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Marquis - No Charges Against Seeley In Jewell School Finance Investigation

In a press release issued at the Clatsop County website the District Attorney’s office announced that the investigation into allegations of financial impropriety by then-Jewell School Superintendent John Seeley that started in early 2007 would not result in any criminal charges. Deputies from the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office conducted several interviews and it quickly became clear that the complexity of the allegations and amount of money involved required resources beyond those available to local police agencies.

On February 12, 2007, District Attorney Joshua Marquis formally requested the Oregon Department of Justice begin a forensic financial investigation. Over the course of the next year investigators from the Attorney General’s Office interviewed 32 individuals and examined hundreds of receipts. The final draft report was received on April 28, 2008 .

John Seeley, who was the Jewell School Superintendent from 1999 until he was placed on administrative leave on October 25, 2006, will not be charged with any crimes in connection with allegations he misappropriated district funds.

District Attorney Joshua Marquis explained that, while Seeley received more than a third of a million dollars ($360,771.17) in personal reimbursements from 2002 through 2006, there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he took those monies for his own benefit or without permission of the school board.

“The pattern of expenditures can only be described as lavish, extreme, and chaotic,” Marquis said. “Mr. Seeley would often get large amounts of cash and submit nothing more than a summary of his personal credit card as a receipt.”

Many of the expenditures were in connection with the district’s “Guaranteed Success” program that involved fully paid field trips for students, staff, and others to Washington, DC in 2004, New York in 2005, and Boston in 2006. Seeley was reimbursed $46,532.16 for the 2004 trip, $62,646.92 for the 2005 trip, and $34,199.90 for the 2006 trip.

As part of Seeley’s compensation package the school district built a house for the superintendent. One of the primary questioned expenses was $17,031.40 for fencing at the superintendent’s house.

Marquis said no prosecution was possible because of strongly conflicting statements by different members of the Jewell School Board, a lack of documentation, and no clear line of accountability for expenditures. In some cases the minutes of the School Board are unavailable and in other instances they lack any discussion of specific expenditures. Despite this lack of documentation, several former school board members and some staff insist that Seeley was acting properly.

Department of Justice Investigator Wayne Trucke concluded that his “investigation was unable to show that Seeley misappropriated funds and equipment from the Jewell School District.” In his final 20-page report Trucke went on to say “the District School Board had the responsibility to oversee the budget and all financial aspects for the district. They did respond to Seeley when it came to large item purchases (the new school). They failed to monitor the expenses on a monthly basis. They approved financial reports without a detailed review of expenses and did this approval without a formal vote.”

Since Seeley’s departure, acting superintendents from the regional Educational School Districts put new procedures in place and the current Jewell school administration has tightened up financial controls to prevent similar spending patters. Marquis said that the new school superintendent had co-operated completely with investigators in attempting to piece together the financial situation.

Some board members complained about Seeley’s actions. Former School Board member Dave Samuelson resigned from the board in 2005, protesting the lack of financial oversight of the superintendent.

In a letter of resignation dated January 17, 2005, Dave Samuelson wrote to Karl Meier, Oly Schockelt, Carrie Thompson, and Teri Greenwood:

Dear Board Members,

It is with deep regret that I submit this letter of resignation from the Jewell School Board. Understand that I believe in this community, the importance of the school board process and most of all doing what is best for the kids in our district. I believe I have demonstrated my commitment to these values throughout my many terms of service on the school board, 4-H and other activities that benefit our kids.

It has become clear to me that there is little or no regard for the School Board process. An example of this is last week a letter was sent to Robinson Construction by Mr. Seeley, after meeting with a community volunteer and announced the recommendation to fire Milstead & Associates as project managers. This was done without any notification of board members, or me as Board Chairman. I was made aware of this by Jerry Milstead, who received it from Robinson Construction. This placed me in a very awkward position, and I believe possibly the district at risk in a number of ways.

I believe I have much to contribute to this school project and the school board, but it is apparent that this view is not shared by others. Further, I will not Be any part of placing this district at risk for lawsuits, etc. Given there is resistance to seeking legal council as I recommended at the last school board meeting, I am very concerned. This district retained legal council to insure that millions of dollars are spent wisely. Understand that I do not walk away from commitments, and that this was a difficult decision to make. Please remember that you are here to do what is best for kids.

Respectfully submitted, Dave Samuelson.

Carolyn Eady was appointed to fill out Samuelson’s term. The following year, January 2006, Ann Samuelson was elected to begin her first term on the board. By October of 2006 John Seeley’s interim as superintendent/principal was at an end, much to the chagrin of many ardent followers.

In a letter to the editor of a local paper dated February 23, 2007, Oly Schockelt, Lynne Cavin, Karen Flynn, Loren Thompson, Marty Flynn, Ginger Kaczenski, Joe Kaczenski, and Margaret Bondurant expressed their conviction that no misappropriation of funds had occurred. They stated, “Through his [Seeley’s] hard work, the district was saved many thousands of dollars.” This was in regards to the reimbursements totaling $143,378.98 made to Seeley based on credit card receipts for three Guaranteed Success trips made in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

Although recently angered that board members have refused to share what has transpired in executive sessions with the community, in the same letter referenced above the group takes Mike Tiedeman to task for allegedly breaking executive session confidentiality, “I am offended that he has seen fit to publicly discuss issues that were addressed in executive session, and also by the statements he has made in regard to the district’s financial and record-keeping practices,” the group wrote.

Carolyn Eady, in a letter dated February 9, 2007, staunchly defended the school districts’ payment to the Seeleys eldest daughter’s college education. “I know for a fact that many other students have benefited from the special scholarship fund established for students who worked many hours on helping when the rental house was being constructed, not just the Seeleys’ daughter,” Eady wrote. An ESD auditor noted that two “first installments” of $1,000 had been made to the daughter’s college tuition, with a total of $4,263 being paid to OSU for tuition with the Seeley daughter banking $6,816 total through the the “house construction student scholarship” fund, which was administered by her father. Eady went on to write, “These are honest people; I would trust my personal finances with them. I find it ludicrous to imply that they would cut corners or do something illegal for personal gain.”

According to the press release in a news story published in January 2007 Daily Astorian reporter Kara Hansen said that, “In the past two years, school board discussions of the [Guaranteed Success] program have often resulted in 3-2 votes. [Then] board member [Oly] Schockelt values the trips and has voted in favor; so have Carrie Thompson and Teri Greenwood. Board vice chairwoman Ann Samuelson often voted against the trips, stressing ‘financial responsibility,’ especially when program coordinators pitched a European vacation. Chairman Karl Meier did the same.”

The Jewell School District receives a very large per capita amount of timber revenue monies disbursed under a formula developed by the State of Oregon. The result is that the Jewell School District has an enormous amount of money to spend and, until recently, virtually no guidelines or safeguards.

Seeley is currently on probation for a charge of Criminal Mistreatment in the First Degree involving his adopted daughter. If he completes the probation the charge will be dismissed. Those charges are unrelated to the financial allegations.

Marquis explained that his office can only file charges when sufficient evidence exists to support a conviction, “the level of proof does not exist with regard to allegations of financial misconduct by Mr. Seeley, even if it showed a lack of proper controls and safeguards. Those controls now appear to be in place.” Constituents in the Jewell School District will vote on May 20th as to whether or not they believe those controls are enough to keep spending in check. Ironically, the very board members (now former) who voted to support Seeley’s spending habits are now heading a recall effort against the two board members, Samuelson and Meyers, who voted against many of Seeley’s pet projects, often in a 3-2 vote.

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