HADCO/HMDA File Transfer Thorny Issue
By Art Harvath
In September, 2002 the Huntington Municipal Development Authority and the Huntington Area Development Council parted ways. HADCO managed and marketed projects for the HMDA. After the contract between them expired, the transfer of files from HADCO’s office to the HMDA became a thorny issue.The HMDA hired Becky Boright as its executive director after the break up and moved her office from HADCO’s

facilities to a downtown office that was under HMDA control. Boright resigned as executive director in August, 2003 for other employment.
Documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act reveal problems between the two organizations concerning Boright’s move and the transfer of files. HADCO president Jerry McDonald outlined his position in a September 17, 2002 memo to Boright.
He said that HADCO needed to account for the financial expenditures and income of projects managed by them for the HMDA and they also needed to provide an assessment of the records and files that would be transferred to the HMDA.
“In order to complete the transfer smoothly the following needs to occur,” wrote McDonald.

1. HADCO will not wait until September 30th to begin this assessment. We will begin it immediately.
2. On September 16, 2002, I informed Donny Davis at the Huntington Industrial Center that he was no longer an employee of HADCO effective at the close of business September 30, 2002.
3. We will need to review the invoices and expenses that need to be paid prior to September 30th. These would include normal expenses for the HIC and debt service transfers.
4. No files for Kinetic Park or HIC should leave the office until HADCO’s assessment is complete. If you need, in the normal course of your work, to take a file from the office please let me (or Sharon Shaw) know so that we can have a record of it.
5. Since I will be out of the office from September 20th to September 30th and in the interest of a smooth transition, I am asking that you vacate your office by the close of business on September 19th, 2002. Please return your office keys and parking decal to Donna. It is quite probable that we will have a prospect occupy this office beginning next week while their building is being constructed.
6. As soon as the assessment is complete the files with the file cabinets (as you requested) will be available for transfer to your new location.
7. Barring unforeseen circumstances, I estimate that the assessment will be completed by October 7th, 2002 and the accounts and files will be ready for transfer. Again, if you need any record in the meantime please let me know.

Vickie Shaffer, who was then chairwoman of the HMDA, replied to McDonald the same day. In her memo she told McDonald that “I deeply regret that you have made these decisions without consulting with the HMDA. There are several items with which we do not agree.” She addressed McDonald’s memo item by item.

Item 1: An assessment can begin immediately if it is to include Ms. Boright as the representative of HMDA.

Item 2: HMDA would have appreciated the courtesy of consultation on the discharge date for Mr. Davis in order that he would have no misunderstanding about his employment status at the HIC.

Item 3: We agree that a review of invoices and expenses must occur prior to September 30. That review will include Ms. Boright. No invoices will be paid from HMDA resources without the specific approval of Ms. Borght. I am sure that you will agree that an audit of the HIC and Kinetic grant and loan expenditures would also be appropriate. An audit can be scheduled now or after the change in offices and files.

Item 4: Ms. Boright does not leave the office until the files for Kinetic Park and HIC leave the office. HMDA will make arrangements for the files to be removed at the end of the month. Thereafter, you and your staff may have access to the files if it is needed in the course of your work.

Item 5: It is not going to be practicable for Ms. Boright to abandon her office within 24 hours. As noted earlier, Ms. Boright does not leave the office without HMDA’s HIC and Kinetic Park files.

Items 6 & 7: Ms. Boright leaves when the files leave.

The HMDA meets Monday, November 16 at City Hall. The Authority will elect new officers for the upcoming year. There is division among the Authority members as to the role HADCO should play in HMDA projects. The meeting begins at 4 p.m. and is televised over Public Access channel 24.