Bunting's spending cleared

By MATT CHITTUM
THE ROANOKE TIMES

Virginia Military Institute Superintendent Josiah Bunting III did not violate any rules in spending his $100,000-plus discretionary account, because there were no rules, a prosecutor said Friday.
Bunting was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing by Lexington / Rockbridge County Commonwealth's Attorney Gordon Saunders.
Even if the nearly $50,000 in questioned purchases were for Bunting's personal benefit, Saunders said, Bunting could not have knowingly misused the funds because the VMI Board of Visitors has never formally adopted rules for how they should be used.
Saunders also revealed new questions raised by an anonymous complaint about Bunting's use of taxpayer-funded state resources and state-paid employees to write and publish a book for which Bunting was paid $50,000, and for a second as-yet-unpublished book.
Saunders' exoneration of Bunting's spending from the discretionary account ends one aspect of a long and public period of scrutiny for VMI and its superintendent.
Virginia's auditor of public accounts began an investigation into Bunting's spending in late June and questioned $46,776 in purchases, including $10,634 in alcohol; $18,604 in flowers; $12,168 in books and $5,370 in gifts.
"The auditor could not establish either a clear benefit to VMI by these purchases or a clear intent to purchase these items for personal use," Saunders said at a news conference Friday.
Under the direction of Saunders, the state police began investigating whether any of Bunting's spending constituted a crime.
Saunders concluded that the money in Bunting's discretionary account, none of which comes from taxpayers, is public money by virtue of being held by VMI, a public institution. Most of the money comes from alumni donations.
Though it is public money, state spending rules do not apply, state auditor Walt Kucharski said.
VMI officials believed their own internal rules, which mirror the state's, governed the spending of Bunting's discretionary funds, according to the state auditor's report, which Saunders quoted in a news release. But the report says VMI's "actions do not support this belief."
VMI's business officials have allowed VMI superintendents to purchase gifts and send flowers to alumni and visiting dignitaries, even though their own state-influenced policies forbid such spending.
Kucharski said in his report that auditors found no evidence that VMI staff ever questioned Bunting's expenditures based on those rules. Therefore, the rules have no teeth in practice, he concluded.
State police, however, did find evidence that staffers questioned some expenses but Bunting ordered they be put through anyway.
Even so, VMI's internal rules were never adopted by VMI's board, leaving the superintendent's discretionary account, which has increased from $50,000 to $140,000 in the last four years, with no governing policies.
Kucharski recommends in his report, which will be released to the public Monday, that the VMI board adopt some rules for the spending of public funds. The board also should adopt guidelines for staff members to report directly to a committee of the board when potential violations of the rules occur, Kucharski recommends.
The auditor's report also said Bunting should reimburse VMI $101 for a Federal Express package sent to his daughter and for meals eaten by two VMI staff members and Bunting's son. However, state police found that the package was legitimate VMI business, and that another staff member and not Bunting turned in the meal expense.
Saunders said it was up to VMI to decide whether to ask Bunting to reimburse the college for any of the expenses.
Bunting was out of town Friday and unavailable for comment.
VMI board president Bruce Gottwald said in a statement he was "pleased, but not surprised" by Saunders' determination. "That is what the Board of Visitors and General Bunting believed all along."
But Gottwald added that he was astonished that Saunders was investigating Bunting's writings.
Saunders began looking into Bunting's books after the state police received an anonymous tip that Bunting used office and cellular phones to discuss his 1998 book, "An Education for Our Time," with his publisher and literary agent.
Bunting also has been writing a second book, "All Loves Excelling," about a woman with anorexia nervosa.
One or more state employees on Bunting's staff helped to type or edit the books at Bunting's direction during their working hours at VMI, Saunders said. They were paid with state wages.
It appears VMI has not received any of the royalties for the published book, Saunders said.
At question is whether and when the use of state staff and other resources is permitted for help with publications at state-supported colleges, Saunders said.
At Gottwald's request, Deputy Attorney General Ashley Taylor, a VMI graduate, has reviewed Virginia's intellectual property laws.
Under Virginia law, each state college must adopt its own copyright and patent policy, Taylor wrote in a letter to Gottwald that was provided to reporters by VMI.
"It is common practice for academicians to use their secretarial staff and incidental resources to assist in the preparation of materials for publication," Taylor wrote. "We believe that most institutions of higher education see such assistance as helping further their educational mission, and we have so advised the commonwealth's attorney."
The key question is whether an employee has used state resources consistently with his employer's policy, Taylor said.
Gottwald said Bunting was appointed in part because he is a nationally known scholar and author, and that the board "anticipated that he would continue his writing and encourage him to do so. We presumed that he would use his staff to assist him."