Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2A
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2017
BOC continued from 1A
Winder to participate
in Georgia Cities Week
Winder officials recent
ly announced the city
will be participating in
“Georgia Cities Week”
April 23-29.
The city will be hold
ing a variety of events
throughout the week in
conjunction with the
statewide celebration.
“We have some excit
ing things planned for
the week,” said city clerk
April Plank in a news
release. “Something
new we "re hosting is a
citizen tour of the city's
award-winning water
treatment plant.”
The tour of the city's
water treatment plant is
April 26. Space is lim
ited. Please contact the
city to reserve your spot.
This tour can last any
where between one and
two hours.
Other events scheduled
include: Earth Day Cele
bration on Monday. April
24 (free water conserva
tion kits and tree saplings
available to the public)
and Public Safety Day
on Thursday, April 27 at
Jug Tavern Park from 5-7
p.m.
Potential Friday, April
28 and Saturday, April
29 events are still being
planned.
More details about the
events will soon be avail
able on the city’s website
and Facebook page. For
more information or to
sign up for the WTP Tour,
contact Plank at 678-425-
6805 or april.plank@city-
ofwinder.com.
and a $2,475 budget
amendment for the Adult
Felony Drug Grant. The
budget amendments will
take these two grants
through June 30, 2017.
•approved releasing
$47,305 of the Carvana
Tree Bank funds. The
funds will be divided 50
percent to the Barrow
County Board of Edu
cation and 50 percent to
the county. Carvana con
structed a new distribution
operation on Highway 8
at Ed Hogan Road and
there wasn’t enough room
on the site to install all of
their required trees. The
county’s Unified Devel
opment Code (UDC)
provides for a tree bank
where funds can be set
aside for installation of
the required trees off site.
Carvana submitted the
funds to cover the pur
chases and installation
of the remainder of the
required trees. The BOE
will use its portion of the
funds - $23,652.50 - for
trees at the schools and
amphitheater.
•unanimously approved
trading in a 2007 Ford
Escape 4x4, that was
previously used by the
Department of Economic
& Community Develop
ment. Guy Herring, Eco
nomic and Community
Development Director,
said the trade in value was
$2,500.
•approved the utili
ty aid Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU)
with the Georgia Depart
ment of Transportation
(GDOT) for the re-loca
tion of a 12-inch sewer
line at the SR316/US29
at SR81 interchange. The
GDOT utility aid pack
age approves GDOT pay
ing 30 percent of the cost
and the county paying 70
percent. The relocation
costs has been estimated
at $576,000. The project
will be put out for bid in
May.
•met in closed session,
without chairman Pat
Graham, for approximate
ly 20 minutes to discuss
litigation. No action was
taken. Graham left the
meeting as the closed ses
sion started.
PUBLIC COMMENT
During the public com
ment portion of the meet
ing, which is to give a
person two minutes to
discuss agenda items
which are not scheduled
to have public hearings,
Pam Brewer went to the
podium to speak.
However, county attor
ney Angie Davis advised
Brewer that she would not
be allowed to speak since
the issue she wished to
discuss was not on the
agenda for Tuesday’s
meeting.
Brewer and her husband
have been before the BOC
in the past to discuss an
issue with people speed
ing on Cash Road. Davis
told Brewer that she could
set up a meeting with the
county manager to discuss
her issue.
As Brewer left the meet
ing Tuesday, she said,
“Channel 2 will definitely
hear about this."
Saunders continued from 1A
The three board members
— Maloof, chair Susan
Wages and treasurer San
dra Mingus — detailed a
pattern of deception Saun
ders engaged in by forging
their names on checks and
falsifying reports to leave
the impression the organi
zation was in good finan
cial shape.
“Not only have I been
emotionally victimized by
this crime, but to discover
someone I looked up to had
forged my signature over
200 times was extremely
upsetting,” Maloof said.
“To learn my friend and
mentor had betrayed me
was heartbreaking. To
know someone we trusted
with the funds of an orga
nization, which we put our
hearts and souls into, had
stolen those funds was dev
astating.
“While I pray for peace
for all those involved and
those who have been indi
rectly affected, I have not
been able to dispense with
my anger.”
On July 18, Maloof was
contacted by officials at
Community and Southern
Bank in Winder (now a
Bank of the Ozarks loca
tion) and asked to verify
her signature on a number
of Adult Literacy Barrow
checks.
Maloof said she had
not signed any checks “in
quite some time” and was
accompanied by Wages
and Mingus — the other
two organization officials
beside Maloof and Saun
ders who were authorized
to sign checks for the non
profit.
All of the checks con
tained Saunders’ signature
and a forged signature of
one of the three women.
They were either made pay
able to Saunders, cashed by
Saunders or made to a ven
dor. The checks made pay
able to vendors appeared to
be for legitimate purposes,
but still had forged signa
tures, Maloof said.
The women also dis
covered that Saunders
had depleted a checking
account at the bank, trans
ferred and cashed out the
organization's $15,000 cer
tificate of deposit (CD) at
the bank and stolen money
from its other accounts at
First American Bank &
Trust and Brand Bank in
Winder.
After discovering this,
the women notified the
Barrow County Sheriff's
Office and deputies con
fronted Saunders at his
office on Athens Street in
downtown Winder the next
morning. Saunders was
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arrested two days later and
held at the Barrow Coun
ty Detention Center before
being released on bond and
placed on house arrest.
He was simultaneously
fired as executive director
by the board. Sally Brown
took over as his replace
ment Dec. 1.
Forgery
Wages, a longtime edu
cator and former school
administrator in Barrow
County, said that typically
whenever Saunders need
ed a check or checks to
be signed, he would call
her from his office and she
would drive there to sign
them, usually once or twice
a month.
“I don’t remember sign
ing many checks through
the first half of 2016, and
when I became aware our
funds were basically gone,
I did not want to think Dr.
Saunders would have done
this.”
While reviewing the
forged checks, it was deter
mined that Saunders wrote
or cashed as many as four
in one day. Wages said.
When a school employ
ee turned over one of the
forged checks written to
her for a project, Wages
discovered that Saunders
signed his name with a
black pen and forged her
name in blue ink.
“It’s apparent he prac
ticed my signature because
it's very close to my
actual one,” Wages said.
“This level of manipula
tion shows true knowledge
of the crime he was com
mitting. This is a personal
attack and betrays the trust
I had in him.”
Wages also cited two
specific examples of Saun
ders’ theft, including taking
$11,000 of a $15,000 Jack-
son EMC grant for com
puters, materials and teach
er salaries as well as the
majority of the money from
a $20,000 grant intended to
supply children's books to
adult students so they could
learn to read and then read
those books to their chil
dren.
“His behavior appears
to be very calculated and
thought out,” Mingus said.
“This was not just a one
time bad judgment call, but
23 months of deception.”
Mingus said the organi
zation planned to use sev
eral thousand dollars stored
away in a rainy-day fund
for improvements when it
relocated to the new Wim
berly Community Center
on Martin Luther King Jr.
Drive in Winder last fall,
but the fund was depleted
by Saunders’ theft.
“It took 20 years to raise
that money; it took Dr.
Saunders less than a year
to spend it,” Mingus said.
‘A terrible addiction’
During his testimony,
Saunders apologized to the
organization, community
and his family and friends
for his actions and said
his crime stemmed from a
severe gambling addiction
that “has been going on for
three or four years.”
“This compulsion caught
me by surprise, especial
ly with the pride I’d felt
to be a public servant and
role model my entire life,”
Saunders said.
Before he began taking
money from Adult Literacy
Barrow, Saunders said he
went through family mem
bers’ bank accounts to sat
isfy the addiction.
“This addiction eventual
ly took me to a place where
I was ready to give up on
life and commit suicide, as
I did not want to be a bur
den on anyone anymore,
especially not my family,”
Saunders said.
After being confronted
by the deputies on July 19.
Saunders drove to a hotel
in Clayton and attempted
suicide by taking multiple
pills. When he changed
his mind, Saunders said he
decided to return home and
he was arrested on July 21.
“I firmly believe God
led me back to my fam
ily and to face the situ
ation I alone had placed
myself in,” Saunders said.
“The journey has been gut-
wrenching beyond words.
I know God has forgiven
me, but I wrestle daily with
forgiving myself for what I
have done.
“I know I am a good man
who has something further
to give back to my commu
nity that is good.”
Saunders asked for
Motes to consider alterna
tive sentencing where he
would avoid prison time.
“This crime, although
it involves a significant
amount of money, was not
a violent crime and restitu
tion will be paid,” Saunders
said. “Full restitution is my
desire.”
Three people — long
time Barrow resident Gwen
Hill, former school admin
istrator Rob Johnson and
Winder City Councilman
Ridley Parrish — testified
on Saunders’ behalf and
asked that Motes not sen
tence him to jail time.
Saunders’ probation offi
cer also testified that he
was compliant while being
on house arrest for seven
months and that she would
not have an issue with him
being sentenced to home
confinement if the court
chose to do so.
Hill said for decades
Saunders “made a big dif
ference in the education
al and moral climate of
Winder and Barrow Coun
ty,” recounting his start
ing of the local Boys &
Girls Club and his leader
ship roles at Winder First
United Methodist Church,
where he served on sev
eral committees including
finance.
Hill said that the day she
found out about Saunders'
arrest was “one of the most
unbelievable days in my
life.”
“Gambling is a terri
ble addiction; it’s a sick
ness,” Hill said. “He knew
what he was doing and he
couldn’t stop himself.”
She added that Saunders
could be more beneficial
for the community outside
of prison.
“I think we are short
changing our communi
ty,” she said. “We have so
many young people in real
trouble who aren’t getting
the help they need. What
a treasure it would be to
have him continue his life's
work of mentoring, to be
friend to someone when
everybody else has given
up on him.”
Wiggins argued that
Saunders, — who will turn
70 this year — is in poor
health, citing four different
ongoing medical issues and
that he was a nonviolent
offender who would wind
up costing taxpayers way
more money to have incar
cerated in the long run.
“There is no prison
we could put Ron in that
could cause him anymore
guilt or shame than what
he’s going through today,”
Wiggins said. “He would
still bear the same guilt
and shame in his home.
He would still wear that
scarlet letter, even more so
because if he were allowed
to go to church or a doc
tor’s office, he would have
to face the very people he
betrayed.
“Confine him, but let’s
take advantage of the fact
we can do that without
costing the state money,
that encompasses punish
ment and all of the deter
rent effects, that provides
restitution and a pathway to
redemption.”
‘Convenient excuse’
But in his remarks to the
judge, Qulliams said Saun
ders was using addiction as
“nothing more than a con
venient excuse” to avoid
personal responsibility for
his actions.
He added that home con
finement and ankle moni
toring for 10 years “is not
punishment.”
“That is getting to live
at home,” Quilliams said.
“That is getting to walk on
carpet and have a shower
to yourself. You can watch
movies and eat steaks, get
on the internet and pick up
a phone and talk to who
ever you want to whenever
you want to talk to them.
“...True sorrow requires
penance.”
Quilliams said that Saun
ders had amassed $13,000
in lottery winnings and had
an estimated annual house
hold income of just under
$200,000. On average, he
stole $172 a day from Adult
Literacy Barrow during the
23-month period.
“That lack of trust
destroys the morality com
munities must have to
engage in commerce,” Qul
liams said, adding that the
entire community had been
affected by the embezzle
ment scandal.
The organization, board
members, local business
es and institutions “are all
trapped in the debris of Dr.
Saunders’ criminal behav
ior.” he said.
Wide-ranging impact
Wages and Mingus
spoke at length about the
effect Saunders’ activities
have had on Adult Literacy
Barrow as a whole.
“We trusted him to han
dle the day-to-day finances
and operations and grow
the program, and that trust
was used against us and
the name and reputation
of Adult Literacy Barrow
has been tarnished,” Wages
said. “There are those who
will learn the truth and lend
us their support, but there
are others who will think
we can no longer be trust
ed.”
Mingus said that people
not in tune with the facts of
the case could forever link
her as treasurer of an orga
nization with an embezzle
ment scandal.
“We have lost confidence
from our community for
putting our trust in some
one who has proven to be
untrustworthy,” she said.
“A dark cloud has been
placed over my credibility
and that's not a burden I
deserve to bear.”
The impact of the scan
dal will be far-reaching
throughout Barrow County,
Mingus said.
“It affects everyone.” she
said. “We need Adult Lit
eracy Barrow to be suc
cessful. Educated adults
equates to educated chil
dren, which makes for
better results for every
one. This organization
has worked for 25 years
to serve this community
and in some ways we are
having to start over. It’s an
uphill challenge.”
Mingus also rejected the
idea that simply paying res
titution would be adequate
justice and said it would be
akin to him merely paying
a loan interest-free.
“Secretly paying back
money you took illegally
because you are of an eco
nomic class that allows you
to do so is not punishment,”
she said. “It just means you
are privileged and are able
to come up with the cash.”
While there was an
agreed upon hope in the
courtroom that those
affected by the scandal
would find peace and heal
ing, Wages indicated Fri
day that the fall of a once
beloved community pillar
will leave a lasting mark.
“No one is a winner in
this outcome because we
have all lost too much,”
she said. “There’s no cel
ebration, only sadness over
the events that led to this
outcome.”
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