In constant trouble with the Secretary of State
By Will Collette
When Lisa DiBello was running for the Charlestown Council, she took part in a September 23, 2010 candidates’ forum sponsored by the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee. She made a splendid presentation on her qualifications for the office – her long time residence in town and her years of service as Parks and Recreation Director (until she was fired). She stressed her campaign slogan “Because she cares,” and startled the audience by pledging that, if elected, she would donate her Town Council stipend ($2500) to a local charity, RI-CAN.
But why pledge the money to RI-CAN when DiBello could have pledged it to A Ray of Hope, the charity she established and used to get a lot of publicity? After all, that’s what she did after winning a car on The PriceIs Right.
But there was a small problem. At that time, A Ray of Hope didn’t actually exist.
In Part 1 of this segment of articles on A Ray of Hope, I showed you how DiBello failed to comply with federal requirements to disclose A Ray of Hope’s revenues, outlays and expenses. The IRS 990 reports – which DiBello either doesn’t have or never filed - are the only practical way either the public or the IRS can monitor the honesty of non-profit organizations. IRS 990 reports aren’t simply mindless, unimportant paperwork, but the key tool to prevent charity fraud.
When she incorporated A Ray of Hope in April, 2000, DiBello also took on the legal obligation to file annual reports every June with the State of Rhode Island
While her legally required Rhode Island annual corporate reports do not carry as much weight or substance as her IRS-990 reports, these reports are mandatory, and failure to file can – and does – lead to the state revoking a non-profit’s right to operate.
DeBello apparently did not take that responsibility seriously. During the entire history of A Ray of Hope, Lisa DiBello never filed the state annual corporate report on time.
On five occasions, she only filed after the Secretary of State (SOS) sent her a reprimand and a warning that A Ray of Hope’s corporate charter would be revoked.
Twice, DiBello ignored the reprimand and warning letters, and the Secretary of State revoked A Ray of Hope’s corporate charter, terminating its right to operate in Rhode Island
This screen shot from the Secretary of State’s website shows the on-line history of A Ray of Hope’s filings.
By combining this with paper records I received by visiting the SOS office in Providence, I have compiled a timeline of Lisa DiBello ’s compliance with the Rhode Island Non-Profit Corporation Act:
April 10, 2000: DiBello, along with housemate and town contractor Deborah Dellolio, Town Tax Collector Jo Anne Santos and ex-wife of a former Council President Lynn Craig incorporated A Ray of Hope as a Rhode Island
April 22, 2002: First warning and reprimand from the SOS for failing to file 2001 annual report.
May 8, 2002: DiBello filed 2001 annual report. This report shows Police Lieutenant Patrick McMahon, Michael Gledhill and Lisa Schipritt were added to the Board.
May 5, 2003: Second warning and reprimand from the SOS for failing to file 2002 annual report.
May 27, 2003: DiBello filed 2002 annual report.
March 9, 2004: Third warning and reprimand from the SOS for failing to file 2003 annual report.
April 28, 2004: DiBello filed annual reports for both 2003 and 2004. They are identical.
November 8, 2005: DiBello filed her annual report for 2005 six months late. No report of a warning and reprimand from the SOS in the database or paper file.
March 23, 2007: Fourth warning and reprimand from the SOS for failing to file 2006 annual report.
June 7, 2007: Secretary of State issued the first Certificate of Revocation of A Ray of Hope’s corporate charter, cancelling its right to operate in the state of Rhode Island
August 24, 2007: DiBello filed for reinstatement while filing annual reports for 2006 and 2007.
August 3, 2009: Fifth warning and reprimand from the SOS for failing to file annual reports.
October 7, 2009: Secretary of State issued the second Certificate of Revocation of A Ray of Hope’s corporate charter, cancelling its right to operate in the state of Rhode Island
October 6, 2010: A little over a week after the Candidates’ Forum, DiBello filed for reinstatement and files annual reports for 2008, 2009 and 2010.
June 2011: DiBello was supposed to file A Ray of Hope’s 2011 annual report. As of Friday, September 23, when I reviewed her folder at the Secretary of State’s office, there was no June 2011 report. Some things never change.
So, unlike 2001 when DiBello promised to donate her winnings on A Price Is Right to A Ray of Hope, she couldn’t make the same promise at the September 2010 Candidates’ Forum because A Ray of Hope was officially defunct.
When DiBello filed the delinquent annual reports in October 2010 to get A Ray of Hope reinstated, three of her seven board members dropped off the list. These reports showed that three long-time board members – Charlestown Police Lieutenant Patrick McMahon, Lisa Schipritt and Michael “Sled” Glendhill were no longer on the board.
The organization was now down to the original Four Amigas – DiBello, Dellolio, Lynn Craig and Town Tax Collector Jo Anne Santos.
Reports, reports, report. Pick, pick, pick. Who cares if Lisa DiBello files legally required reports as long as she does good things and her heart is pure and “she cares?”
DiBello’s record is disturbing because it shows:
- A disregard for basic standards of accountability
- An attitude that the law does not apply to her
- An absence of legally required checks and balances for the large sums of money that appear to have gone through her organization
- And, in my professional experience, when an organization does not meet this basic requirement to keep their corporate charter intact, there are usually other, gravely serious problems with the organization.
I can’t understand why any officer of a corporation would fail, not once, but every single time, to file these reports when they are due. If I was a donor to A Ray of Hope, I would have some serious questions about whether that recklessness carried over to the management of the funds that were entrusted to DiBello.
DiBello’s board members, past and present, are not off the hook on this matter, either. The IRS expects non-profit board members to take prudent steps to ensure the organization complies with the law. So does the state of Rhode Island under the Rhode Island Non-Profit Corporation Act.
Combine DiBello’s consistent failure to file state annual corporate reports with the other issues – ethics, conflict of interest, legal compliance, odd fund-raising techniques, broken promises and disregard offederal tax law, and ask yourself if you think DiBello can be trusted.
UPDATE: RI-CAN Director Deborah Nigrelli called and said that DiBello did donate her Council stipend to RI-CAN.