The $17,500 that officials determined to be missing in lunch fees collected at the Council on Aging over several years has been recovered.
Kathleen Bowler, executive director of the Holyoke Council on Aging, responding to the firing of an employee after $17,500 was found missing, declined to discuss the issue of oversight in detail beyond saying Council on Aging and School Department officials are installing controls to avoid repeat of such a problem.HOLYOKE – The department head responsible for overseeing the employee fired from the Council on Aging after $17,500 was determined to be missing said she realizes criticism will come regarding oversight of the situation.
“We addressed the issue when it came to light,” said Kathleen A. Bowler, executive director of the Council on Aging, on Tuesday.
The funds were recovered by claiming money from the employee’s retirement account, City Solicitor Lisa A. Ball said on Monday.
Ball declined to identify the employee, but said he had been fired when officials became aware of the problem early last month.
No arrests have been made in the case and the investigation, which involved the Police Department and city treasurer’s office, is finished, officials said.
The funds came from lunch fees of $1.75 per person collected over several years, officials said.
The case involved meals provided at the War Memorial, 310 Appleton St., where the Council on Aging is located, through the School Department lunch program. Such meals are provided for a fee at various off-school sites.
Bowler declined to discuss the issue of oversight in detail beyond saying Council on Aging and School Department officials are installing controls to avoid repeat of such a problem.
One change will be to have the lunch-fee money deposited in a city bank account weekly instead of monthly, the previous method, she said.
Thirty to 50 lunches are sold per day at the Council on Aging, she said.
The School Committee discussed the matter in closed-door session on Monday. The committee plans another executive session on the matter Monday at 5:30 p.m. at Dean Technical High School, 1045 Main St.
Meanwhile, mayoral candidate Alex B. Morse criticized Mayor Elaine A. Pluta, chairwoman of the School Committee, because he said she had handled the matter with secrecy. The community wants answers about the taxpayer funds, he said in an e-mail.
“As Mayor, I pledge to always be transparent, honest, and accountable to the citizens of Holyoke, and I will do absolutely everything in my power to ensure that taxpayer dollars never go to waste,” Morse said.
Pluta said the city solicitor advised her not to comment because it is a personnel matter.