An audit of the transit agency Jaunt has found that former CEO Brad Sheffield “purchased numerous expenses for goods, services, and travel which violated internal control policies of the corporation.” The Robinson, Farmer, and Cox (RFC) review of the fiscal year budget also found that the total amount of alledgely misused funds could not be calculated. The agency issued a statement this morning about the irregular transactions.
“As RFC’s audit progressed, and more information came to light, Jaunt’s Board felt that they were no longer comfortable with the business judgment of then-CEO Brad Sheffield,” wrote communications director Jody Saunders. “On December 5, 2020, with the audit findings still months away, the Board made the difficult decision to request Mr. Sheffield’s resignation as CEO.”
Sheffield resigned on December 7, 2020 and Karen Davis took over as interim. Sheffield served one term on the Board of Supervisors representing the Rio District. During that time, he became CEO of Jaunt, which operates fixed-route and on-demand service in the region. The statement said stronger controls have been put in place.
Sheffield denied any wrongdoing and issued his own statement about two hours later according to a tweet from CBS19. CBS19 News: Charlottesville News First @CBS19NewsBrad Sheffield, the former chief executive officer of Jaunt, has issued a statement. He states no JAUNT policies were violated. March 11th 2021
“JAUNT competitively procures funding by providing a range of public and private transportation services, which means the company must be run efficiently to turn a profit,” Sheffield said. “I ran it efficiently and no JAUNT policies were violated.”
Sheffield said all of his travel expenses were in compliance with Jaunt’s policies.
Jaunt changed its official name from JAUNT during a rebranding a few years ago.
Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment comes from the March 11, 2021 edition of the program. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.
