By Colby Johnson
Published: Jun. 18, 2024 at 7:13 PM EDT|Updated: 9 hours ago
BROADWAY, Va. (WHSV) - Virginia State Police confirmed Tuesday that it is investigating the Town of Broadway’s financial situation. This comes after months of rumors about missing funds and multiple changes in town management.
Broadway Town Council member Leslie Fulk resigned from the council last week.
Fulk said after six terms on the Broadway Town Council, he feels defeated and frustrated over the ongoing lack of clarity regarding the town’s financial situation. He thanked the citizens who have continued to support him, but said it was time for him to step away.
“I am unclear about our current financial situation and there is no one available to make it clear to me. We don’t have a town manager currently, we don’t have an assistant town manager currently, we’ve got no administrative level in the office at all,” Fulk said. “I’m frustrated that 90 days into it, I am still not clear on what the financial situation was or even is.”
Fulk said that around the end of February, it was brought to the attention of the town council that Broadway did not have enough money to pay its bills. This came after an independent audit in December showed no financial irregularities.
“We went from having 8% reserves, which is 8% of about a 7-and-a-half million dollar budget — it should’ve been about $600,000 we’d have had in reserves — to we’re short $200,000 to pay the bills. So what happened in two months? We’re broke,” Fulk said.
In an interview with WHSV in late May, council member Chad Comer said there were never any missing funds and that the rumors were false.
At a June council meeting, former Deputy Town Manager Cari Orebaugh said the $800,000 rumored to have been missing had been used to pay for various projects and bills over the last five years. The exact details surrounding the town’s finances remain unclear.
“If I were the people of Broadway I would not give up on this until transparency was achieved. They have a right to know what these financial troubles were, what they were, and why they happened,” Fulk said.
Longtime Broadway Town Manager Kyle O’Brien issued a press release on Monday sharing his side of the story.
O’Brien stated he went on medical leave for a few weeks in the middle of February, and when he returned, he learned he was being placed on administrative leave. He said he was not given a reason why until weeks later. He eventually determined he was placed on leave because of a “financial issue.”
O’Brien, who was Broadway’s Town manager for 24 years, said it took 18 days for him to get a meeting with the town’s mayor and a member of the town council. He eventually reached a severance agreement with the town, which will compensate him through November 30.
O’Brien said that in the agreement, the town asked he remain a consultant at its request for his lifetime at $150 an hour, to which he agreed. Only O’Brien can sever that agreement; the town cannot.
In the statement, O’Brien also pointed to his spotless track record in his 24 years with the town. He noted that in his time as town manager, there was never a dollar of public funds unaccounted for and that the town underwent an independent audit each year — all of which were positive and showed no deficiencies.
He also said the town has always been managed on a relatively low margin of cash and has always maintained reserve accounts and been in compliance with state and federal regulations.
O’Brien noted that in recent months, Broadway lost two of the longest-tenured local government managers in Virginia in himself and longtime Bridgewater Town Manager Bob Holton, who resigned after two months as Broadway’s interim town manager. Deputy Town Manager Cari Orebaugh also resigned earlier in June.
The town announced the hiring of Stephanie McAlister as its next town manager in late May. She will take over the position on July 1.
O’Brien said the release sent out Monday would be his final official statement on the matter unless the town continues to bring his name into the discussion, at which point he will continue to defend his name with further facts.
WHSV did reach out to Broadway Mayor Dave Jordan for comment on the situation on Tuesday but did not hear back as of the time this story was published.
Many questions remain about the situation in Broadway. Virginia State Police confirmed it is investigating the town’s finances but couldn’t comment any further as the investigation is ongoing.
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