Sound like College Station just needs to give up on the Arts

5,343 Views | 23 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by mgreen
91_Aggie
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https://www.theeagle.com/news/local/former-arts-council-ceo-sylvia-mcmullen-arrested-on-credit-card/article_6f3259ba-7116-11e9-a670-67600c94265b.html
Oogway
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No, there are shady people in all areas of life. It sounds like their accountability measures caught the discrepancy. There are criminal behaviors in sports, but we haven't given up on that sector either, so let's just keep on expanding our horizons and enhancing our community.
doubledog
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I would give McMullen the benefit of the doubt. It is a simple mistake for you or a vendor to "mix-up" personal and business credit cards. She immediately informed the council and re-paid the amount due. I personally do not see any harm done to the arts council or the taxpayers.

Lone Stranger
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Given the Romei fiasco that will live for a long time in the minds of this community the Arts Council had better be dotting their i's and crossing their t's.
nought
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doubledog said:

I would give McMullen the benefit of the doubt. It is a simple mistake for you or a vendor to "mix-up" personal and business credit cards. She immediately informed the council and re-paid the amount due. I personally do not see any harm done to the arts council or the taxpayers.



I agree 100% with giving McMullen the benefit of the doubt.

However, there is harm done to the taxpayers, and that is the sum of money the CoCS gives each year to the Arts Council. The quality of life would not change at all in this town if that taxpayer money weren't wasted. The city should stick to essential services, and then they wouldn't need to go try to lobby the state legislature to try to make sure they can keep jacking up property tax rates at will.
isitjustme
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doubledog said:

I would give McMullen the benefit of the doubt. It is a simple mistake for you or a vendor to "mix-up" personal and business credit cards. She immediately informed the council and re-paid the amount due. I personally do not see any harm done to the arts council or the taxpayers.


I'm ok with innocent until proven guilty.

But the DA isn't going to seek an indictment unless they really think a law is broken. Plus, DAs don't like to lose so they must think they have a really good case here. If it were only the 2 single, reimbursed uses mentioned by McMullen totaling less than $700, then I doubt a state felony indictment would have been sought in the first place.
techno-ag
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agrab86 said:

doubledog said:

I would give McMullen the benefit of the doubt. It is a simple mistake for you or a vendor to "mix-up" personal and business credit cards. She immediately informed the council and re-paid the amount due. I personally do not see any harm done to the arts council or the taxpayers.


I'm ok with innocent until proven guilty.

But the DA isn't going to seek an indictment unless they really think a law is broken. Plus, DAs don't like to lose so they must think they have a really good case here. If it were only the 2 single, reimbursed uses mentioned by McMullen totaling less than $700, then I doubt a state felony indictment would have been sought in the first place.
I give her the benefit of the doubt too. I bet if there was no history with Arts Council corruption she would not have been indicted. Hopefully she gets a good lawyer like Gaines West and puts this behind her.
aviationag
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Isn't he the Council's attorney?

In my business this sort of thing happens- the cardholder simply pays it. This whole situation mystifies me. The legal costs will far outweigh the infraction for the Arts Council if the facts are as presented by her account.
techno-ag
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Dunno. Just seems odd they'll indict her for an easily correctable mistake but won't touch a TABC agent who gave demonstrably false testimony at a trial.
cslifer
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We should always assume innocence until proven guilty. That being said we don't have all the facts. The indictment includes "with intent to defraud". That means we must assume the DA presented some facts showing that to the grand jury. So far as paying it back goes, of course she did, but that doesn't really mean much. Quite often when folks get caught with their hand in the cookie jar they will pay it back thinking it will all go away.
It could be a simple mistake or outright theft, that is why we have a justice system to sort it out.
Mathguy64
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techno-ag said:

I give her the benefit of the doubt too. I bet if there was no history with Arts Council corruption she would not have been indicted. Hopefully she gets a good lawyer like Gaines West and puts this behind her.
Yeh, I'm pretty sure she will need to look elsewhere for representation. Gaines West was hired by the Arts Council to protect their interest.
techno-ag
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mathguy86 said:

techno-ag said:

I give her the benefit of the doubt too. I bet if there was no history with Arts Council corruption she would not have been indicted. Hopefully she gets a good lawyer like Gaines West and puts this behind her.
Yeh, I'm pretty sure she will need to look elsewhere for representation. Gaines West was hired by the Arts Council to protect their interest.
Very cool. When it comes to issues like this, he's the first to spring to mind.
Buy a man eat fish, he day, teach fish man, to a lifetime.

- Joe Biden

I think that, to be very honest with you, I do believe that we should have rightly believed, but we certainly believe that certain issues are just settled.

- Kamala Harris
Goose83
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As with what many others here have said, something about this seems very odd, especially considering what details have been made public.

As for a defense attorney, I would have had Shane Phelps on the phone before the ink had time to dry on the bond.
Prune Tracy
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doubledog
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Gangster Octopus said:

This article paints a different picture.
https://www.kbtx.com/content/news/Former-Arts-Council-CEO-arrested-for-credit-card-abuse-509605911.html

Quote:


The credit card abuse charges stem from a case involving McMullen while she was employed at the Arts Council. Representatives from the Arts Council said McMullen misused a credit card in December 2018.

McMullen told KBTX in January that she made a mistake in using the Arts Council's American Express card for personal purchases, but wrote a check for the full amount to reimburse the organization.

Representatives from the Arts Council painted a different picture of the situation in January. Those representatives say McMullen misused the card and that it was discovered after some internal checks and balances.


The DA must prove intent in this case. The charge was found about 1 billing cycle after the purchase. What if McMullen was still not aware of the charge to the business card at that date? We are not talking about months later that the charges were found. I agree with the previous poster, something is not right.

justalocal
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The part of the indictment that I could read on justice web says that the credit card was not issued to her and she did not have permission to use the card. She had only been employed for a couple of months.
aviationag
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She was the Director....I'm confused as to why a credit card would need to be issued to her. I've served on several boards in Washington DC. The person who runs the organization, runs the organization. The Board is there for Policy and Oversight - not day-to-day operations.

This continues to be more strange and seems as though the Board is attempting to show 'good governance' in light of past offenses. But it comes across as something that could have and should have been handled internally.
Goose83
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Sounds like someone has an axe to grind.

As above, this seems to be something that should have been handled internally, especially if restitution had already been made. All very strange.
91_Aggie
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Goose61 said:

Sounds like someone has an axe to grind.

As above, this seems to be something that should have been handled internally, especially if restitution had already been made. All very strange.
When you are receiving tax money from the city, you can't just "handle it internally".

Malfeasance needs to be reported. If they handled it internally and said "oh, she paid us back its all good", and then it got out later that there was something more, then you'd have a bigger scandal.

Stupe
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Yep. Private companies can handle fiscal issues "internally", not government entities or tax payer funded entities.
techno-ag
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Goose61 said:

Sounds like someone has an axe to grind.

As above, this seems to be something that should have been handled internally, especially if restitution had already been made. All very strange.
Agreed. Maybe the Arts Council shouldn't have credit cards to begin with if they're out there using city money.

It sounds like an honest mistake and I think a good lawyer will get it squared away. It's just sad that a good and upstanding member of the community with absolutely no history of prior malfeasance commits an obvious mistake and now has to go through the court system, hire a lawyer and have her name dragged through the mud.

And if she is convicted of accidentally charging $700 or so for a personal purchase so what? Will she serve time in Huntsville with real criminals? Meanwhile TABC agents make misleading statements on the stand and nothing happens.
cslifer
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A lot of people called P. David Romei an "upstanding member of the community"...something to think about.
And lets slow down on the hyperbole, nobody is going to spend time in TDCJ for this, probation or a very short time in county at the absolute worst.
techno-ag
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cslifer said:

A lot of people called P. David Romei an "upstanding member of the community"...something to think about.
And lets slow down on the hyperbole, nobody is going to spend time in TDCJ for this, probation or a very short time in county at the absolute worst.
Agreed in part. As I stated and thanks for agreeing, were it not for past history she would not be indicted. You are correct in that part.

Where you have erred is the hyperbole part. I think you missed my point. My point is this is not a crime worthy of time inside the slammer. She will serve probation and pay court costs at most. There are much more egregious things happening in our community that the DA seems to be ignoring. I would much prefer to see efforts go in those directions than prosecution of this minor mistake.
Tookieclothespin
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The worst crime is that awful 50k "statue" at the roundabout in DTBryan. It relates to absolutely nothing in the immediate space.

Also, I dislike most modern art so I am biased.
mgreen
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nought said:

doubledog said:

I would give McMullen the benefit of the doubt. It is a simple mistake for you or a vendor to "mix-up" personal and business credit cards. She immediately informed the council and re-paid the amount due. I personally do not see any harm done to the arts council or the taxpayers.



I agree 100% with giving McMullen the benefit of the doubt.

However, there is harm done to the taxpayers, and that is the sum of money the CoCS gives each year to the Arts Council. The quality of life would not change at all in this town if that taxpayer money weren't wasted. The city should stick to essential services, and then they wouldn't need to go try to lobby the state legislature to try to make sure they can keep jacking up property tax rates at will.
You do realize the Arts Council distributes most of their funds to community arts groups correct? Dozens of groups could not operate without their help so yes, I think your life would be different.
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