CLARKSBURG, W. Va. — A former member of the CENTRA Board of Directors has responded to a section of an audit conducted on the bus service which claims he misused public resources.
“I’m going to tell you what I know and then I’m going to tell you what I think,” Harrison County Commissioner –and former board member– Bernie Fazzini said before the end of Thursday’s meeting.
The audit, released last week, implied that in Fiscal Year 2013-2014, a former member of the board “potentially utilized
the Authority’s Special Event Trolley to transport guests for a personal special event without payment for the
service.”
On Monday, the current board went over all 13 findings the State Auditor’s Office reported on and identified this event as the wedding of Fazzini’s daughter in which the trolley transported guests roughly 6 miles. The current board knew of this incident because an employee who has worked for both regimes –and before– brought forth the information before she was interviewed by the auditors.
According to her, she was instructed to first, double book the trolley to service two weddings and then later was told to not bill Fazzini.
He does agree that he was never billed, but said he tried to remedy the situation.
“After the wedding was over, a month or two later, I saw [John Aman, former general manager] at a board meeting and I said ‘John, I never got a bill.'”
Then, according to Fazzini, the two walked into the office, directly to the same employee who testified.
“I was there when John told her to bill me $40,” he said. “As a matter of fact, his words were ‘Give him the employee discount. Just bill him $40,’ which was cheaper than the normal amount.”
According to the current CENTRA Board on Monday, the normal rate for the trolley at the time was $50.
Fazzini said he was still not billed and that if Aman told the employee anything different after the fact, he was not aware.
As for what he thinks, he said Thursday that the employee may be covering her own mistake.
“There’s something wrong, because the Romano bill [for the other wedding], as far as [The Exponent Telegram] reported, was not paid,” Fazzini said. “I don’t think she billed anybody.”
He also implied that the employee’s family member was receiving unauthorized compensation under a previous general manager while the employee was watching the books.
In hopes of putting the matter to rest, Fazzini planed on delivering compensation for the service that day.
“If they want more than that, all they got to do is send me a bill,” he said. “I don’t know, but I was quoted $40 and never did receive a bill.”
A call to the CENTRA office confirmed that Fazzini dropped off a $40 check on Thursday.
The audit was requested by the current CENTRA Board after the former leadership was replaced as a response to public outcry over decision made concerning Aman’s position while he served a prison sentence for federal bank fraud.
The current CENTRA Board has meeting scheduled with a representative from the State Auditor’s Office to go over other findings in the audit later in April.