Former African museum employee threatens lawsuit, Board members say “bring it”

A former employee of the Plano African-American Museum claims he discovered members of its board are misusing city money and treated him unfairly during his five-week tenure.

Matthew Stelly said he plans to file a civil lawsuit to recoup monies lost as well as charge retaliation, slander, defamation of character, discrimination based on gender and breach of contract.

He names board members T.J. Johnson, Dollie Thomas and Angela Johnson Fisher as the prime individuals that pushed him out the doors of the museum without allowing him to do the tasks he was hired to do.

“Ignorance is not an insult, it simply means that you do not know,” Stelly said. “The problem with the Plano Board of Directors is that they pretend they know and have duped funding sources and supporters into believing they know and, because they do not know, have done a grave disservice to taxpayers, funding sources and the image and interests of African-Americans in and around the city of Plano.”

But recent information acquired reveals Stelly was terminated for poor performance and has been accused of lying on his resume and demanding money that was never promised.

Johnson said Stelly was not hired as the executive director of PAAM, but rather as an interim administrator as a contracted employee. She said the contract was written to expire after six months.

“As a board we had some distinct projects we wanted to get started this year, one being grant writing,” Johnson said. “We did not want this year to pass without a distinct effort to increase our funding resources. We thought Mr. Stelly was sharp enough for us to bring in as a contractor. We brought him in as a limited-time contractor to do some grant writing. But he could be terminated at any time.”

Johnson said Stelly’s grant writing did not meet the board’s expectations. She said members of the board had to rewrite his applications and he was creating more work for the board, compared to not having him employed at all.

“He is a non-entity and took up too much of our time,” Johnson said. “His representation was half truth or non-truth.”

Stelly said the board promised to pay his deposit and first month rent on his apartment located closer to the museum.

“I brought them my lease to prove what I was paying and they decided after the fact not to pay what they promised,” he said. “These people are liars.”

Johnson countered that the board never promised to pay his rent and when she was approached with the lease, Stelly requested her signature.

“He’s accusing us of misusing funds, yet he said we promised to pay his rent,” Johnson said. “To me, that would be misuse of funds.”

Stelly said he was terminated immediately the following day after the board discovered he requested their budget from the city.

Johnson said they never knew he requested the budget and at that point the termination was already in motion.

In recent articles, Stelly told reporters he moved to Dallas from Omaha, Neb. because he was offered the job as the executive director of PAAM. But when he initially applied for the position he submitted documents citing a Cedar Hill and a Dallas address. PAAM board members revealed he was working at various jobs in Dallas and Duncanville before he ever applied for the executive director position.

Stelly claims he was residing in a Garland hotel and was out costs for hotel and cabs when he traveled to Plano for the interview, and out funds for the move to take the executive director position.

“We offered him a small bonus to put milk and bread in the refrigerator. We also learned he did not have transportation and was riding the train.”

Stelly submitted a resume stating his last position was at a museum in Nebraska where he worked as a grant writer for 12 years.

James Calloway, Stelly’s former boss at Great Plains Black Museum and Cultural Resource Center of Omaha, said he had no such type of employment history. Calloway said Stelly worked for the museum for two years beginning in 1995 and another two years beginning in 2007. He said in about January 2009, Stelly did not show up for work and he later learned he had moved to Texas to seek another position.

“He is a brainy guy and a great curator, but a different personality,” Calloway said. “If you get on his wrong side he could be vicious. You don’t want to get on his wrong side.”

Stelly refuted Calloway’s statement, saying Calloway had “issues” and was lying about his part-time employment of 12 years.

“He’s a loose cannon,” Stelly said. “I worked there part-time. You don’t have to physically be there to write grants and work for them.”

Stelly failed to supply documents or verbal information proving the definition of his part-time status.

In June, Stelly sent an 80-page critical analysis summary to Plano city officials, city employees and various media outlets describing, in depth, his experience with PAAM and the misuse of city money.

But according to city auditor Mike Rodgers, PAAM was in accordance with their funding agreement after Rodgers conducted a 2009 audit.

“Every penny they spent was accounted for,” Rodgers said. “They had invoices to prove it.”

The audit targeted October 2008 to February 2009. Rodgers said audits specifically targeted back to 2003 when city money was issued to get PAAM started have not been conducted.

Until this year, PAAM was solely a project under the Heritage Farmstead Museum and did not receive direct funds. Ted Peters, former executive director of the Farmstead Museum, was responsible for requesting funds for PAAM until his death in November 2006. After his death, an external audit was conducted on the museum due to the interim director discovering monies unaccounted for. The audits have since been turned over to the Plano Police Department. Rodgers said the audit specifically targeted money received and money paid out and did not directly target the Farmstead Museum’s projects, which included PAAM.

According to city documents, PAAM has received $292,482 from the city since 2003, which Peters controlled until his death. Johnson said she has no records to provide for the first few years the museum was receiving funds. Johnson added she would make presentations to the Heritage Commission on behalf of PAAM and tried to help Peters represent the Thornton House and the need for funds for restoration projects only.

In 2004, the Farmstead Museum received $4,200 for an education plan designed to develop future educational plans for the museum.

“I do not know what that plan was and where that money went,” Johnson said. “Ted Peters is the only one that would know.”

In 2005 and 2006, $39,421 was awarded to the Farmstead Museum for repairs to the Thornton House. Johnson said she does not recall which year, but between that time period, restoration projects such as repairs to the roof, porch, chimney and structure of the house took place. Johnson said she has records proving those projects. City reports show lead/asbestos abatement and miscellaneous mechanical improvements were conducted.

After Peters’ death in 2006, Johnson and the interim director for the Farmstead Museum asked for funds for restoration projects. The Heritage Commission awarded the Farmstead Museum less than half of what they requested. Johnson said that year she went in front of the City Council asking for additional funds to complete the remainder of the projects and was awarded $29,330 out of the city’s general fund.

“Now that we got the house secured, we needed enough money to complete the restoration projects,” Johnson said. “$20,000 just wasn’t enough.”

PAAM contractor Cole Construction completed projects such as building an outdoor bathroom, an ADA ramp, heating and air conditioning system, insulation and demolition of the kitchen and bathroom.

Johnson showed invoices and copies of checks approved by at least two board members for these projects completed by Cole Construction.

In 2008, PAAM applied for their first grant to the Heritage Commission without being under the umbrella of the Farmstead Museum. PAAM was awarded $159,798, which was the first year they received funds for operations and maintenance, funding an executive director position and to complete the interior restoration, so they can begin filling the inside with items that make a museum complete.

“The restoration of the Thornton House should take place this Wednesday,” Johnson said. “All this work was completed without staff. We have all worked hard to try to create something good and wonderful and it’s a shame we have received some negative publicity.”

Johnson said once the museum is complete, it will be the Collin County vehicle through which African-American history will be discovered.

“We want this vehicle to encourage African-Americans to study their history and genealogy as we try to pull together the history of Plano,” she said. “The Interurban Museum and the Heritage Farmstead don’t tell the whole story without this piece. Our responsibility as a board is to help tell that piece. This is the vehicle through which we can do that.”

Stelly continues his accusations on PAAM board members and said his lawsuit is in the hands of his attorney, who is reviewing the case. Stelly would not reveal his attorney’s name.

Fisher, treasurer of the PAAM board, said the lawsuit took everyone by surprise.

“You have to look at whom these allegations are coming from,” she said. “The city of Plano makes sure we go through the checks and balances to ensure we are good stewards of their funds. Any impropriety would have come out in the city’s audit. We passed with flying colors.”

Contact Stephanie Flemmons at sflemmons@acnpapers.com

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