Florida Keys News - Key West Citizen
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
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Administrators' accountability on board agenda

The Monroe County School Board today expects to hear whether top district administrators can be fired for allowing the alleged theft of cash and illegal credit card purchases by former Adult Education Coordinator Monique Acevedo. The board also has asked for information indicating whether administrators can be fired for failing to enforce the school district's purchasing policies.

Acevedo is the wife of suspended Superintendent Randy Acevedo.

Richard Fechter, an investigator the board hired to determine how the district's internal financial controls failed, has described a "culture of permissiveness" in which supervisors were late by months in turning in credit card receipts and failed to control employee purchasing.

One administrator, Vocational Education Coordinator Mark Hooper, failed to turn in his credit card receipts for more than 300 days, according to a report Fechter submitted to the board June 9.

In that report, Fechter listed several administrators whose inaction or action, he believes, helped create the environment that led to the breakdown in financial controls: Hooper, Monique Acevedo, Finance Director Kathy Reitzel; Dori Collins, director of purchasing; Linda Walker, purchase card administrator; and Chuck Freeman, director of Maintenance and Custodial Services, who has retired. His last day is June 30.

Board member Steve Pribramsky last month directed Fechter to give the board's public corruptions attorney, Latour "L.T." Lafferty, the names of administrators so Lafferty could determine whether any violations of policy could rise to the level of termination.

"Lafferty will present his findings to us [today] and we'll begin to make a decision on how it fits into our personnel decisions for next year," Pribramsky said.

Lafferty's list also includes acting Deputy Superintendent Mike Henriquez, who was Acevedo's direct supervisor for eight months. He has told board members that Acevedo submitted her credit card receipts and other purchasing documentation directly to the Finance Department.

However, in an April 14 deposition, Reitzel told investigators that Acevedo didn't submit cash to the Finance Department. She also said Henriquez supervised Acevedo.

"Finance is usually the last line of defense," Reitzel told the investigator. "I don't know if they are aware of how it was run, but someone was her supervisor."

Reitzel has been blamed for failing to notify authorities when she learned nearly two years ago that Acevedo had purchased seven airline tickets for her family with her school district credit card. Reitzel told investigators she warned Randy Acevedo at that time to tell his wife to stop using her credit card for personal purchases.

After Reitzel came across an XM satellite radio subscription in the name of the Acevedos' son, Wade, on Monique Acevedo's credit card in early February, she told the superintendent he should fire his wife and contact the Florida Auditor General's Office and State Attorney's Office about her allegedly illegal purchases. Reitzel said she had hoped the superintendent would contact authorities, but he never did. She ultimately reported the situation to state auditors and School Board Chairman Andy Griffiths, who told prosecutors.

Lafferty also is expected to advise board members on whether Reitzel, Walker and Key West High School Principal John Welsh can reasonably expect to be granted whistle-blower status by the state. Lafferty's opinion may determine whether the employees keep their jobs.

jguerra@keysnews.com

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When is this board going to

When is this board going to realize the damage that they are doing to this school district? I am sure that Monique will deservedly so be prosecuted and more than likely do time in some type of detention facilty but the continued cloud that is hanging over the district is the work of a board that has stepped so far over their level of authority it's ridiculous. Every school board meeting has become an evidentiary hearing. You have school board members going directly to the newspaper with information that could and should be used in a court of law. The school board is not an investigative body, they need to stick to their function and promote the positives that are occuring within the school system. Not once has any of the board members so much as vindicated the poor souls that held P-Cards and were cleared of any wrong doing by their own auditor, that in itself shows you they have absolutely no intention of isolating this incident and a total lack of respect for any of the employees in this district. I agree changes need to be made in the district office but the board themselves need an attitude adjustment as well.

Stick to their function and promote the positives?

You think the board has created the negative cloud hanging over the district? You think the board should just ignore the systemic failure of this administration and promote the positives? Please tell me what positives they have to report on? The main function of the board is to make sure the money is being spent properly and that all resources are being used efficiently and effectively. They are not there to win a popularity contest and kiss up to the administration as certain board members have have done in the past. Everything that is being done should be out in the open, what happens in this affects everyone. This is a public matter and people have the right to know what is going on.

I didn't say they created

I didn't say they created the situation they just haven't done anything to clear the innocent people that work for MCSD that had nothing to do with it. When one of them stands up and says "You know those people at Glynn Archer Elementary School are doing a wonderful job, the school received an "A" grade from the State of Florida and our auditor found no wrong doing on their part as well. There were no P-Card issues and any reimbursements were all done correctly." When they do that for the innocent then that will be a step in the right direction.

Dori is her name not he.

Mrs Collins violated the public trust and laws by not reconciling his P-Card in accordance with district and State policy. Mrs. Collins violated, knowingly or unknowingly, the separation of funding program set asides or purchases reserved for other agency funding. Specifically, he also purchased materials not under his departments control (construction). She may have known these policies existed but ignored them when consequences for this ignorance was not applied to him. SHe needs to be given a harsh letter of reprimand, reinstruction in ethics, and training for application of funding laws and P-Card processing approvals and reconciliations. And also terminated from her job. look board members she did wrong. And if it was a normal joe theu would of allready been let go. I feel the board members are scared of this issue. Bring in the FBI. Change to new supertendant now. He can remove her fast. She should be in jail and booked.

Ok.,

So we will have a ceremony (soon?) to present commendation plaques for honesty to every honest employee.Doesn't this show you just how insane this has gotten?While I certainly appreciate every honest employee, honesty is expected of them. Not being punished IS the reward for basic human decency.The world is just not set up to give medals for common decency toward our children.And us, as struggling taxpayers.There is a revolt starting.I promise you.This will not be let go.Even if they both scam out and the Yacht Club has a $50,000 fireworks display,Key West corruption is going to be suffocated slowly.Honest people,although they may not receive all the medals they feel they deserve,have nothing to worry about.It's really very simple.Don't be greedy.It will destroy your life.That life lesson is the enormous value that come with all this pain.Please think about it.Greed blinds you to the very fact that it is destroying you.It is not,in any way, the same as honest ambition. Please don't confuse the two.That has destroyed many lives. And will continue to....

Protection for the Fiance Director

Come on that is just unbelieveable. She was in on it evidently why wait until 4 years before she said anything? She knew about this and never brought it to anyones attention. She just kept signing off and approving things and now she wants protection. She should be right behind Monique and Randy. She allowed it I guess she opened a can of worms and now she can't close it up. By the way I like the CAPTCHA whats that for so the State Attorney can try to follow the postings.

agenda items

Why were the recommendations for personnel for next school year deleted from today's agenda?

time to clean house...

If there are any adults in positions of authority in the school system, there should be a thorough housecleaning. Sure, there have been some people from the finance department spilling their guts to the State Attorney's investigators, but unless they can prove that they had gone to the SA to blow the whistle LONG BEFORE all this became public, they should go, too. Yeah, some of them are saying they "questioned" some of Monique's obviously bogus purchases... but then when Monique or Randy said "say it was for MARC", they seem to have said "OK, I'll put on this form that it was for MARC". They should have said "Randy, I'm going to the State Attorney with this". It's a long-established legal principle that you are required to disobey orders from your superiors to break the law.

Exactly

You said it all.

It's obvious,

they have to wait for the final forensic report which was scheduled to be heard after the Board's recommendations. I was actually surprised to see the recommendations scheduled before the forensic report. This makes way more sense.

Love

I would love to know the answer to this as well. John G, get us some info!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone in Acevedoes

Everyone in Acevedoes administration needs to be fires or arrested.

Another Name

Add Harry Russell to the list to be fired as well.

accountability

KW people. It's unfortunate that this thievery has so many victims. Get used to it. Corruption is rampant in every level of government, especially in small communities. Nepotism is "the norm." For you purists don't attempt to convince anyone that you're above it. Any human would naturally look out for family/friends 1st. I don't know exactly what has happened here, however, I'll be watching. True justice will never be realized until the entire system gets revamped by new blood. Penalties for those that are employed by taxpayers need to be extreme, I'd suggest treating them like drug dealers. Take everything they possess & sell it. Put the funds generated into an account for the communities involved while allowing public monitoring of the balance. Vast reform needs to be done @ the school district. I know a bit about corruption, I live in NJ.

I don't know about Reitzel

I don't know about Reitzel (and the possible whistle blower protection) but the rest? Fire them. Hooper, Collins, Walker, should be fired. Freeman should be fired too - NOW - before his June 30 date and he should be investigated for theft as well. And definitely Henriquez. What kind of supervisor never sees a finance or expense statement come across his desk and doesn't question it? It was more than a culture of permissiveness. It was a culture of GRAFT that was approved by all involved. RICO!

You're just mad because Pribramsky

helped bring this debacle to light. And yes, the taxpayers deserve to know what's happening at every step. I'm watching today's SB meeting thanks to Mr. Pribramsky's statement.

Yes the taxpayers

deserve to get justice in this but also not to crown a white knight who wears black underwear. If he has done wrong then he should also be held accountable. To the same standards the Acevedos. Wrong should be punished. Holding anothers feet to the fire, and rightfully so does not give you a free ticket to do wrong yourself. If he is lying about his credentials he should be punished too.

Get them all out. We need

Get them all out. We need ethical people running our board. I can't understand why people defend Steve P with all of his bankruptcy and forgery and false business claims. It is like they have their own blind Bubba system on the other side of this. Get them all out and clean up the school district. Top to bottom.

Because he's not been indicted or arrested

and it's all just hearsay on your part. You're just ticked off that he has been right all along in calling the crooks for what they are.

Cut the criticism of Steve P.

He's not the one who is accused of stealing. Personal attacks on Mr. Pribramsky just show whose side you're on.

Stealing and Forgery

He has been accused of stealing. He has also been accused of forgery. But his buddy Kohl didn't prosecute b/c there was no "intent". Let's see, signing someone else's name to their credit card w/o their permission and using the purchases for your benefit, I'd say that's intent to steal.

There are a lot of bitter Bubbas. One lost to him in the

election and she can't get over it. McPherson and DiGennaro tried to put her in Harold Wheeler's job when they were making their failed grab for bed tax money a year and a half ago, but failed at that too. The honest people of Key West have thwarted these particular Bubbas at every turn and it's these particular Bubbas that continue to spew their venom in these long, difficult to interpret diatribes against Pribramsky.

I'd say that the candidate Pribramsky defeated should clearly go in the same 'group' as Mary Vanden Brock...bitter women with no real expertise in the jobs that they were seeking. While Estenoz didn't drag it all out through the court systems, wasting taxpayer monies, like Vanden Brock did, she surely had her Bubba insiders trying to find her a job where she could be of use to them and their Developer buddies.

Stevie P. brought it to court

Just a history lesson. Stevie P. and his hairpiece went to court to try and stop another candidate from even running. Using lawyers just like Mary Vandenberg.

No

He was accused of stealing last year, check the court records.

I can accuse anyone of being a crook or a corrupt

... You can stop with the attacks against Pribramsky because it's useless. He never did anything wrong and he was not arrested. It's old news, it's just more sour Conch Sea Grapes.

But was he arrested or convicted...

NOT

Big Decision Today

""Lafferty will present his findings to us [today] and we'll begin to make a decision on how it fits into our personnel decisions for next year," Pribramsky said." Does this guy ever shut up. My goodness I wonder how many times a day Stevie P calls the citizen to check in and offer tidbits. I mean really for someone who boasts about his Accounting Firm being "more than an accounting firm" why doesn't he explain why the state of Florida says neither he or his "Firm" partner are Florida licensed Certified Public Accountants. According to the states of Florida and his home state of Illinois Stevie doesn't hold professional licenses of any type. Maybe he can explain whether or not his Chartered Financial Consulting designation in 1989 was from a legitimately accredited academic institute and if he is current on his continuing education credits for the designation. Likewise, he should tell us what field his "MBA degree from Belford University in 2007" is in. He could explain why Belford University is not accredited by any accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education or Council on Higher Education Accreditation. Neither of the organizations from which Belford claims accreditation, the International Accreditation Agency for Online Universities and the Universal Council for Online Education Accreditation, are recognized accreditation associations of higher learning. Without recognized accreditation, Belford's degrees and credits might not be acceptable to employers or other academic institutions, and use of degree titles may be restricted or illegal in some jurisdictions. Lets hope it isn't in Key West for Stevie's sake. Hey folks I am not making any of this up. These are his stated accomplishments. Go ahead and look on his website then google Belford University. I find it very ironic when a person "puts" themselves out there on a daily basis as a champion for quality education they resort to purchasing a MBA from a university that has no credible accreditation. Is that the message we want to send our kids. Don't really worry about getting an education because later on in life for $479.00 you can buy an MBA. Hey you can also "earn" a 4.0 for an extra $75. As far as being "named to the “Who’s Who of American Business Advisors" in 1989, 1994, 2002 and 2006 I was able to find out the following: I personally spoke to Robert C. Benson who is the president of the American Business Advisors and questioned him about a listing of people named to the Who’s Who of American Business Advisors. He specifically told me that they did not maintain such a list or had he ever been aware of any such listing. He suggested that there could be such a list and recommended that I google it. So an exact wording google search on Who's Who of American Business Advisors returns only three citations. All three citations are links to website purporting to be information about Steven Pribramsky's accomplishments. So the question remains what is the Who's Who of American Business Advisors, what are the requirements to be named to the list and how can you verify past member listings. These are all legitimate professional issues. Everyone wants to post personal attacks against some of the local successful families I would suggest you poke around Chi-town a little bit and ask Monica what a great husband her Ex was. Remember the great words of the Wizard of Oz "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain" Maybe Gerald Abreu can tell Monique to plead yes I ran the credit accounts up and yes I signed the checks but I never had any intent to steal.

What website?

Googling Steve Pribamsky's name did not produce any results. For the sake of credibility please give the website address to verify the source of your information.

Ignore her. It's just a poor looser making stuff up

She knows she has no future Bubba job now that all her Bubba benefactors are on their way out the door - or on their way to jail.

I'll get you, my pretty and your little dog too!

Now I would have cast Randy as the Wizard of Oz- talk about a booming voice lacking any real accomplishment or substance. Everything that man did was a fake. Monique could be the wicked witch.. you know I am sure she would stop at nothing to get a pair of ruby red thongs, oops I meant slippers. What I can get out of this nonsense that you posted is that you are mad, mad, mad, that your boy Randy got busted and his whole empire is crumbling which rightfully it should, they (allegedly) stole, they deserve what they get. I would suggest you get some therapy and perhaps a pet.

Ha Ha! Good one!

The 'Big Decision Today' poster is upset because all her little snipes have gone un-noticed and she's especially upset because now, there is absolutely no one to give her a high-power Bubba job.

Her buddy, McP can't possibly be re-elected. Dan Kolhage has fled to NC ahead of his creditors. DiGennaro's fate is going to be the same as the rest of the Gang of Three. Acevedo won't be giving her any jobs, nor will anyone in the Henriquez family. Fraga? Gone, right? She sure as hell has no place on the TDC.

What's a Bubbette to do??? Keep screaming about imagined injustices and shady plots she's unable to prove?

Wow I had no idea

I thought he was looking out for us. Wow, maybe we should double check everyone. No cheats, thiefs, no liars allowed in. Get them all out and maybe we can have a nice little community.

Spare us the self-generated response

(as if this was 'new news' to anyone.)

Good work

nice research, well done, perhaps they could use u at the school board, Clean house top to bottom, if there are those who lie, cheat or steal, get them OUT, every last one.

Where is the Citizen story

Why hasn't Guerra done a story about this. This is more interesting than the "same old" that we have been fed with the Acevedos. How about some objective reporting on this as well.

I had no idea

I knew that he was a little shady. Most people who move down here are running away from something, but I had no idea that he was such a scam artist. I guess if you use his business to do your taxes, you better double check his work.

I use him to do my taxes and he's very professional!

What a cynical statement: Most people...are running away from something. You are a piece of work!

Stay home

You should have stayed home and taken care of your family. This must have touched a guilty nerve.

Belford U.?

They don't have a football team; therefore, they are not a "real" college. Simple as that.

Paid Good Money For Foregone Conclusions

Whistleblower status is reserved for folks who are retaliated against for pulling the plug at the time the plug was pulled and they are fired for it. The Henriquez admin building is so full of nepotism and graft that anyone who claims foul after the first prodigy of Armando "Bookie" Henriquez was put in place is two eggs short of a dozen and doesn't deserve any protection unless the state wants to dig as deep as it can into this can of corruption and grant immunity for cooperation. JFKulick
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