Yesterday’s Front Porch press conference leaves more questions than answers. There is still conflicting information. The state is doing the right thing by suspending the operations of Front Porch until the inspector general can fully investigate the local program.
The daily newspaper was attacked heavily at the press conference, but I can’t fault them for reporting the story. We would have done so. It does appear that the editors rushed to print it on Sunday without gathering all the facts…but there are times when people aren’t cooperative and don’t return calls and you have to make the decision whether to go with what you’ve got.
One thing Manley, Hugh King and others at the press conference should realize is that once you attack a paper’s credibility, the reporters and editors will pay extra attention to what’s said and will verify everything. This is what happened in today’s PNJ article on the press conference.
Manley claims board authorized that she get a 30% commission on grants and fundraising, but there are no minutes to verify it. Board member Melanie Nichols tells reporter later that she has copies of minutes back to 2000 that show no such vote.
Manley says she has a letter from Gulf Power saying she is to be paid 20% from the proceeds of a Gulf Power fundraiser for Front Porch. Reports calls Gulf Power spokesman John Hutchinson who says there is no such letter. Our editor, Duwayne Escobedo, had asked Manley for a copy of the letter. Manley said she would fax it – we have yet to receive it.
The question I have is why did the Front Porch board allow the organization to operate without sound financial practices? What kind of financial statements were they given at each meeting? How about budgets? Apparently the board had a treasurer – what did he do for the past 7-8 years? Were there any other annual audits of the books? Why weren’t two signatures required on the checks?
To insist on good bookkeeping and records isn’t racist. Manley appears to be good community activist that launched some good programs in the poorest area of Pensacola. She shouldn’t been given unchecked access to all finances. I know of few directors of non-profits that are. The board should have taken advantages of Manley’s strengths and gotten the help necessary to insure monies were distributed properly and the organization had good records of its votes.
And where is the state in all this? Front Porch is a state program. Why didn’t they have better supervision?