payments, that were quickly corrected, he said, when brought to his attention. Responding to Oren’s accusation that the fund was used for purposes other than fuel, Morton said, “That is true to a degree, but only to the degree that their committee (Casco Helping Casco) requested that. They authorized us to transfer funds to purposes of food and CMP (electricity).”

Lightning rods

According to Oren, she and Murray have become “lightning rods” for pursuing the issue in the face of public ostracism and are taking flak in town because of their desire to get to the bottom of the matter.

“My frustration here is that I want to present documents in a public forum so people can understand why the town is out of compliance with Maine law,” Oren said.

She also thinks supporters of Morton have turned a deaf ear and “just want us to go away.”

“It feels to be an effort to de-legitimize me so that the documents I’m about to present will not seem so serious, which they are,” she said, referring to an October meeting, where she hopes to present her findings of how Morton may have used the fund in violation of state law.

Morton, on the other hand, believes Oren and Murray are “creating a media event,” and that they are “creating and orchestrating” a sort of public unrest in the small town. He said, “If they want an event, do it.”

The “event” could happen at a board meeting in October. Oren said she is preparing for an Oct. 12 meeting where she and Murray will be able to state their own case, in their own words, Oren said, something she says they haven’t yet had the full opportunity to do.

“Finally, after 10 months, the town of Casco will put us on the agenda so we can present our response to the Casco Helping Casco account,” Oren said.

Vendetta talk

Beyond Town Hall, many townspeople have taken Murray and Oren’s investigation into the fuel assistance fund as a vendetta against the town manager, who has served the town for 36 years and made strong relationships with many of the town’s residents in that time.

Those people, save a few who were in the audience Tuesday night, made an overwhelming show of support for the embattled town manager, with one person saying, “I trust the town manager a lot more than I do the Board of Selectmen.”

The thrust of Morton’s supporters’ argument against what they deemed a “lynching” of Morton is lack of evidence. Oren and Murray were not at the meeting on Tuesday night, partly due to a “mob mentality” they felt at a similarly divisive meeting two weeks ago, said Oren. Instead, Grant brought forth the women’s request to have Morton’s job performance and job description discussed in executive session, a proposal that met stiff resistance from both Morton and residents since no prior notification was given to Morton.

Morton cited Maine statute arguing that prior notification must be given to employees who are summoned for a disciplinary hearing. Morton’s protest was seconded by a lawyer who was present at the meeting.

Oren, when contacted Wednesday, said she and Murray suggested in a letter, read aloud during Tuesday’s meeting, the need for an executive session to discuss the performance of the town manager out of respect for Morton.

“I thought they should handle it (in executive session) as a personnel issue to take the emotion out of it. Just analyze the documents,” Oren said.

Heating season

After the dust settled Tuesday night, the only thing decided was a date to discuss the thousands of dollars stuck in the Casco Helping Casco account since the fund was frozen in January when questions first swirled as to accounting errors. Currently, there is $11,522.47 in the fund. According to Selectman York, that money should go toward fuel heating, since donors wanted the money spent to help poor people struggling to pay their heating bills.

According to York, there is a chance Casco Helping Casco could remain in charge of the funds or that another nonprofit, such as state-funded PROP (People’s Regional Opportunities Program) or another Casco organization, could take possession of the money and disburse it as it sees fit. The board will discuss the matter at its Sept. 14 meeting.