Update: Rock Hall Council Closes Checking Accounts With Bank, Will Reopen New Ones

The Rock Hall Town Council voted Monday to close two checking accounts that People’s Bank said became at risk when Councilwoman Susan Francis posted copies of town checks on an Internet chat board last month.

In a letter to town officials on Sept. 23, People’s Bank COO Lawrence Lyons said the accounts should be closed “for your protection.”

Lyons also said that the bank would require only one authorized signature to pay on checks presented to the bank, as opposed to two. But Councilman Olin “Butch” Price insisted that two signatures be on every check that leaves the town — and the rest of the council agreed.

Town Manager Ron Fithian said the town’s internal controls ensure that checks go to legitimate business expenses. He said each invoice comes with the appropriate paperwork.

“We have an invoice and a requisite that’s attached to each and every check,” Fithian said.

Clerk Treasurer Stephanie Loller told the Spy that were very few banks anymore that enforce a two-signature policy for customers.

During the 20-minute discussion former Councilman Dave Jones asked Francis from the audience to resign — for posting the checks online and putting the town at risk. But Francis defended her decision saying the town’s accounts are public information.

The discussion is broken up into two videos. If the videos are not available they will be shortly.

Part 1

Part 2

Last week’s story

People’s Bank of Kent County has recommended the Town of Rock Hall close its current checking accounts and open new ones – as a result of Councilwoman Susan Francis’ decision to post copies of town checks on an Internet chat board two weeks ago. As of today, Francis has not removed the checks from the Internet.

“For your protection, we believe this closing to be the appropriate course of action and suggest you move swiftly to take this action,” wrote People’s Bank COO H. Lawrence Lyons in a letter to Rock Hall officials on Monday.

Officials from the town and the bank were concerned that Francis did a poor job of blacking out the account and routing numbers — leaving the accounts prey to scam artists.

Francis posted the checks online in an attempt to show a trend of mismanagement on the part of town officials, and the bank, for letting checks clear without the two required signatures.  But this was flatly dismissed by Rock Hall Town Manager Ron Fithian at the Sept. 12 meeting of the Rock Hall Town Council.

Since then, the bank has had to take additional measures in man-hours to protect the accounts from nefarious activity, according to Fithian, who spoke with bank officials last week.

Rock Hall Clerk Treasurer Stephanie Loller said that People’s Bank has always held a high standard and has never let checks clear without the proper signatures.

“They’ve always been very professional and easy to work with,” Loller said. “I’ve always liked working with them.”

Francis told the Spy on Wednesday that she posted the checks to show constituents that checks had cleared the bank without the proper signatures, but Loller said that the checks Francis posted were sent back to the town for the required signatures — as expected on the rare occasion a town official forgets to sign.

Francis also said she was not obligated to blackout the account numbers because they are public information. She said an attorney told her it was OK to publish the checks.

“I blacked out the numbers to be nice,” Francis said.