Money Donated At 'Picnic Basket' Likely Used For Lavish VIP Fireworks Party.

Plymouth Township Treasurer, Ron Edwards just had a fundraiser hosted by the Picnic Basket Market Place on behalf of Plymouth Township, to raise money for the Plymouth Township Fireworks Show. Folks showed up, and there was a grill outside, and there were people cooking hot dogs and such things, in exchange for a donation for the fireworks show.

Seems like a good old fashioned fundraiser. A great thing right? Everybody chipping in a few bucks for the local fireworks? I like the idea, I really do, but unfortunately, there are problems with this whole thing. There are big problems.

First, if you thought you were donating strictly to the fireworks show, you may be disappointed. It seems likely that some of that money is going to fund a lavish VIP Party at the Hilltop Golf Course, which Plymouth Township owns.

Treasurer Edwards may have forgotten to tell you about this little soiree when you showed up to donate, but I have some really interesting information about the menu, as well as some of the goodies purchased for past events.

The other big problem with this event is that not only have your donations gone to this lavish party, but taxpayer dollars may have been used to pay for this event in the past as well. Folks don't know, because they can't get the detailed records of the donations or expenditures. I can tell you a little about what has happened in the past though.

I have a document with the Plymouth Township credit card charges for Treasurer Ron Edwards from June of 2011. On this credit card summary, there are four interesting charges. They come from two flower shops in Hawaii of all places. These four charges are presumably for Orchids, and we all know that if you want the best Orchids, you gotta go to Hawaii, or some other island. Nothing but the best for Big Ron's lady friends. At least he buys American.

The Charges are:

Paradise Flower Farms ------$1,554.75

Paradise Flower Farms ------$170.00

Paradise Flower Farms ------$30.00

Leis Of Hawaii- Honolulu -----$684.75

Now, I have a source that assured me that these flowers were flown in for the 2012 VIP pre-fireworks bash as well, but I can't state that as an absolute fact, as no record exists of these types of purchases anymore. Do I believe my source? Yes. Do I think Mr. Edwards found a creative way to hide the purchases after the 2011 records became public? Yes. I believe that because Mr. Edwards has a history of obstructing public records, he has a history of hiding information.

Here is the deal. There have always been questions regarding the finances of Treasurer Edward's, Good Old Fashioned Picnic, as well as the annual fireworks and VIP parties. Our treasurer, who is supposed to be the expert at financial record keeping, and such things, had never recorded anything from these events. He claims that he has, but so far nobody has actually seen these records. There is supposedly a “Red Book” that contains all records of his doings at these events, but it is kind of like the Loch Ness Monster. Some say they have seen it, others say it's myth.

It got to the point that Edwards was getting so much pressure to show an accounting of the books, that he turned the Good Old Fashioned Picnic over to Trustee Bob Doroshewitz. Well as I understand it, Mr. Doroshewitz ran the picnic, and kept detailed records of what was purchased, what was donated at the event, but was never told about the donations that came in to Mr. Edwards. He ended up having problems when Mr. Edwards was not forthcoming on the rest of this needed information.

In a letter to the Board of Trustees, Mr. Doroshewitz rightly asked for a public accounting of everything. It was presented at a February 2013 Board of Trustees meeting, and was stonewalled by Mr. Edwards, even though Plante & Moran, who are the experts on such matters had previously advised the board to keep all of these events recorded, and recorded separately, as Plymouth Township events. Long story short, Mr. Edwards stated at the meeting that, “We account for the donations in my office.”

This was enough for Mr. Doroshewitz, in order to protect him, and his wife, who also organized the Good Old Fashioned Picnic, to call an end to his involvement. He rightly stated that, “If it's a township event, it clearly needs to have a budget, it needs to have internal controls, and it needs to have proper accounting.” Without those things in place, he had no choice but to wash his hands of it.

So here is a quick sketch of the facts, as clearly as I can state them:

Treasurer Edwards spends the better part of the year collecting donations from everybody he can.

This money goes towards the Good Old Fashioned Picnic.

This money goes towards the fireworks.

This money goes towards two separate events on the day of the fireworks.

One of the events is a pre-fireworks party for volunteers at the Good Old Fashioned Picnic.

The other is a VIP pre-fireworks party for folks who donated for the fireworks.

The volunteers for the picnic get hot dogs, chips, and pop. The VIP Party people get things like steak, shrimp, orchids (in 2011), and liquor. This year there are 700 people for these two pre-fireworks parties. Treasurer Edwards estimated at a recent Board of Trustees meeting that it will cost between $10,000 - $12,000 to pay for these two parties.

My questions are many.

How many people get hot dogs, and how many get steak? How do you feed 700 people with $12,000, knowing that a good amount of them are eating surf & turf, and have an open bar? (Think wedding reception)

Who are the donors that get to go to the VIP Soiree? How much did they donate for such a lavish party? Is there a record of their donations?

Are any politicians getting “comped” for this party? If I was a politician running for office, I'd make darn sure I had a receipt for my donation, because I am hearing that folks are gonna be watching to see who shows up. Campaign finance laws are tricky, and folks are mad. I have always said that if you get too close to Ron Edwards, you could end up being collateral damage. Folks will be watching.

Do the folks that donated money for the “fireworks” at the Picnic Basket Market Place get to go to the VIP Soiree? As Treasurer Edwards clearly stated, the VIP Party is for folks who donated to the fireworks. What is the monetary level of donation that gets you in? Shouldn't that be made public in case folks want to make the proper donation in order to attend this ritzy shindig?

Seriously. How much do you have to donate to get the coveted invitation? Who makes that decision? Treasurer Edwards?

Will Treasurer Edwards son Matt Edwards be there? He is running for State Senate, so this would be the perfect place for a budding politician to be, but can he afford to make the “right” donation on his pay at the Hilltop Golf Course?  Will he ride in on his Dad's coattails?  If so, is that fair to the rest of the Board of Trustees families?

Here is a great question. Did the taxpayers pay $2,439.50 for a bunch of Orchids to be flown from Hawaii to Plymouth Township, for Treasurer Edwards VIP Gala in 2011? I do not know the answer to that question, and I left a message for Mr. Edwards asking about this, but he did not return my phone call with an answer. It has always been my experience that when someone refuses to answer a question, they have something they are hiding. What about the Hawaiian Orchids Mr. Edwards?

I guess the last question I have, is for the folks that showed up at the Picnic Basket Market Place, and generously donated to what they thought were simply the fireworks. How do you feel about your money going to pay for a lavish party, attended by those that donated a little more than you? You donated your money, don't you feel like you should get what the others got? Did they tell you that the money was going for anything other than fireworks?

For those of you that went to the Picnic Basket Market Place to donate, I'm sure you saw Mr. Edwards wearing his dreadful looking Hawaiian shirt. I wonder if he had that flown in from Hawaii along with the flowers? On second thought, it was probably just a preferred customer gift. Heck, if ya buy $2,500.00 in orchids, you ought to get something in return.

In closing, I have a suggestion for the theme of this year's VIP Soiree: “Let Them Eat Cake”  

Or hot dogs...