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Arts Funding Scandal in PWC
By Greg L | 16 October 2009 | Prince William County | 23 Comments
Sometimes an open thread offers a fascinating opportunity for folks who know about what’s really going on in county government to tear away the veil of secrecy that hides all sorts of nefarious doings. This weeks’s open thread offers a particularly enlightening episode, where two commentors start digging into the diversion of taxpayer funds from Prince William County to Annandale. This definitely should go to the top of the list of potential abuses to be investigated by the county’s independent auditor.
“Reality Check” starts off with a little breadcrumb:
Prince William County funds are being siphoned off to support an arts center in Annandale. It’s time to audit all the forced charities county taxpayers are obligated to support and stop the rampant misuse of taxpayer dollars diverted to other localities!
For those who were wondering what this referred to, an appropriately-names commentor “Howard Roark” fills in a lot of the missing pieces, complete with references:
Reality Check is absolutely right. Mark Wolfe and his Manassas Ballet funneled over $34,000 to an Annandale organization (see last page of the tax filing here). This Annandale group is incorporated at the home address of Chris Hite and his wife, who is Wolfe’s music director and close friend (see linked State Corporation Commission filing here).
Moreover, Wolfe and his group misled and manipulated Prince William County’s arts grants process this year and received nearly $55,000 of taxpayer dollars. The group is headed by Kathy Bentz, who is a close associate of Mark Holcomb, one of the new board members of Hite’s organization. All are linked to Wolfe, and Bentz and Holcomb have received sacks full of money from the County to produce videos and such (doing business with the County and still put in charge of distributing hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars through the arts grants panel).
Wolfe gets $55,000 with a lot of it going to his pal in Annandale while we’re shutting down vital services and laying off County employees during a fiscal crisis?
Finally, Wolfe uses most of the taxpayer money he receives to subsidize the dance school he and his wife run. Look at page 8 of his most recent tax filing. His ballet performances brought in $99,870. These performances are what taxpayer dollars are supposed to help finance. However, he and his wife made $144,663 from their dance school, which competes with private dance schools in the area that pay their own way and pay their taxes. We do not need a taxpayer-funded “public option” dance school.
PW County and Manassas taxpayers should be outraged. All of the arts organizations need to be audited. Bentz’ grants process that is so riddled with corruption and conflicts of interests should be disbanded immediately. Wolfe and Hite should either return the taxpayer money they have received or join Bernie Madoff and all of the other fraudsters in jail.
I imagine everyone’s business who had to compete with this taxpayer-funded entity will be pretty outraged to hear about this. Perhaps not as enraged as the taxpayers in general who had their money used (abused?) in this fashion, since the “generosity” they lavished on the Manassas Ballet Company was provided under threat of civil and criminal action and bears no real resemblance to charity at all. Many families out there are struggling, and their tax burdens don’t help. Having a portion of that tax burden misused like this is deeply disturbing.
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23 Comments
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Greg
Please be careful to fully fact check before you post. The Manassas Ballet has been physically located for years in the Mathis Ave. shopping center. Both Mark and Amy have given thier time and energy to the city and the county for years. Personally, I am not a huge fan of the arts, but the Wolfes have promoted the arts in our schools and community for years.
I coached youth baseball with Mark several seasons, and I consider him and his wife friends. I do not believe either Mark or Amy would intentionally deceive anyone. If the organization provided the music for the ballet (it is a symphony), what is wrong with them being paid.
A greater discussion to me would be the funding being provided at all in these economic times. The BOCS still seems to find funding for pet projects and charities. Many are worthy, but many are frivolous.
Austin,
Don’t forget the City also put money up for the “arts” center that is not needed. It makes no sense to provide money to a facility that will not bring a dime of revenue into the City.
I remember the public hearing, and of course all of the supporters of the arts center complained about having to drive to DC to see the arts, and how somehow Manassas just was not a City without such a Center, etc.
Yet, somehow Manassas has survived many years without a center. Furthermore, the prospect of the City seeing any return on the investment is pretty slim, when you consider people would have a place to eat and shop at the arts center rather then to stop off in the City first before heading into the County. But, common sense, it seems, took a back seat to elite snobbery.
With the fiscal problems facing both county and individuals it’s time to zero out funds to all programs except education and organizations that provide for the safety of the population. If there is any left over that, refund the remaining to the tax payers. It is well past the time that we should be funding the kennel kept denizens.
Ron,
I happen to agree with you. The ballet and symphony, while nice, are not necessary. These people are running a business and getting paid to do so. Let them figure out how to make their business work without taxpayers help.
Also if Mark is getting funds from the government and he and Bass are both board members of the dance school and I’m not sure if Parrish is still on that board, isn’t that a conflict of interest, seeing as how all of them are on city council? A government body that decides how to spend our tax money? Did any of them disclose that they were on the “ballet” board when an allocation was made to councilman Wolfes business?
Now in all fairness Bass may not have been on city council when funds were given out to Wolfe.
Austin, I hope nothing nefarious is going on, but just because someone is a friend doesn’t mean that they can’t do anything wrong or inappropriate.
It would be sad if something was going on that shouldn’t be. But I think an audit should be done if only to show everyone that everything is above board.
I agree with Ron, This is a disaster.
All that money into one project. We can’t even give our Teachers a decent pay raise or salary.
The teachers are suppose to work miracles with the kids, but the parents forget they need to help them at home. The Teachers can’t do it all.
Then we have other Services that go with a cost of living and or pay raise and we expect them to be the top notch preformers.
Lets do away with all tax money going for these un-necessary undertakings, audit every penny that goes out and audit all the committees. We are spending way above our means and it needs to stop.
Please note, the accusation is that PWC gave funds to the ballet, not Manassas City! Mark is a City Councilman! Monies were granted before he ever ran for office. Any new funding was just a continuation of an existing funded program.
As for COF’s comment and several others, I agree. I do not think in these economic times, we should be funding new arts projects. The city got rid of it Recreation and Parks Department and has scaled back many of the amenities that made the city popular to live in. There is the chance of more layoffs in the upcoming budget, so why are we funding these programs?
As to the county, where do you begin? The economic realities facing the Supervisors this year are tough. I don’t know how they will be able to balance thier budget without another round of cuts.
The local governing bodies, now more than ever have to extremely careful to justify how they spend our tax dollars. If there is the NEED to fund a program, fine, just be ready and willing to explain why!
Austin Haynes
Please note, I use my real name. I am always happy to have a meaningful conversation with anyone on our local issues. I appreciate the above comments as they were presented in such a fashion. If you feel that you wish to talk to me direct, Greg has my cell phone number and he has my permission to give it out.
I agree essentially with what “Howard” wrote but this scandal goes back much farther than Wolfe getting the $55,000 of taxpayer money this year. Keep in mind that $55k is just what he got from Prince William County. He received a bundle of money from Manassas taxpayers also.
Go to http://nccsdataweb.urban.org/PubApps/showVals.php?ft=bmf&ein=541964442 as you read this so you can see Chris Hite’s tax filings (form 990) for yourself. Wolfe and Hite seem to have no hesitation to lie to the citizens and elected officials of PWC and Manassas but I think they are scared of the IRS, and assume we’re not smart enough to look at those filings.
Hite was the executive director (a salaried position) of the Prince William Symphony Orchestra (PWSO) at least in years 1999 and 2000. During that time he used PWSO funds (taxpayer supported) to register a competing orchestra at his home address in Annandale with himself as president and his wife as secretary/treasurer. At that time they called the organization “Little River Symphony.” During this time also, Mark Holcomb was president of the PWSO board.
By no later than 2004 Hite and his Annandale group became Wolfe’s ballet orchestra, even though Wolfe continued to say publicly that he used the PWSO. See the tax filings at the above link for documentation of this. Also, the PWSO “musicians committee” controlled by people associated with Hite’s group, including Hite’s wife, had a nice thing going where they hired each other without even holding competitive auditions for slots. Hite and Wolfe essentially controlled both Manassas Ballet and the PWSO.
In 2007 the PWSO board hired a new executive director, Dr. David Montgomery, who tried to clean up this mess, including using a truly competitive audition process to improve the quality of the performances. The response from Hite and his people was swift and vengeful as they concocted a public smear campaign against Montgomery in late 2007. This move included a phony mass resignation of musicians from the PWSO. In fact, only eleven people who had actually signed on to play with the PWSO that year refused to honor their contracts, and they were all associated with Hite’s Little River Symphony. The remaining “resignations” were friends of Hite and the Little River Symphony who had no contracts or agreements with the PWSO.
During that smear campaign, Wolfe announced that he would no longer use the PWSO (he wasn’t using them anyway). Hite announced the creation of a new symphony that he called the “Dominion Symphony Orchestra,” which was where all of the musicians who left the PWSO would go. In fact, all he did was in early 2008 change the name on the corporate registration from “Little River Symphony” to “Dominion Symphony Orchestra.” See the letter from the Virginia Corporation Commission in Hite’s 2007 990 at the link above.
Mark Holcomb, the president of the PWSO at the time Hite created the Little River Symphony (aka Dominion Symphony Orchestra) in 1999 and 2000, recently became a member of Hite’s board. He is a very close associate of Kathy Bentz, the arts liaison who controls the PWC arts grants panel. They decide how to spend County arts funds, including Wolfe’s $55k. Bentz has had Holcomb on that panel since it was created three years ago.
Wolfe continues to lie publicly about his relationship with Hite’s Little River Symphony/Dominion Symphony Orchestra. He advertises even today ( http://www.manassasdance.org/09-10_Season.html ) that the “Manassas Ballet Theater Orchestra” plays at his performances. Hite’s 990s (tax filings linked above) prove otherwise. There is no such organization. Let Wolfe produce a corporate registration or tax filing in the name, “Manassas Ballet Theater Orchestra.” I’m not holding by breath waiting for that. Wolfe understands the PR problems associated with sending local tax dollars elsewhere (especially to his friends who live elsewhere) and has created this veil to attempt to conceal what he and Hite do.
These shenanigans by Wolfe, Hite, Bentz and Holcomb are going to destroy the arts community in Manassas and Prince William County. Their activities need to be shut down immediately. In fact, I think the City of Manassas and Prince William County should be in court Monday morning seeking an order to freeze all of the Manassas Ballet’s assets until a complete audit and investigation can be done.
BVBL discusses the arts…..
Who says Conservatives dislike the arts?
I consider myself a conservative and I love the arts. My family has contributed generously to arts organizations. I favor public support (not complete financing) of the arts. That includes PWC and Manassas organizations that serve both communities receiving some funds from both jurisdictions.
I’ve spent a lot of time researching this situation because I want the arts to survive in our community for our benefit and for the benefit of our children without the influence of self-dealing and conflicts of interest corrupting the process. If problems such as we are suffering from now persist, the arts will vanish in our community and our kids will have nothing but the rubbish on television and other mass media. That’s not what I want.
folks need to show up at citizen time and write some letters to the paper and attend some board member meetings and contact supervisors and council members in person and email and the media about this if you want to get the word out about this as not everyone takes these kind of blog posts seriously.
Contact Chairman Stewart and Mayor Parrish and ask that the money for the George Mason Arts Center in Manassas be rescinded or at least put on hold for a few years so county and city employees can get cost of living increases, which they have not gotten for the last 2 years! As has been said here previously, both the county and city had to lay folks off last year and will likely do so again this year while we the taxpayers fund this overblown arts center to benefit rich elites - this thing costs millions folks! Can anyone find out what the county and city contribute to this nonsense on a yearly basis? Please post it here and let the sun shine on this.
I know Mark reads this blog, and it’s been twenty four hours since this was posted, and he’s not had a thing to say about it. Hmmmm.
I remember the vote for the financing of the performing arts center at George Mason University. Many people were very angry at Jackson Miller for being the sole member on the council trying to keep the Manassas City tax payer for funding a “want” rather than a “need” on a project that wasn’t even in the City of Manassas.
Miller caused fits on the council about that vote. He put up a valiant effort putting other members of the council on the defensive, especially Parrish and Hayes. As I remember they were the biggest two proponents of the project on the council at the time. I also remember mayor Waldron seemed to agree with Miller by the way he spoke, but he didnt have at vote (he only broke tie votes).
Hopefully, Chairman Stewart and Mayor Parrish will deal with the misuse of public funds now so this doesn’t happen again. Wolfe may be ignoring the scandal now hoping it will go away and people will forget. He can rest assured that there are people who will ensure that when 2012 rolls around or if he runs for anything else, people will be reiminded.
I understand that some or many are against public funding for the arts. That issue aside, I’m unclear about what the alleged scandal is. Is this just about not liking how he is conducting his business or is there an alleged misrepresentation to the city council or an alleged unlawful allocation of funds? In other words, it’s unclear to me whether the above discussion is merely a matter of not liking how he is conducting himself as opposed to the more serious suggestion that he is doing something unlawful. If it’s the former rather than the latter, then those lobbing pretty big stones here should clarify their remarks to indicate they are not suggesting unlawful conduct.
Question - I’m not a lawyer, am not competent to allege legal violations on the part of anyone, and have not done so. Violations of the law may have occurred but that’s for others with more legal knowledge than me to decide. However, many things are legal but not ethical. As a supporter of the arts and taxpayer I’m outraged at the backroom wheeling and dealing, the conflicts of interest in the grants process (whether illegal or not), the diversion of funds out of Manassas and Prince William County (whether illegal or not), the favoritism given certain individuals and groups belonging to the Manassas Ballet inner circle (whether illegal or not) and the harm this behavior is causing to the arts community in Manassas and Prince William County.
We deserve better.
Still no word from Mark. Very telling.
Conservatives are nearly the sole provider of funds to the arts, even when you take into account the fed/state grants since 90% of those funds come from big bad greedy conservative businesses. It’s not that we don’t like the arts, we just have a little problem with corruption and law skirting/breaking. Back to my Wagner.
President Erkel lied, the economy died!
Well, it doesn’t seem like MW lied or misled anyone about anything. Everything appears plainly laid out in readily obtainable public documents. Form 990s are easy to find as demonstated here. I don’t even see an obvious conflict of interest. I don’t claim to know all the facts but based on what has been said I don’t even see “skirting” the law.
And what is it that Mark is supposed to explain? The facts are already in the public 990s. It seems that there is some very unfair “baiting” going on, with the clear suggestion that he is guilty becase he hasn’t explained himself. For shame! Given the way he has been attacked here, anyone so attacked would be a fool to say anthing.
My conclusion, until I hear more, is that this is a witch hunt to get Mark by people who don’t like him.
Words like “funneled money” suggest improper conduct, while “paid” money does not. Cute choice of words.
Conservative 2 said:
All that money into one project. We can’t even give our Teachers a decent pay raise or salary.
The teachers are suppose to work miracles with the kids, but the parents forget they need to help them at home. The Teachers can’t do it all.
- - -
You don’t need to worry about the PWC educators, thanks to Obama and the federal stimulus. The PWC educators received an additional 25M dollars for this school year 2009-2010. That was enough to stop any layoffs of PWC educators (YES, there were the normal “de-staffs” resulting from changing school populations and changing BOE priorities). But, and this is important, all educators received a COLA, i.e. raise of approximately 3%, thanks to the eagle dropping stimulus dollars on PWC educators (union link?). OH, there is an additional 25M dollars of federal stimulus appropriated for the next school year too! Nice of the feds to make this contribution to our educators. But, who is going to pay that higher salary baseline, when the federal money dries up?
Mick Lasouris writes:
Following “Just the Facts”, “Howard Roark” and “Reality Check” has made me curious enough to dig a bit on my own. On the PWC Arts Council website I was appalled to find the name “Dominion Symphony” listed among our own arts groups! Isn’t this the Fairfax County orchestra headed by Councilman Mark Wolfe’s pal Chris Hite? If so, why are they allowed to advertise on a PWC website? It’s clear that Wolfe diverts PWC funds to this Annadale orchestra, but do they now intend to go after PWC funds directly? Do our County Board of Supervisors have any control in this matter whatsoever, or is it all up to the “Arts Liaison” Kathy Bentz and friends to decide how things will go around here? Presumably she oversees and approves the website?
Tell you what: Let’s just shut the whole thing down and start over. We clearly need music and the arts, both for our children and for ourselves, but we don’t need these shenanigans. I’d go without, rather than remain on constant watch over our County luminaries.