Key West The Newspaper

Gentlemen:

I must confess that I am more than a bit confused.

1. You have told the public that Richard Fechter, a forensic auditor and lawyer, will be investigating the missing funds at the HOB daycare center. Yet, according to newspaper reports, you have not signed a contract with Mr. Fechter and, in that regard, have yet to determine the cost and parameters of his investigation.

Phrased differently, you have not told Mr. Fechter exactly what you would like done and when you would expect a report from him. Add to that the fact that the School District is effectively closed until January 4, 2016. The next Board meeting is January 12, 2016, at which time you will possibly approve a contract with Mr. Fechter.

That being the case, it looks to me like nothing is going to happen before the middle of January.

2. With regard to the investigation being conducted by the local state attorney’s office into the missing HOB daycare funds, Mr. Fechter, a lawyer and former senior assistant state attorney general, has expressed the opinion that the state attorney will have “difficulty proving a case.” Assuming that Fechter is correct, the public should not expect much of anything from the state attorney’s office, no indictments and no trials. As former Governor Lawton Chiles liked to say: “That dog won’t hunt.”

If I understand him correctly, Fechter perceives the situation as purely a civil matter–and he has not even started to investigate! Apparently, the situation is that transparent to him.

Larry Murray