Allegations are 'pure fiction,' ex-Earth Share chief says

Former Earth Share director Jack LaBounty says he committed mistakes, but not fraud, while leading the organization.

By CRAIG PITTMAN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 18, 2003

ST. PETERSBURG -- Wherever he is, Jack LaBounty is mad.

Five months ago LaBounty, 65, was forced out as executive director of Earth Share of Florida amid allegations that he misused thousands of dollars of the environmental charity's funds.

Auditors and St. Petersburg police started poring over Earth Share's books. Last week the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, which regulates charities, launched a criminal investigation.

LaBounty left the state in November without answering questions about what happened to Earth Share's money. But in recent telephone interviews with the Times, he blasted his accusers for spreading what he called "pure, unadulterated fiction" about him.

He painted himself as the victim of a conspiracy and contended that Earth Share owes him several thousand dollars in bonuses and expenses.

He would not say where he was calling from. Although he has told some people he was in New Hampshire, he called the Times after a reporter left a message for him at a bar in New Jersey.

LaBounty did concede "some accounting irregularities on my part." He acknowledged mingling personal and business expenses but insisted he repaid Earth Share, though Earth Share officials say they have found no evidence of that.

"I'm not a bookkeeper, I'm a fundraiser," LaBounty said. "If there were mistakes in there, they were mistakes, not fraud."

He promised to return to Florida eventually to answer his accusers. He said he is not concerned that he might face criminal charges.

"I don't see anything here that could be construed as a violation of any laws," he said.

LaBounty said he did not defend himself before now because "the attorney for Earth Share advised me of the need for absolute silence."

Earth Share's attorney, Martha Collins of Tampa, said she had no such conversation with LaBounty. Her only call from him, she said, came last month when he telephoned, sounding "panic-stricken," and asked her to block the Times from running a Dec. 29 story about him.

For two years LaBounty ran Earth Share of Florida, a St. Petersburg charity that collects thousands of dollars from around the state through payroll deductions, particularly from state and federal employees. Earth Share then funnels the money to such organizations as Friends of the Everglades, Audubon of Florida and the Save the Manatee Club.

Earth Share's financial woes preceded LaBounty. Formerly the Environmental Fund for Florida, it has consistently spent thousands of dollars more than it collected. In the 1998-99 fiscal year, for instance, expenses exceeded income by more than $35,000. LaBounty told his board last summer that thanks to his fundraising prowess, income had topped $313,000, while expenses were $126,000.

For six months Carrie Walters worked for LaBounty managing fundraising campaigns. In June, she quit and sent board members a six-page memo accusing LaBounty of buying office equipment that went to his home, using money donated to Earth Share to cover his personal expenses and hiding bills from the board.

At first, board president Ken Bryan said, LaBounty convinced some board members that Walters was the real villain. But in August, when LaBounty tried to get the board to fire the auditors going over his books, they voted instead to fire him. He quit first. LaBounty said he resigned "because I'd had it. I'd worked my ass off for that organization."

LaBounty acknowledged buying computers for Earth Share that went to his rented home on Treasure Island instead of the Central Avenue office. He conceded that his girlfriend and her children sometimes used the computers for games and schoolwork.

LaBounty said he wasn't troubled by the personal use of the charity's computers because he was paying for the network connection.

He blamed Walters for taking up so much room in the office with her files that he was forced to work from home for months. Walters disputed that claim.

LaBounty said he returned the computers to the Earth Share office six days after Walters quit over LaBounty's handling of the funds. Bryan said Earth Share has gotten back four of the five computers. A digital camera is still missing, he said.

LaBounty had the authority to write checks up to $500. Walters accused him of writing multiple $500 checks to American Express to hide his use of an Earth Share credit card for personal expenses.

LaBounty admitted writing the multiple checks. But he said he did it over several weeks "because we didn't have enough money in the account to cover payroll and pay the American Express bill...It was not an attempt to hide it from the board."

Bryan scoffed at that explanation: "That would not explain why he wrote four $500 checks at the same time on the same date," he said.

LaBounty blamed the cash flow problems on United Way, which collects the payroll deductions of state and federal employees and distributes them to Earth Share, which sends the money along to 22 environmental organizations. LaBounty contended United Way chapters would sit on the money for as long as a year before handing it over to Earth Share.

Ken Armstrong, chairman of the board for the United Way of Florida, said LaBounty had complained to him repeatedly last year about how slowly United Way chapters handed over money to Earth Share. He said United Way officials around the state denied it, and LaBounty never responded to his requests for proof.

"I think this was a little story that was being made up by Jack," Armstrong said.

LaBounty continues to blame Walters for his woes. He called her a "psychopathic liar," and accused her of conspiring with Bryan and board treasurer Diane Hines to take over his job.

Bryan and Hines dismissed LaBounty's conspiracy allegations. Walters said she wouldn't want the executive director job because working for LaBounty "left such a bitter taste in my mouth."

LaBounty is again in the market for a new job. He said Monday that someone sent his most recent employer a copy of the Times story, and he was fired. He refused to identify the employer.

"This whole thing," he said, "has turned into a circus."

-- Times Staff Writer Anne Lindberg and researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this story.

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