Nearly a month has passed since Board members of the United Way of the National Capitol Area received an oral briefing on a special audit of the organization and they have yet to receive a written report.
"We were briefed on April 2, and told that we would receive the report by April 10,” said City Councilman William D. Euille, one of the Board members from Alexandria. “I am very concerned that we have seen nothing and am going to join my colleagues in writing a letter asking that the report be provided to us as soon as possible.”
Euille joins Board members from Arlington and Prince William County and fellow Alexandrian, Donna Kloch, in making this request. “I have never been this frustrated over anything,” Kloch said. “I have no evidence of mishandling of funds but I am also being denied information that would support what I have been told. All I have is a presentation and a promise that I was going to receive the documentation to support it. I haven’t seen anything yet.”
A special audit of the organization’s finances and management practices was conducted after a former Board member made allegations that the executive director and the chairman of the Board were misusing funds. The letter was written last summer and was ignored, prompting other Board members to demand that the investigations be properly investigated. According to the briefing that the Board received, the audit found no evidence of misappropriation of funds but did find that management practices were in need of change.
"I HAVE EVEN ASKED for a copy of the letter of engagement so that I can see what the auditors were asked to review,” Kloch said. “Instead of being given that document, I am being told that this is covered in the audit report. I tried to copy fellow Board members on the letter that I wrote last week asking for information to be provided in writing but I have been told that I cannot have a list of Board members because that is private information. It is very frustrating.”
Beverly Steele, a member of the Alexandria United Way’s Advisory Board, attended a briefing on the audit. “The attorney who managed the audit for United Way of the National Capitol Area was there and made the presentation,” Steele said. “We were able to ask a lot of questions and they answered them but we were not given anything in writing. I feel very strongly that the Board should receive all documents relating to the audit and that the audit should be made available to the public. Everything that relates to this matter should be done in a very open way or people begin to think that they have something to hide.”
Kloch has asked to see documentation related to the audit by Friday, May 3.