Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse has appointed an interim city treasurer, following the announcement of criminal charges Tuesday against city Treasurer John Campbell for theft from a charitable program unaffiliated with city government.
Paul Wambach, a former city treasurer who served for 20 years before retiring in 2012, will assume Campbell’s position on a volunteer basis, the mayor said Tuesday afternoon at a press conference in city hall.
“As chief executive officer of the city of Harrisburg, I have a responsibility to ensure that the city is being managed properly, all accounts are in order, and that city treasury continues to function in the midst of this dilemma,” Papenfuse said.
Papenfuse also announced Tuesday that he had asked the city’s independent auditors, Maher Duessel, to apply extra scrutiny when reviewing the treasurer office’s operations. Expanding the audit would only incur additional costs if an irregularity were discovered, the mayor said, necessitating a forensic investigation.
The Dauphin County district attorney’s office said Tuesday it did not believe Campbell had stolen any money from the city.
The criminal complaint against Campbell, filed Tuesday morning, alleges that Campbell, 26, stole more than $8,000 out of an account related to a fundraising program to replace city streetlights.
Campbell allegedly stole the money while serving as executive director of the Historic Harrisburg Association, a preservation nonprofit headquartered in Midtown. The funds came from the account associated with a program called Lighten Up Harrisburg, which has raised money to fund citywide lighting initiatives, including the restoration of decorative lights on the Walnut Street Bridge.
Most recently, Lighten Up helped sponsor a 5K “Glow Run” in June, in which runners adorned with glow-in-the-dark necklaces, bracelets and paint ran along Riverfront Park to raise money for replacing downed light poles along Front Street.
In July, the city announced that $22,000 raised from that effort would help fund the replacement of 15 light poles. On Tuesday, Papenfuse announced that the city had completed the work but had not yet been reimbursed by HHA, which discovered funds were missing when it went to reconcile the account holding the donated funds.
Following that discovery, HHA board members requested “monthly bank statements and canceled checks” related to the Lighten Up Harrisburg account, according to the criminal complaint. The board subsequently discovered that Campbell had written himself 10 checks from the account between last December and July, totaling at least $8,481, the complaint says.
The complaint also claims Campbell wrote an email to HHA earlier this month, in which he acknowledged taking the money and spending it on “personal medical and college educational expenses.”
Papenfuse said Tuesday that he fully expects Campbell to resign. If that happens, council will have 30 days to appoint a replacement. The mayor said he had spoken with Council President Wanda Williams before Tuesday’s announcement, who had agreed with his interim appointment of Wambach and would have additional comments about the replacement process during council’s legislative session Tuesday evening.
During Tuesday’s press conference, Wambach made a brief statement about his interim role. “I love this place,” he said of the city. “This place has to know that they’re protected. This place will know that they’re protected.”
Wambach added that he had learned about the forthcoming charges against Campbell last Friday, when the mayor called him to relay what he described as the “shocking” news.
The city treasurer position is part-time and pays $20,000 per year, and does not collect health care or pension benefits. Campbell has held the post since January 2012.
On Tuesday afternoon, HHA posted a statement on its website from its board of directors. “We were shocked to discover the irregularities and are saddened by the alleged actions of our former executive director as outlined today by the District Attorney,” the statement says. “We will seek full restitution of the missing funds.”
