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Maddox's lack of oversight cited

An audit of the Florida Democratic Party says its monetary blunders were caused by poor decisions.

By STEVE BOUSQUET
Published July 1, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - A review of Florida Democratic Party finances released Thursday found no money is missing but that former chairman Scott Maddox made a poor decision in hiring an inexperienced bookkeeper.

The eight-day investigation by a team of lawyers and accountants, led by former statewide prosecutor Melanie Hines, confirmed Maddox's contention that a comptroller he hired did not tell him the party failed to send payroll taxes to the IRS for six months in 2003.

Comptroller Debbie Griffin-Bruton has resigned, citing the stress of her job and her husband's Alzheimer's disease.

The party was hit with an IRS lien in May. It was a humiliating action that forced Maddox's successor, Karen Thurman, to scrape together $200,000 to settle the debt.

"It is clear that the problem occurred because of a poor hiring decision, a lack of internal controls, and a lack of strong oversight of the financial records of the party," Hines said. "There is, however, no direct evidence that the former chair was aware of the tax deficiency."

In language thick with legalese, Hines said the party's failure to pay taxes "was not an intentionally fraudulent act." Hines also said $926,000 in unaccounted money was the result of "operator error" by clerks, compounded by a failure to reconcile the figures.

"There are no missing funds," Hines said, speaking slowly for emphasis.

Hines said Griffin-Bruton repeatedly told supervisors of her own concerns about her performance. Maddox said Thursday he provided some training and hired outside help to assist, which Hines said were positive steps.

Maddox, a candidate for governor, called the findings "a vindication." He has contended he did not know about the tax problem, and that the party's money was accounted for "down to the penny."

Maddox criticized the news media for "false, inaccurate or overblown" accounts that suggested $926,000 was missing, a claim first made by Jon Ausman, a member of the party's budget committee.

"I can't take responsibility for things that I didn't know, or were concealed from me," Maddox told reporters outside his campaign headquarters, with a dozen supporters standing behind him, some wearing Maddox T-shirts. "But ultimately, I'm responsible, as the chair. I've taken that responsibility. That's part of leadership."

The question for Maddox is how badly the episode has hurt his bid for governor. A lawyer and former two-term mayor of Tallahassee, the 37-year-old Maddox is running as the only Democrat with proven executive experience.

The events of recent days offer a rich trove of ammunition for Maddox's rivals to turn into devastating 30-second TV ads. His opponents are U.S. Rep. Jim Davis, D-Tampa, and state Sen. Rod Smith, D-Alachua.

Maddox compounded his problems by waiting nearly two days last week before addressing the financial problems. Speaking Thursday, he challenged the claim that Griffin-Bruton, whom he recruited from a City Hall job, was not qualified to manage the party's books.

"She certainly had the background for a job in finance," Maddox said.

On a related matter, Maddox said he still did not know who paid a $10,500 fine against the Leon County Democratic Party in December for a late campaign report while he was the county party's chairman and Griffin-Bruton was its elected treasurer.

The fine was paid by cashier's check. No record has been found that the party paid the debt from party funds, as required by law.

"That was done without my knowledge or consent," Maddox said. "It was, in fact, concealed from me."

In a tacit rebuke of Maddox's tenure, Thurman promised: "We will restore confidence in the Florida Democratic Party through a new commitment to openness and accountability."

But the limits of Thurman's openness were soon apparent. She declined requests by reporters to release an accountant's management letter that red-flagged some of the concerns that led to the filing of an IRS lien on May 12.

"We are going to strengthen the Florida Democratic Party from the ground up," Thurman promised. But first, she said, she will adopt new safeguards "to make sure these types of problems can never happen again."

--Reporter Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com

[Last modified July 1, 2005, 01:23:13]