Audit manager Ted Sauerbeck's report to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee said that FAMU's operating budget did not include $39.3 million in planned revenues and expenditures and that budget amendments totaling $1.7 million were not approved by the FAMU board of trustees and Bryant. "So they spent $30 million off the books?" asked Rep. Jim Frishe, R-Bellaire Bluffs.
"You could characterize it that way," Sauerbeck replied. He added that the auditors have not concluded the money was misspent.
"We'd call it a 'kitty,' or a 'slush fund,' ” said Sen. Rhonda Storms, a former Hillsborough County commissioner. "Perhaps it's a matter for law enforcement to sort out."
Sen. Jeremy Ring said, "I'm getting the sense that this is over our heads and needs to go to the attorney general's office. This is beginning to sound like ENRON to me."
Sen. Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, said he tried to get the state to assign five outside accountants to FAMU more than a year ago but ran into furious opposition from fellow alumni and the university's many other supporters.
"Because FAMU is in my district and I love the school, it has been very embarrassing to me for really the last four years, many of the circumstances that have taken place around the university," Lawson said. "The only way they can be resolved is with accountability."
He added that "it's been a four-year void in leadership. When you have a four-year void in leadership, you're going to have these kinds of problems."
Lawmakers say problems must be fixed
Castell tells legislators pay problems are age-old
Lowe blames past leaders
Castell continues to point fingers in payroll mess
Castell says it ain't her fault
Unpaid students face eviction
Castell clueless
Pay makes news
Pay issue has Castell pointing fingers
they need to call Trustee George Allen there to answer questions on Wednesday instead the audit committee meeting about the damn alumni audit. Shift the alumni ain't the problem, he got bigger fish to fry with 35 findings.
ReplyDeleteThis is getting ugly quick
ReplyDeleteThis may just me, always looking for the C-O-N-spircay, but is it possible that Castell created a bigger mess than was already there so that the State would be justified in getting a hold of the books?
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't put pass her and the other cronies.
ReplyDeleteInstead of gloating at the cause of the problem, please recognize people3 that the school is under threat of being shut down....The sky is falling....
ReplyDeleteNo one is gloating, but it's strange now that the johnny come latelies and the rah rah corner for Castell cleaning up shufft have left the room. I want this person and her cronies to get everything that's coming to them. O
ReplyDeleteOne thing about the devil, you never know the true extent of his evil until the dust settles and I would rather it settles on her sunset as oppose to the incoming president's sun rise.
And who's fault is it that the sky is falling?
Yesterday ya'll were singing her praises, today ya'll still try to give her a pass.
"Sounding More Like Eron"
ReplyDeleteOKay now this statement made by Margate Democrat is absolutely ridiculous. Either she is stupid or she's grandstanding in any case she don't deserve her position. This is a mess for sure, but Eron. Give me a break. This was pocket change compare to the Eron scandal, and know evidence of criminal intent has been presented. This is more like gross-mismanagement. To compare this to ERON is not only over-the-top but is down right hostile. This lady either smells blood and she's looking for a "cause" or she is down-right ignorant. Damn.
It is clear that CVB had/has no clue of what she is doing. She is in over her head and she uses this “I’m the boss” swagger to hide her demonstrated incompetence.
In terms of Conspiracy, I doubt it, unless she’s like Scutter Libby and she's expecting a presidential pardon. This is just gross mis-management. Look what happen to some of her key financial custodians. One quit because he could no longer take CVB’s shenanigans, and the another guy was fired (Mr. Brown - Auditor) because he dared to speak truth to power.
And who did she replace them with? Her friends. This woman has a tendency to put yes people around her and every one knows that yes people don't work as hard. That is all they have to do is say yes.
^^^^^^
ReplyDeleteYou're trying to let Castell off the hook by minimizing her willful behavior in this debacle. She hasn't "mismanaged" money because that would imply that FAMU's finances have been unintentionally mucked up. Contrarily, Castell and her cronies (which includes the BOT) are crooks. They've been lining their pockets for quite some time, and consequently, dodging a real external audit. This sounds exactly like Enron. Let's just call a duck a duck for Christ's sakes! We're still making excuses for these crooks and allowing them (Castell & Challis Lowe)to participate in constructing their own task force to investigate their own criminal activities? That makes no sense!
What has happened has hapened. Now lets just clean it up and move on.
ReplyDeleteEveryone is a few years late and multiple million dollars short. Stella may never get her grove back!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous at 10:52 you are so damned ignorant. If they shut the school down, you idiot, you will still be griping about Castell instead of solutions. Everyone here is waiting on Dr. Ammons to fix it like he is Jesus, he isnt. He is a highly talented man who will do his best, but this stuff is deep. One person alone cant get it done...
ReplyDeleteCan anyone here see how all of this is going to play into the hands of those advocating making FAMU a 2nd tier (bachelors only) university? Especially with C. Roberts (lobbying to keep Lowe on the board) and L. Pappas (Roberts' cut buddy on the BOG, and linked to the Pappas Report) heading up a task force looking into FAMU's finances? There are those of us that saw this coming YEARS ago. Again- remember, connect the dots?
ReplyDeleteOh, and don't forget the upcoming SACS review. All of this will have a bearing on our standing, also.
Why is it so hard to get rid of all the bad apples that are trying to tear this institution down. Find them and show their asses the door.
ReplyDeleteCastell & her crew have been a total disaster!
ReplyDeleteOk Dr. Alvin Bryant -- instead of alumni asking for the removal of the 6 BOT members that didn't vote for Ammons, all of them need to be gone!! This gets more and more ridiculous by the day.
ReplyDelete10:16--the legislator who made the comment was saying that FAMU had become an Enron. The point was made for effect, not to be taken in the same ilk that toppled that corporate giant. Jesus, can't you recognize hyperbole when you hear it? The statement is not even a comparative. The comment, again, bordered on exaggeration.
ReplyDeletecorrection to my above commentary..."Famu has not become an Enron..."
ReplyDelete3/20/2007 7:46 PM
ReplyDeleteI know that it was about effect. I'm not a fool. But referencing ENRON in public was way, way, way, over the top. I followed the Enron story because in was part of my job.
If someone said that CVB was beginning to seem like Hitler, I'm sure that you would agree that's a little over the top, especially during public hearings.
Remember, these people were talking about FAMU, and not CVB. I'm not defending CVB. Her ass is grass if millions were stolen. But we can't let these assholes use this "fixable" problem to "close" the damn school. Mergers, downgrading is one thing but language suggesting shutting down FAMU and all that we have done for this State, this City, this country and the HBCU community. Come on now!
We should not tolerate, under any circumstance, this sort of public rhetoric. If some one the Board said some stupid shit like this we would be asking everybody to send emails to the governor demanding for removal. But let some idiot Jew say it then it must be right.
The Auditor was irresponsible as well. These loose allegations were clearly presented with out context. Enron was very, very serious; complex, coordinated, and systematic laundering. People went to jail and thousands lost there life savings, not to mentioned those who lost their jobs
BOTTOM LINE: FAMU's shit is just like everybody else’s shit. And just because we have shit, doesn't mean that we aint shit.
The board of trustees is responsible because they allowed this mess to happen, allowed Cast-Hell's lies about the $8m surplus and her lies about how she was cleaning things up. She was cleaning up alright! Crist MUST take action to right the ship by changing this board.
ReplyDeleteThe dark clouds have gathered on the horizon, but like in the saying, the Rattlers are preparing to Srike! Maurice Holder was just elected Faculty Senate President (meaning he will be a new Trustee), Ammons is on his way with the support of all of the major stakeholders and this whole scenario (five years of Corbin created chaos)will be like a passing storm. Like the phoenix, FAMU Will rise again! Get ready Rattlers, the A-Train is movin' in!
ReplyDeleteIf someone said that CVB was beginning to seem like Hitler, I'm sure that you would agree that's a little over the top, especially during public hearings.
ReplyDeleteUmm, nah. I'd agree that it was him in drag.
Well we are really in trouble now if Maurice Holder is the best that the faculty have to represent them. He represents what is wrong with FAMU. Everyone walks around the campus and thinks they know best never doing what they are hired to do. How can Maurice represent faculty concerns when as a full professor he has been worthless?
ReplyDeleteProfessors are charged to 1)teach--Maurice Holder is an awful teacher (I know I am a graduate of the COP), 2)research--ask Maurice how many research dollars he has brought into FAMU, 3)publish---ask him the last time he published any thing meaningful in a referred journal, 4) graduate his graduate students---Maurice Holder had to send his graduate students all over the state to get a research experience and mentoring because he was so worthless as a graduate advisor, 5)high morale character---ask how many students Maurice Holder has messed with (sexually that is)...His reputation in the COP is in the toilet.
Shame on the faculty for choosing this loser who should be sitting on the porch retired some where. I am real concerned about FAMU as we talk about improving our board. We are getting worse not better. We need people who represent excellence in their chosen field; not people who walk around with their chest out talking a bunch of isht and not doing a darn thing.
We are the laughing stock and will continue as long as we keep putting worthless perpetrators in positions that require people to roll up their sleeves and work. The FAMU's faculty choice as their board representative is worse than any thing Jeb Bush ever did!!!!