Opinion ID: 43218
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Financial Mismanagement

Text: To ameliorate a cash flow problems in the CSBG program, Jeronimus improperly let the CSBG account borrow from the Head Start account.2 In addition, he floated checks from the Head Start account while there were insufficient funds to make payment. On July 24, 2002, Tucker received notice from the bank that a PCOC check in the amount of $16,489.00 had been returned for insufficient funds. The following day, Tucker sent a written warning to Jeronimus indicating that deliberately issuing bad checks is not acceptable and 2 The CSBG program uses a different budget than the Head Start program. CSBG funds are provided by the federal government but dispersed through the Florida Department of Community Affairs (“FDCA”). 5 noting that Jeronimus had “neglected to inform [Tucker] that [he was] mailing out checks with insufficient funds.” In addition, Tucker noted that Jeronimus was not keeping in touch with staff and ordered him to have weekly staff meetings. Tucker concluded by adding that “this is the second warning that I have had to issue to you. The next step is a five-day suspension without pay.” The following day, July 26, Jeronimus sent an email to Tucker and Donna Etzel, PCOC’s human resources director, complaining that he was being “unjustly singled out for circumstances beyond [his] control,” that Tucker “was conducting a campaign of harassment,” and adding that “[t]his is a truly hostile environment. . .” After sending it, Jeronimus reconsidered because the email contained harsh language. He then went downstairs to Etzel’s office, and asked that she delete it, which she did. Tucker promptly launched an investigation into the practices within the finance department. Tucker discovered that in the months of May through July 2002, Jeronimus had, without notifying Tucker, issued 47 checks – totaling more than $50,000 – with insufficient funds, creating overdrafts in PCOC’s account.3 On July 31, 2002, Jeronimus met with Tucker and informed her that, in addition to floating checks, he had been using Head Start funds to address PCOC’s cash flow 3 Reviewing the August, 2002 bank statement, Tucker discovered that Jeronimus had issued an additional 24 checks without sufficient funds. 6 problems. Tucker then sent Jeronimus a letter informing him that Head Start funds may not be used to fund other programs,4 that PCOC’s auditor would be on site to see whether there were problems with how Head Start had been administered, and that he would be suspended without pay during the pendency of the investigation. The auditors produced a written report on August 6, 2002. In it, they found that for the period of May through July 2002, there were three instances in which Head Start funds had been improperly used for purposes not related to Head Start. Over that same period, the auditors found 72 instances (in an amount of $88,953.85 plus $1,334.00 in overdraft fees) of checks being drawn without sufficient funds to cover them.