The Salisbury-Rowan Community Service Council board had questions about Willette Johnson’s use of an agency credit card and cell phone before she tendered her resignation as executive director.

Minutes show that on March 15 Chairman Deedee Wright appointed a committee to look into the matter and consult the board’s attorney.

Johnson told the Post Friday that she has clarified expenses billed to the agency and mailed her response to Wright and all other board members.

Johnson stressed that she has never misappropriated any funds belonging to the agency and denied any implication of wrongdoing that may have been drawn from questions put to her by the board.

“Ms. Johnson regrets that the public has been misinformed and hopes that this response will clear any faint shadow that may have been cast on her reputation,” a statement from Johnson and attorney Nancy Gaines said Friday.

“She invites the board to arrange for a full audit of the agency’s books if they are not satisfied, as she has nothing to hide.”

Johnson emphasized that she left the agency voluntarily. Wright and Salisbury Mayor Pro Tem Paul Woodson, a member of the Community Service Council’s board of directors, backed up that statement Friday.

“To my knowledge she resigned on her own,” Woodson said, adding he was leery about commenting on rumors without more facts. “The board did not ask her to resign.”

Johnson dated her resignation letter March 9, and board members received it March 17. In the letter, she said she had been presented “with a wonderful and exciting opportunity.” The resignation becomes effective April 16.

Wright said Friday the matter was a personnel issue she would rather not comment on, but she noted that she has a fiduciary duty as chairman to carry out the mission and mandates of federal and state governments, which provide funding for the Community Service Council.

The Community Service Council is Rowan County’s largest nonprofit agency, with an annual budget close to $9 million. Among other programs, it operates Head Start and Early Head Start in five counties and administers Welfare to Work and job training initiatives.

In a March 15 memo obtained by the Post, Wright described questions she had about a voucher for a rental car that was charged to the agency’s credit card. The voucher was for someone who did not work for the agency, she informed the board.

Wright added in the memo that she questioned Johnson about the voucher, “and she explained what had happened and offered to reimburse the agency.”

“That was as she should have done,” Wright wrote, “but that alone is not the issue. In my mind, this speaks to judgment and how the credit card was being used.”

Wright also had questions about the January and February cell phone bills. She wrote that she reviewed the bills and asked for an explanation of how the telephones were being used and who had cell phones.

According to the memo, the January bill was $652; the February bill, more than $1,200. The executive director “explained that on the $1,200 bill for February, $607 of that bill was hers, and she was going through the bill to pull out all the personal calls and pay for those calls,” Wright wrote.

“Again,” Wright continued, “this is abuse. ... I should not (have) had to tell her to pay for the calls. It was her responsibility to act in a responsible manner.”

Wright asked for the board’s direction on how to handle these two situations. She said options included doing nothing, a written warning, a suspension or firing.

“These are the calls we have to make as fiduciary officers of this august body,” Wright concluded.

According to minutes from the March 15 executive session, an agency check and voucher were written to George Butler Jr. for rental of a car.

“It was explained that George was going to Washington, D.C., and she (Johnson) used the agency’s credit card,” the minutes said. “Ms. Johnson told Ms. Wright that she would repay the agency $132.”

The minutes state that two board members suggested that “a strong letter of warning” be sent to Johnson.

Minutes also say Wright had asked for car rental vouchers back to June 2000. The minutes do not refer to the use of cell phones. But board member Ezra Gilliam questioned checks issued to two board members for trips they never made, according to the minutes.

Wright appointed a five-person committee to look into the personnel questions. At the board’s direction, she followed up with a March 23 letter to Johnson asking for justification on car rentals by Marcus Houston on two different dates last summer and George Butler last November.

In her response, Johnson said Houston is her nephew. He drove for her on two occasions, she said, because of her sight disability, which restricts her driving on occasions when one of her eyes becomes infected.

“I do not allow my condition to hinder me from fulfilling my responsibilities,” Johnson said in her response to the board.

As for Butler, Johnson said in a Feb. 8 memo that he needed to rent a car to transport his ailing father to Washington, D.C. Johnson said she signed for Butler with the understanding that he would purchase additional insurance and “cash out the amount ($200),” so no charge would be made to the agency.

“Upon review of the bill, insurance was purchased, cash was remitted in the amount of $200; however, there was an additional charge of $134.70,” Johnson wrote, adding she would see that the agency was credited with that amount.

Woodson said Friday it was his understanding that Johnson reimbursed the council.

Johnson said she had previously provided Wright with documentation related to cell phone use and Wright’s request that she supply canceled checks or receipts from the business office showing that she had reimbursed the agency for personal calls.

Johnson also noted some confusion with Alltel, whose bill was not reflecting the regional plan minutes the agency had requested.

Further, in the March 23 letter to Johnson, Wright said the council’s ledger showed a check made out to former board chair Aaron Johnson, but he reported that he had never taken a trip or received a check from the council. Wright asked for an explanation.

Johnson responded that the former chairman had indicated a desire to attend the SECCAA training conference scheduled in August but did not attend.

“The check had already been printed and voided in the system,” Johnson said.

In their statement Friday, Johnson and her attorney said expenses in question did not exceed $1,000 and that Johnson’ s written response appropriately documented the costs.

“Some of these expenses had been billed in error by the provider and had subsequently been removed from the bills in question,” the statement said. “Others were expense checks cut to pay for travel that did not occur, and these checks were subsequently voided.

“... Much of this documentation was provided to Ms. Wright in response to other letters prior to her memorandum to the board on March 15.”

The statement said no questions had previously surfaced about Johnson’s 22-month tenure at the Community Service Council.

“She has been instrumental in returning some of the programs supervised to a sound financial footing,” the statement said.

Johnson said she was not aware of Wright’s March 15 memo to the board or the appointment of a committee to look into the expenses.

Wright has publicly — and in the private sessions with the board — praised Johnson, while asking the board’s direction on the questions about the car rentals and cell phone use.

On Friday, Wright said she has led openly “with truth and understanding,” and she expressed disappointment that a board member might go outside the board with his or her concerns.

“It really is a sad commentary to use the media to flush out whatever this person thinks is happening,” Wright said.