Airway Heights Takes Control Of Community Center Seven-Year Director Escorted From Her Office In/Around: Airway Heights

The director of the community center in Airway Heights said she was only trying to help people but got the bum’s rush instead.

Director Carol Craft was escorted from her office last Friday after the city took control of the community center.

Airway Heights Mayor Brian Grady and Police Chief Jim Nettles served her with a seizure order on Thursday and helped her carry personal items to her car.

Craft showed up again Friday to take care of some unfinished business, she said, and was told to leave.

The city took control of the community center after the independent community center board voted last Wednesday to dissolve the organization because of financial problems.

“I feel humiliated,” Craft said. “I worked my butt off there. I think it’s inexcusable.”

Craft spent the past seven years overseeing community programs for the center, including a food bank, senior meals, early childhood education, recreation classes and other activities.

Last year, the center came under scrutiny for financial problems and its close association with former Mayor Don Harmon.

Harmon, who lost his seat to Grady in November, had been a prime mover in developing the community center and a leader of its non-profit board.

Harmon even had his name on the center’s new building, known as the Harmon Community Center.

Outgoing City Administrator Mike Patterson said Harmon’s name will be removed from the building.

The city owned the building and had leased it to the community center.

Harmon’s political fortunes got caught up in the controversy and may have been one of the reasons voters turned him from office.

“The issue isn’t my name on the building. It’s the services to the community,” Harmon said.

“The building wasn’t built for government. It was built for the services.”

Craft acknowledged she did not do a good job taking care of the accounting at the center.

Last year, Spokane County cut off the center’s grant money because Craft couldn’t prove how the money was being spent.

She said it was all spent legitimately. She just didn’t keep sufficient records.

That was only one of the problems.

The Internal Revenue Service placed a $19,000 assessment against the center last year because Craft failed to make quarterly payments for income and Social Security taxes for more than two years. Her salary was $24,000 a year.

Craft said she thought she could work as a contracted employee and pay her taxes at the end of the year to save money for the center. But that arrangement apparently was not allowed by the IRS, officials said.

Grady said the city of Airway Heights will pay the community center organization for its remaining physical assets. He said the IRS will accept that amount in exchange for dropping its assessment against the center.

“It’s running a lot smoother in one day,” Grady said after taking control of the center last week.

He said the city had no other choice than to take possession of the building and its operations.

The city will continue to offer the same community programs that have been available at the center, he said.

He said he feared some of the center’s assets could be lost after the city takeover. He said he ordered the locks changed last week to protect public property.

He said he plans to order an inventory of assets this week.

Grady reportedly met Tuesday with service providers at the community center to assure them their operations would continue.

“If we didn’t take it over, the IRS would have locked the door,” Grady said.

, DataTimes