Saturday, September 01, 2012 12:08 AM
Dem. Women freeze account
President concerned she wasn't told about theft; 2 groups share treasurer
By Janet Conner-Knox | Times Staff Writer
The president of The Democratic Women of Wilson County was surprised to learn money had been stolen from the Wilson County Democratic Party and contends she should have been told, particularly since the two groups share the same treasurer.
“I was upset,” said Brenda Avery. “As president of The Democratic Women, I hold a seat on the executive board of the Democratic Party and didn’t have any idea of this.”
Asa Gregory, chairman of Wilson County Democratic party, said earlier this week he tried to work out the situation.
“The officers of the party are handling the situation, and that’s our business,” Gregory said. “For those who are members of the county executive committee, we were trying to resolve this. We didn’t necessarily expect this to be in the paper before we had a meeting. But we will have a meeting to address this with them.”
Avery said she received an e-mail after the news story was published in The Wilson Times on Wednesday inviting her to a meeting on Sept. 19.
“I expect this will be talked about at that meeting,” Avery said. “Policy needs to be put in place for the future.”
Avery isn’t blaming Barbara Dantonio, former treasurer for Wilson County Democrats, but is concerned that she never got a call from Gregory, the chairman.
Dantonio’s house was broken into and checks for the Democratic Party were stolen four months ago, Gregory and Stantonsburg police said. Eleven checks were cashed at BB&T in Stantonsburg, wiping out their account.
Stantonsburg police served warrants on Daniel R. Wilson, 53, for forgery and uttering, larceny and misdemeanor breaking and entering.
Gregory said the accused man, Wilson, had once lived in the house with Dantonio but was put out of the house and no longer had access.
“Barbara has resigned from the party (as treasurer) and she has not been convicted of anything, and I’m not blaming her for anything, but the fact that she was responsible for Democratic Women’s money caused me to be very cautious,” Avery said. “I got on the phone and I called the Board of Elections for the state of North Carolina. I also called the chair of the state Democratic women to tell them what had happened here and please guide me.”
Avery said she wanted to do what was best for the organization and did not want to keep what had occurred from those who work with them.
“The best thing is to come out and let everyone know what is going on so there are no secrets,” Avery said.
Avery was told by Amy Strange of the state board of elections and Sarah Anderson, president of the state Democratic Women, to freeze the accounts immediately until they could completely assess the situation.
“The reason I took issue with this is because it’s four months later, and we should have known,” Avery said. “I called other members of the executive committee for the Democratic Party, and they didn’t know anything about it either, until it hits the paper.”
When Avery first organized Wilson’s Democrat Women, she talked to a person from the state elections board and said she was told they didn’t care how the bank account was set up, but as the president, the buck stopped with her.
“So when I hear my treasurer is having a problem, or I read my treasurer is having a problem, my first responsibility is to lock that account down until we can clear it up and communicate with others in my organization,” Avery said.
Avery checked with their bank, which is Wells Fargo, and there is no missing money, she indicated.
Avery said when she talked to Gregory about what she had read, she thought his response wasn’t acceptable.
“He told me that he didn’t have to tell me anything,” Avery said. “I said why did you tell your mother? His mother is my first vice president. And he said because it’s my mother. I said why did you tell my secretary for the women? He said that’s my mother’s friend.”
Avery said she reminded Gregory that she sits on his executive committee and those two she mentioned don’t sit on the executive committee.
Avery said she isn’t talking about Dantonio resigning, but she will have a meeting and put policies in place about issues such as this one. She is taking her guidance from Anderson of the state women’s group, she said.
“We’ve got to be proactive in this regard, not reactive,” Avery said. “We have got to be transparent in what we do.”
Avery said she took note at a local Democratic convention when a person brought up not getting information as they should.
“We were at a Democratic Convention, and I heard Yolanda Davis say to (A.B.) Swindell, ‘I don’t know anything going on in this town. We need to know across the tracks what is going on, too,’” Avery recalled. “So, I thought to myself, this is a great way to do it. If I’m the Democratic representative for women, I’ve got a seat at the table. I’ll know exactly what is going on and I can share it with those women who say they don’t get the information. That was my intent – to bring us together. Obviously, that is not happening.”
There will be elections this March for Democratic Women, so it’s important to set things up for transparency now for the others to carry the organization forward, she said.
Gregory said Wilson has agreed to pay restitution for what was stolen, and has paid back around $400 of the approximate $1,400 that was stolen out of the bank account. Gregory added on Thursday that BB&T has agreed to put more than $900 back in the Democratic Party’s account. He had previously indicated that negotiations had been unsuccessful.
Wilson has an extensive conviction record dating back to 1986.
Courtesy > The Wilson Times / Staff Writer Janet Conner-Knox
