Kids Vote OKs treasurer's repayment of missing funds

After being confronted by members of his board and their lawyer, the treasurer of a local nonprofit organization admitted pocketing more than $2,000 from the group's bank account and paid back the money.

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For more information on the Kids Voting program,

please visit AlaskaLegislature.com

The board's decision to allow the 23-year-old man to repay the funds to Kids Voting USA and not to report the incident to the police prompted two board members to resign in protest.

The organization's treasurer, Shawn Blumenshine, declined to comment when contacted by the Empire. Alaska court records list no offenses for him.

The Juneau chapter of Kids Voting is part of a national nonprofit effort to educate students about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, instill the habit of voting in young people and generate increased voter participation in the adult community, according to its Web site.

The money issue remained an internal affair within the hierarchy of the organization until last Friday when someone circulated an anonymous fax, a copy of which was sent to the Empire, accusing four board members of covering up a crime.

The letter alleged more than $2,000 of the $6,000 in the group's coffers was missing from the program. The letter also said the group's board failed to report the incident to police and that no controls were in place to prevent such an incident.

"We struggled with this decision for a week through a series of emergency board meetings and decided the best thing to do would be to get the money back right away and not drag it out ..." said Betsy Brenneman, spokeswoman and board member for Kids Voting. "He was so willing to work it out and very contrite about the whole thing we didn't feel we needed to file charges."

Board members Marjorie Menzi, Marc Wheeler, Sharon Barton, Mary Becker, Julia O'Malley and Caren Robinson, a paid coordinator for the program, were criticized in the letter for betraying a public trust.

Wheeler disclosed information about the missing money Tuesday to a luncheon meeting of the Rotary Club. He told the group the board handled the problem internally and recovered all of the missing funds. He said it was unfortunate the issue was leaked to the news media.

Menzi and fellow board member Elizabeth Williams declined comment. Robinson and board members Becker, Charla Wright and Phyllis Carlson did not return phone calls made by the Empire.

Former board member Jennifer Huntley told the Empire on Monday she disagreed with the board not filing charges and resigned Friday morning because, "A crime was committed and authorities should have been notified."

She said she did not write the anonymous letter and didn't know who did.

Brenneman said Barton, who did not return calls made by the Empire, resigned her position over the weekend because she, too, disagreed with the board's decision.

Board member O'Malley, a reporter at the Juneau Empire, said she resigned from the board to avoid a conflict of interest. She also said she did not write the letter.

Brenneman said Blumenshine had been with the organization since late spring when he volunteered to be its treasurer. The board became concerned when he would not provide financial reports. The board found money was missing from the account and confronted him. Brenneman said he admitted taking the money and offered to pay it back.

According to his letter of resignation, he said he took $2,020 from the Kids Voting bank account through two withdrawals - one for $600 and one for $700 - and through checks totaling $720 written on the account to KINY and Alaska Airlines.

Brenneman said the board, with attorney Dan Wayne, drew up a contract requiring the treasurer to repay the money by Oct. 24, resign from the board, seek counseling and do community service.

Blumenshine also agreed to pay attorney's fees and make a "small" donation to the organization, Wayne said.

The contract stated failure to comply with its stipulations could result in the filing of a civil suit.

"This is a terrible and extremely irresponsible action on my part and I intend to repay the debt ... ," the resignation letter said. "I offer only my deepest apologies. I know this in no way makes up for what I have done but please know that I am truly, very sorry."

Wayne said the matter never should have gone public.

Melanie Plenda can be reached at mplenda@juneauempire.com.