BY ISHKA BIBBLE
“It does not require many words to speak the truth.” —Chief Joseph
“Show me the money, Jerry!”, shouted Rod Tidwell, played by Cuba Gooding, Jr., in the film Jerry Maguire, to illustrate to the sports agent that talk is cheap and the proof is in the putting, as in… where is the now all totaled $100,000 that the departing Ford Motor Company Engine Plant “gifted” to the village of Romeo for improvement to its municipal park?
The location of these funds has been debated since the original amount of $70,000 was transferred not to the village of Romeo, but to a non-profit organization, sometime in May of 2021.
According to Romeo Village President Christine Malzhan, as revealed to the board of trustees during their May 17, 2021 meeting, she stated, “I engaged in a series of meetings with them. At that very first meeting, I asked them for a couple of things. To be mindful of what the village of Romeo would look like when they left and if they would also entertain an opportunity to leave on the best foot forward, which would be a possible donation to give back to our community park.”
So… let’s go back in time a bit, shall we? To summarize, at a secret and unannounced meeting, sometime and somewhere, with some representatives from Ford Motor Company and one (or more) elected representative(s) from the village of Romeo, there was a direct request from the village president that, to make the residents of Romeo feel better about losing millions of corporate tax dollars benefitting the village, it would be best to just fork over some cash to put forth a project to freshen up the village park at some time in the future. Sound about right?
And… at that same May 17, 2021 meeting, the village president revealed that she and Ruth Heidebreicht of The Mitt.TV are collaborating on the project. According to Malzahn, she needed to get in touch with a 501(c)(3) corporation to secure the funds, and she chose TheMitt.TV to help handle the project, due to be implemented in the spring of 2022.
Funny thing, the 501(c)(3) filing by The Mitt.TV mentions nothing about land development as part of the organization’s statement of purpose. But, I digress.
At the June 21, 2021 board of trustees meeting, Trustee Justin Parker expressed fiduciary concerns about the accounting of a $70,000 gift from Ford.
Malzahn said The Mitt.TV had a charitable arm and Ford needed the money deposited it to a designated non-profit organization. Ah-ha! It’s in the “charitable arm” of The Mitt.TV organization! Well, that makes perfect sense, now!
Explanations change yet again. At the village board of trustees meeting on July 19, 2021, when again questioned on the whereabouts of the $70,000 by Parker, Malzahn explained that the funds had been deposited into an escrow account for the time being, and Ford needed the money to be deposited to a designated 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Ok, now the money is in an escrow account somewhere! Is that escrow account part of TheMitt.TV’s charitable arm? At what financial institution do these funds reside? The likely answer could be: “Um, we’ll circle back to you on that one, ok?”
Interesting note: According to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), The Friends of the Village of Romeo Parks, Inc. was incorporated as a non-profit entity on July 23, 2021 and is headquartered at a home owned by Heidebreicht in Lake Orion.
Now, it is said that time heals all wounds and some folks would hope that, combined with some very short memories, all would be forgotten about the questions surrounding the park funds.
However, the stalwart village treasurer was not going to let these questions go unanswered for long.
At the Feb. 22, 2022 meeting of the village board of trustees, it was revealed that Romeo Village Treasurer Sherri Maddox submitted an email to the Ford Fund requesting information on the funds issued to the Friends of the Village of Romeo Park, Inc.
According to Malzhan, Ford Fund Government Relations Assistant Manager Stephanie Fries responded by stating that Friends of the Village of Romeo Parks, Inc. is responsible for record keeping of the funds, not Ford.
“I think each one of us in our elected office has a fiduciary responsibility for the betterment of this community and when you have an entity that’s willing to give you $100,000 to do that, we better step up and say thank you and work collaboratively together to make sure they understand our gratitude,” Malzahn said at the meeting.
$100,000.00? Up to this point, it was $70,000! Huh?
Malzahn said she was out of town when she learned of the donation.
“When Ford notified me that they were actually going to commit funding for this, I had less than 24 hours to find a 501(c)(3) who could create an invoice to receive the money,” she said.
Malzahn said she then contacted Ruth Heidebreicht of The Mitt.TV.
So, now the story is that Ford said: “ya got 24 hours to take the money, or else!” What? And, the only 501(c)(3) organization around that comes to Christine Malzahn’s mind to generate an invoice was none other than… you guessed it… The Mitt.TV! Does it seem plausible that the Ford Motor Company would issue a $70,000 check to an organization that has no actual obligation to spend that money as a charitable donation for municipal property improvements? Kinda weird, right?
No obligation to spend the money on the park? Yep. That’s right! Trustee Meagan Poznanski spoke to Fries on Feb. 9 and asked if the money was not used for the park, would it have to be returned, such as with other grants?
“She (Fries) said, ‘No, there’s no takesy-backsy’, a fun word she used. I asked if there was a limit as to the time frame this money could be used,” exclaimed Poznanski. “She said no, it was up to our discretion. She did say it was given to a temporary fiduciary (the Friends of the Village of Romeo Parks).”
What? (Again!) It was reported that the original check from Ford for $70,000.00 was issued to The Mitt.TV. Does this mean another check was issued by Ford?
Apparently, yes. At the most recent Board of Trustees meeting on Sept. 19, the question of the whereabouts of the Ford donations to The Mitt.TV and now the Friends of the Village of Romeo Parks was raised.
Charging to defend this undocumented charade was Romeo Village Trustee Bob Hart, who, reading from a piece of paper(?), declared that, “There’s $146,978 in an account, of which Ford had given about $100,000.” About? Not exactly? What the heck?
Hart claimed the remainder of the fund contained $50,000 in deposits by the president of the Friends of the Village of Romeo Parks, Inc., Ruth Heidebreicht, and $3,000 was spent on design plans (really? got any receipts?).
Of this reported amount, Hart also stated that a deduction of $2 per month was drawn from the account for bank service fees. If the funds were deposited in say, Tri-County Bank, that institution typically charges a $2 per month service fee for mailing of monthly statements.
Therefore, according to Hart’s claim, if the funds are on deposit at a financial institution that charges a $2 per month service fee, there should be 11 monthly account statements somewhere! Where are they???
And, as mentioned above, The Friends of the Village of Romeo Parks, Inc. was incorporated as a non-profit entity on July 23, 2021.
Assuming a bank account was opened in July, 2021 so the money sitting in The Mitt.TV’s “charitable arm escrow account” could be transferred to the newly formed 501(c)(3) The Friends of the Village of Romeo Parks, Inc., that means that there should be not 11 account statements, but 13 account statements for these funds parked under The Friends of the Village of Romeo Parks, Inc. from somewhere nearby, right? (July 2021 – August 2022). Another inconsistency in the story? Surprise!
Over the course of this bureaucratic debacle, it appears that a lot of folks have been “straining to do some explaining” regarding these funds. How to resolve this, you ask?
Well, someone representing The Friends of the Village of Romeo Parks could:
a) produce the 11 or more bank statements for the board of trustees to review (easy, peasy!)
b) transfer $100,000.00 received from Ford Motor Co. to the village (Ford stated that the money was given to a temporary fiduciary, yes?)
c) declare the whole effort a giant pain in the ass and give everyone their money back (that is, unless it’s not there to give…)
We don’t care how it’s done… just show us the money!
P.S. Our grand experiment in self-government by The People is a contact sport in which you are obligated to participate! Your vote counts! Let your voices be heard this Nov. 8!
