they dont care about multifest, they only care about themselves. if they wanted to give multifest a chance they would all just disappear. they were there when it all went down. leave them on the board? that is a joke, right?

The Rev. Matthew Watts, a local pastor and community organizer on Charleston's West Side, thinks the public's trust in the West Virginia Multicultural Festival has been irreparably damaged because of the embezzlement case.

"I really do commend the Multifest committee on what they have done over the past 20-plus years," Watts said. "The social interaction, recreation and entertainment opportunities they have brought to the greater Kanawha Valley is nothing short of amazing.

"But having said that, it appears Multifest has not been properly managed," he added. "The public's trust in the board's leadership ability has come into question, and I do not see how it can be restored."

http://www.dailymail.com/News/201301240239

Watts only gets involved when he wants to control something.

burner wrote:

Watts only gets involved when he wants to control something.

That might be true. I dont know him but I just read the article. He has a point that is lost of the current board members. How can they possibly even consider staying on the board after this? Amazing. They are displaying the same mentality that let the thieves steal from the organization.

Guys Mr Starks nor any of the board did a thing wrong. It was the WHITE CHICK who stole all the loot.

Fact of the matter is wrote:

Guys Mr Starks nor any of the board did a thing wrong. It was the WHITE CHICK who stole all the loot.

We know that the "white chick" took the fall, but a board is responsible for oversight. These people just let it happen.

And regarding "MR Starks" - HILARIOUS that folks believe he was clueless about where an extra $300,000 just happened to find its way into the family budget. Hardy har har.

Mr Starks is an honest and upstanding man and a pillar of the community. His wife was responsible for the missing money and from all accounts gambled it away, which had nothing to do with Mr Starks nor the board. She obviously had a gambling addiction and hopefully can overcome it with therapy and family support. The money did not MAKE IT'S WAY INTO THE FAMILY BUDGET as you so elegantly put it. One person is to balme and only one.

I hope and pray she gets probation and home confinement and gets the needed treatment one needs for her disease which is gambling. She is a fine lady who just made a mistake due to her illness.

Back off wrote:

Mr Starks is an honest and upstanding man and a pillar of the community. His wife was responsible for the missing money and from all accounts gambled it away, which had nothing to do with Mr Starks nor the board. She obviously had a gambling addiction and hopefully can overcome it with therapy and family support. The money did not MAKE IT'S WAY INTO THE FAMILY BUDGET as you so elegantly put it. One person is to balme and only one.
I hope and pray she gets probation and home confinement and gets the needed treatment one needs for her disease which is gambling. She is a fine lady who just made a mistake due to her illness.

With "pillars" like Mr. Starks better stand outside because that roof is shaky.

Anyway, this was about keeping on a board who supposedly had oversight responsibilities. Do you really think they magically became endowed with responsibility overnight? Again - hardy har har.

Just wondering which family member or current board member you are, "Back off". And you most certainly are one or the other, given how intimately "in the the know" you are about the supposed excuse. All criminals please insanity, illness, etc. to avoid justice.

Gambling is an illness and should be treated as such. Mr and Mrs Starks are fine people and are well respected among their peers. Mrs Starks illness is what caused her actions and I am sure she is very remorseful for what transpired. However" punishing the Board and others is not in the best interest of the multifest and all involved. If you'll research matters you will see that new security mesures have already been put into place to deter future mishaps such as this.

So, no one" on the board or anyone involved with Multifest should resign.

The board charged with providing oversight provided none - and that is the best of scenarios. Think about it.

I am aware that gambling is an illness. A person who would steal that much money from a community organization would likely do ANYTHING for some cash to support their habit. Wink, wink.

Anyway, good luck to you or to your family member that is on the current board. If I were betting on this (don't want to get started on that bad habit, now do I?- lol), I would get rich off this one.

Now i'm not saying this happened and i'm not saying it didn't, but as a long time bank employee of one of Charlestons largets financial institutions I have seen some crap you would not believe.

One of those little nuggets is where an individual steals ( some say embezzled, but that's just fancy talk for a thief ) anyway, as I was saying, an individual steals a large sum of cash and claims to have gambled it all away, or in some cases snorts it up their nose, and all the while....

It's buried somewhere all along in some mason jars far off in wonderland. Do a week or two in a holding cell then grab the cash and do whatever it is thieves do.

Some say stealing 300,00 to a half million and doing six months is worth it, even if you have to pay half of it back at 150.00 a month

I'm just saying I have known people to claim they have a disease and all along they were as healthy as a horse.

IN case some of you newbies among us don't know any better thieves have been known to lie on occasions.

Wink wink!

Think on that for a while!

Again i'm just saying

And one more thing before I head out

If the board were on top of it then there should be an EXACT and I mean EXACT amount of money that that THIEF stole. Not around $300,000, but the EXACT amount. This whole ordeal stinks like you would not believe. What I wouldn't do to give those books a good going over.

Assuming there are some books to even go over.

In my humble opinion each and every single person needs to be out of there and every one of them should be investigated. Family and all.

Again as I said earlier

Just saying!

Wink! wink!

I bet they still have the money. It is easy to say oh I gambled it away.

If they think she is really going to do time I bet some money comes up from somewhere to make a big payment. If they let her stay home with a ankle bracelet then yeah I think there will be some tiny little payments.

the board wasnt on top of anything but now they want to protect their little game. the board needs to goooooooooooooo.

Dear Agree

Screw the board and their entire family I say the whole friggen shindig needs to shutdown!

The Charleston Sternwheel regatta had it's day in the sun and it finally ran it's course, now the Multifest needs to do the same. I know I personally will NEVER spend another dime or support those thieving ass crooks (crooks plural) ever again. Yes in my humble opinion there is more than one crook here. Again my opinion!

Everytime you buy a rack of ribs or a funnel cake you have to wonder where your money is really going. As a long time tax payer I say SHUT THE MOTHER F" ER" DOWN!!!

The whole thing just needs to go. Period!

But first the proper officials need to do as a famous man named (Deepthroat) once said...

Follow the money!

P.S.

In my humble opinion that white chick aint smart enough to pull something like this off. Now maybe a team of thieves yes, but that sillyass white chick...NAH!

Again that is just an opinion no facts to back it up..

Wink! wink!

How much do Mason jars cost anyway?

Just sayin

mason jars are free if you convince somebody to give them to you 'for a good cause' lmao.

get rid of all those thieving demons

the white chick did it! leave the board alone. they didnt know what was going on!

What did they think was going to happen. Some people just can't help themselves. Just born in them.

first the thief's husband wanted to keep control (naw - he didnt know what wifey was doing - lol) and now that corrupt board wants to keep their sticky fingers in the cookie jar while they pretend it is for the good of the organization. crooked.