Imagine a dysfunctional nonprofit agency, filled with corruption and negligence at every level.
That’s the picture of GroWest Inc. painted in five state Supreme Court lawsuits obtained Wednesday by the O-D.
Some of the most egregious allegations are made against John Denelsbeck, the agency’s former executive director. One complaint filed by GroWest claimed Denelsbeck orchestrated bid rigging and masked the nonprofit’s financial problems from the board of directors.
“Denelsbeck used inside program information, such as project cost estimates to manipulate the bidding process to ensure that preferred contractors got particular jobs,” the complaint states.
Those contractors then called for bogus emergency repairs and other project changes to raise costs, according to the complaint. In some cases, the contractors used construction materials obtained through GroWest funds for personal use, according to the court documents.
The four separate legal actions filed by GroWest against its former officials and contractors claim various monetary damages ranging from $439,003 to more than $7.4 million. A fifth complaint filed by the city against GroWest and its former leaders also claims damages of more than $7.4 million.
Attorney Mark Wolber, who is representing Denelsbeck, said the former executive director did nothing wrong. Wolber took issue with how the allegations were compiled and questioned why Denelsbeck never was interviewed during a city investigation into the nonprofit.
“I find it a bit difficult to understand how anyone attempting to investigate can get a fair picture of the situation without explanation from both sides,” Wolber said.
Read more of the OD's article here.
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