News

Byfield arts groups clash over return of donations

By Victor Tine
Staff writer
Published: May 9, 2008

NEWBURYPORT — The continuing conflict between the factions that want to use two Byfield village buildings as an arts center flared anew yesterday in Newburyport District Court.

An assistant clerk-magistrate set aside an April judgment against the board of the Yellow School Center for the Arts and its president, Richard Johnson, and held an hourlong trial on the issue of whether contributors were entitled to their money back for commemorative bricks that were never made.

Assistant Clerk-Magistrate Alison Story Desmond took the matter under advisement yesterday and told both sides she would mail out a decision in about a week.

During testimony yesterday, Johnson said the Yellow School Center's financial records have been in the possession of the District Attorney's office since the organization's former treasurer, David Takesian, was indicted in December on charges of stealing $107,000 of the Yellow School Center's funds between 2004 and 2006. Takesian is awaiting trial.

Former board members Linda Allen and Heidi Fram; their husbands, Arthur Allen and Steven Fram; the Allens' daughter, Elissa Schlotterbeck; and the Allens' company, Omni Security, have filed small claims actions totaling $1,500 against Johnson and the Yellow School Center seeking return of the money they donated to the arts organization for bricks that were intended to be part of a memorial pathway on the arts organization's campus. The campus consists of the former Byfield School and the former Quascacunquen Grange Hall, also known as Byfield Town Hall.

Donors could buy small bricks for $250 or large ones for $500 and were entitled to have a certain number of characters inscribed on them.

The "Every Brick Tells a Story" fundraising campaign was launched in September 2006 with an initial goal of selling 1,000 bricks to pay for renovations to the buildings. But a few months into the campaign, the Yellow School Center board split into two factions, disagreeing on how the proceeds should be spent. On a motion by Heidi Fram, the campaign was suspended.

The Frams bought a small brick for $250. Linda Allen and Schlotterbeck, bought a large brick and a small one for $750, and Omni bought a large one for $500.

Last February, the Frams, the Allens, Schlotterbeck and Omni filed court claims to get their money back.

They argued that they had bought the bricks, but no bricks were produced, so they are entitled to the return of their funds.

They also said money collected during the brick fundraising campaign was diverted to other uses, and that they had agreed to allow that diversion after they were promised they would be reimbursed from a grant the Yellow School Center expected to receive from a local bank.

They all won their cases on April 3, when Johnson failed to show up for a hearing and was found in default.

The Frams were awarded $282.96, which included court costs and interest. Linda Allen and her daughter were awarded $798.88 and Omni was awarded $535.92.

But yesterday Johnson said he was in Canada at the time. His mail had been held for several weeks and he had not received notification about the court date. He filed for a re-hearing on April 8, and Desmond granted his request to throw out the previous default judgment.

In his defense, Johnson asserted that the brick campaign has not been canceled but that it has been postponed.

He also said contributors were not buying bricks, but making donations to the Yellow School Center for the Arts, the bricks were their rewards. He compared it to a person paying for renovating a room in a library and having a plaque mounted on the wall. The plaque is recognition for the donor's generosity, he said, but the donor hasn't purchased a plaque.

He said the subcommittee managing the brick campaign began violating the board's policies and taking actions without receiving the approval of the full board.

Johnson also noted that one of the $250 brick donations had been from him.

The Board of Selectmen ousted the Yellow School Center for the Arts from its town-owned buildings in late 2006, citing a rock concert that had gotten out of hand and alleging the organization was neglecting the Byfield Town Hall building. Within days, selectmen appointed Linda Allen and Heidi Fram as managers of the building. Allen and Fram have since founded the Byfield Community Arts Center and have been promoting events on the Central Street campus.

Johnson said he was confident the buildings would ultimately be returned to the control of the Yellow School Center, but Arthur Allen said there was no evidence that would happen in the foreseeable future.