A Little Guilford History

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Sheila Morse drafted almost every one of Guilford’s town policies before resigning in the middle of her term as the Selectboard (SB) Chair. Zon Eastes was appointed to fill Sheila’s vacancy. Zon then helped appoint Sheila to the SB's newly established Finance Advisory Committee, where she has been the Chair since its inception in 2020.

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Note: When Zon ran for State Representative, Sheila Morse donated hundred's of dollars to Zon's Campaign

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The First Illicit Transaction

12/28/2022 Sheila Morse is Guilford’s Town Administrator and Chair of the Finance Advisory Committee (FAC). Zon Eastes, who helped establish the FAC, is Chair of the Selectboard. 

 

At 1:01:30 Sheila begins a discussion that she and Zon listed on the agenda as, "Report on Funds."

Instead of giving a report on funds, Sheila reads a motion that Zon moves. This motion authorized the transfer of funds from Guilford's Reserve without due notice or a public hearing.

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$7,432.02 to Guilford Center Bike Path and Pedestrian Study

$52,732.26 to Guilford Free Library Fund

$24,000.36 to VCDP Grant for Guilford Free Library

 

It wasn’t until 2024, when Guilford’s Town Report was delivered, that residents discovered those debts were paid with money from the Reserve Fund.

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02/16/2024 The Guilford Finance Advisory Committee (FAC) Meets. Zon Eastes and Sheila Morse co-chair the meeting. At 1:03:45, new FAC member, Tammy Sargent, asks for a list of all the Adjusted Journal Entries (AJE’s) from Guilford’s 2022/23 professional audit. That list would have shown the first illicit transaction made from the Reserve.

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Tammy also suggests that the FAC review any AJE’s the auditor recommends during her 2023/24 audit. Zon and Sheila both act perplexed and wondered if the auditor created such a list of AJE's. 

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03/06/24 After learning about the Reserve Fund transfers in the Town Report, Jason Herron emails the Town Administrator Ericka Elder, stating "I would like to have a discussion with the selectboard concerning Guilford’s Reserve Policy. Please kindly schedule this discussion for the next meeting."

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​03/07/24 Zon Replies and copies Ericka on the exchange: "The Reserve is not currently at issue for the Selectboard, so it will not be added to Monday's agenda."

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​​Jason pointed to the Town’s website where it used to say: If you would like to have a topic included in the agenda, please contact the Town Administrator by noon on the Wednesday immediately preceding the meeting. 

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Zon responded: It is the job of the chair to manage the Selectboard's capacity to do its work.

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​Jason then pointed out that Zon was just re-elected to the SB. The new board hadn't met yet to nominate a Chair. Historically, the Town Administrator acted as the Chair and the first order of business is to nominate a new chair.​

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Zon replied, I'm guessing you have looked into the issue of my chairmanship? 

We will, too, and get back. Thanks.

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​Without any further explanation, Zon responds: 

Jason.  I am the chair of the Selectboard. On Mon, Mar 11, in the organizational meeting, the Selectboard will elect a chair. 

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​03/11/24 After being refused a conversation with the SB, Jason makes a statement at the 2:00 Minute Mark explaining many of the issues surrounding the Reserve Fund. Jason asked the SB to simply follow the policy as written, and properly announce the SB's intent to access the Reserve Fund before executing transactions.

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​03/12/2024 Zon responds to Jason's request that the SB follow their policy.

​In preparation for your comments last night, I read the Reserve Policy very carefully and landed upon the same first two points you did. (...) The language, read with today’s eyes (just ten years later), suggests the very recommendations you are making now. In speaking with a signer to the policy, however, it is not clear that this ‘today’ reading was intended then. (Words, meanings, intentions do indeed change over time.) 

 

​Remember, Sheila Morse helped draft and then signed the Reserve Fund Policy in 2016 as the Chair of the SB. In 2024, at the time of this transaction, she has been the FAC chair since its inception in 2020 and is simultaneously acting as the Town Administrator. It was Sheila and Zon who set the agenda and executed the first of the three illicit transactions. However, Ericka Elder was also notified of the impropriety the moment Jason brought it to her attention on 3/06/24.

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The Second Illicit Transaction​

​Some More Guilford History...

 

When Guilford’s experienced Town Administrator Peder Rude suddenly resigned in 2022, his budget was $62,838. He performed his role without an assistant. 

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When Zon motioned to appoint Ericka to became Peder's replacement, she had zero experience. Yet she was budgeted by the FAC and SB with a $70,000 salary but she was actually paid $76,288 in her first year.

 

That same year, the SB, lead buy Zon, awarded Ericka an administrative assistant which included another salary without the consent of Guilford voters. ​Ericka's assistant was paid an additional $3,498.00, totaling $79,786 for Town Administrative services in 2024.

 

$9,786 of this salary was not budgeted by the voters and was subsequently removed from the Reserve fund. $3,498 of it was used to pay Sheila Morse as the Assistant Town Administrator to Ericka.

 

​Guilford is now paying Ericka Elder $84,184, with an assistant, for the same exact services that were rendered by Peder Rude alone in 2023 for $62,838. Here are the results of that experiment.

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06/22/24 Zon Launches Political Campaign​

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6/24/24 The Guilford Selectboard voted to access the Reserve Fund again when the topic was not listed on the agenda. This time, Zon is still the Chair of the SB and Sheila Morse is now the Assistant Town Administrator.

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The Town Administrator, Ericka Elder, suggests accessing the Reserve Fund during her “Updates and Reports.” At 11:45 Zon asks the SB if they want to remove funds from the Reserve to refurbish a town sign. 

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So, Zon, Sheila and now Ericka all knowingly violated the Reserve Policy again by accessing the Reserve without due notice or a public hearing.

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In this instance, as with the Bike Path and Pedestrian Study the last time, refurbishing a town sign was not an unexpected or unforeseen expense. Connie Burton pointed this out to the SB and said they should also void their decision because the meeting was never announced nor was there a public hearing. Connie also added that a resident of Guilford offered her services to fix the sign for free.

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Which Leads to The Most Recent and Egregious Illicit Transaction

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07/03/24 At 1:04:15, Zon Eastes, acting as the Selectboard Chairman and a Candidate for State Representative, motioned that “the Selectboard per 24 V.S.A. § 872, in its statutory right, will take oversite (…) of the vaults and then we will manage that as we need to manage it.” “If the selectboard is not able to receive the combinations to the vault, for whatever reason, the selectboard is at right, (…) to pursue a court order to receive the combinations."

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Those vaults contained ballots bearing the name of Candidate Eastes along with the tabulator used to calculate votes. Guilford's Elected Town Clerk was concerned about losing control of the vaults yet Chairman Eastes demanded that she hand over the combinations and grant “staff” Ericka Elder, access.

 

07/05/24 Sheila Morse resigns as Assistant Town Administrator but remains the FAC chair.

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7/26/24 Ericka Elder was confronted at a Special SB Meeting for being listed on Zon’s political website as a “Volunteer Empowering Zon’s campaign” while simultaneously reporting to him as Town "staff" where she now has unfettered access to the Town vaults.

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8/21/24 Guilford’s Town Clerk Resigns. Accuses Zon of cornering her inside the town vault. The SB's Appointed Treasurer is now also the SB's appointed Town Clerk during an election. This left the vaults exposed to two "staff" members. One was reporting to Zon as the Treasurer/Town Clerk and the other as the Town Administrator. Consolidated Power

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Also on 8/21/24 Tammy Sargent files an Open Meeting Violation complaint for not announcing the meeting properly on 6/24 where the SB removed funds from the Reserve during Ericka's report. Tammy's action brought the second illicit transfer back to the attention of Ericka and Zon right before the third one is about to happen.

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09/06/2024 Zon instructs Sheila to cancel the next FAC meeting where Tammy requested to review the FY24 budget reports. Sheila states:

I have been advised that the Selectboard will discuss the Finance Advisory Committee at one of its next meetings (not this coming Monday, 9/9). Pending the outcome of that discussion, we will NOT meet on 9/19. Stay tuned! Sheila Chair, FAC

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​09/09/24 SB denies Tammy’s complaint that an Open Meeting Violation occurred on 6/24/24 concerning the Reserve Fund . (Tammy will submit a reappeal to the SB)

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​09/13/2024 The Town Clerks Office is closed on Fridays however, on this Friday the 13th, the SB’s appointed Treasurer/Town Clerk and Ericka execute an AJE for $189,146. This AJE transferred funds from Guilford's Reserve. This was apparently done without notifying Zon, Sheila, or any SB member. This action triggered an avalanche of revenue shortfalls that went unrecognized until late into FY2025. This error impacted the budgets for FY’s 24, 25, and 26 while also eliminating the Law Enforcement Fund which was established by the voters in March of 2024.

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​9/19/24 This was the date of the previously canceled FAC meeting where they were scheduled to review the FY24 budgets. Remember, Tammy Sargent asked the FAC in February for a list of all the AJE’s. That list would have shown the $189,146 which was just removed from the reserve 6 days earlier.

If Tammy had been given what she was looking for as a FAC member at this meeting, she would have exposed this whole thing right in the middle of Zon's campaign. Instead Zon and Sheila canceled the meeting and it steamrolled.

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09/20/24 Tammy sent a written request for reconsideration to the SB about violating the Reserve Fund Policy. This put the reserve fund back in the minds of all SB members and Ericka for their upcoming meeting in three days.

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​09/23/24 SB Discusses Draft Auditors Report which should have shown the $189,146 AJE.

​During the SB discussion, Zon stated that the Auditor was “proposing 14 adjusted journal entries (AJE). Those 14 are down from the previous year which were 59. So, we are seeing our ability to track here in the office and make sure things are in good order. No material weakness in the towns systems of internal control. I just wanted to say that because it is a really good mark.”

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Zon boasts about the list of AJE's being down from 59 to 14 which is the exact list Tammy was looking for in February. Tammy wanted the FAC to review the 59 AJE's in 2023 and the 14 Zon just mentioned in 2024. Instead of reviewing the 14 AJE's, Zon said there were, "no material weakness in the towns systems of internal control." Ironically, Zon was actively ignoring a material weakness that just violated Guilford's system of control 10 days prior.

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Not only was this transaction done without due notice or a public hearing, this time, there was not even a discussion by the SB to approve any transfer. At the very least, this is an egregious Open Meeting Violation.

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10/28/24 The SB conceded to Tammy’s reappeal that she filed on 8/21/24. The SB admitted that it violated the Open Meeting law when they accessed the Reserve Fund without a public hearing in June.

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Also on 10/28/24 Zon discusses eliminating the FAC with the SB.

 

On 11/13/24, just days after Zon's election victory, Zon motioned and then voted to disband the FAC. Zon claimed that "reporting and understanding are in a better place. The Committee isn’t needed as it was created."

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04/03/25 More than 6 months after the $189,149 withdrawal from the Reserve took place, and 5 months since the FAC was disbanded, Tammy requests and then receives a budget status report for Guilford's General Fund. The report had handwritten notes and Auditor Cathi Wilkin’s phone number.

 

One note indicates there was $243,085.46 less than expected in tax revenue. The second note had $189,146.47 circled and a note stating it was removed from the Reserve fund which was “needed to replace shortfall.” So, sometime before 4/3/25, town "staff" had already identified that $243,085.46 was due to a tax revenue shortfall. That's at least 3 months before the professional auditor "discovers" it.

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​06/30/25 Professional Auditor Sends the Town of Guilford a letter with her findings.

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However, it wasn't until 09/08/2025 that the Selectboard discusses the Auditor Findings. Ericka Elder starts at the 47:00 minute mark stating, “we knew about the one for FY24 when we say that 189 thousand was removed from the Reserve to the General fund based on the shortfall, but it wasn’t really questioned at the time. Although the auditor says that the reason for that could have been delinquent taxes."

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Jason Herron found it hard to believe that a professional auditor, who has been reconciling Guilford's books for almost a decade, would chalk up $189,149 in a revenue shortfall, over a one year period, to delinquent taxes. So, Jason asked Ericka for any documentation indicating the professional auditor actually made that statement. Ericka replied, "I do not have any documents responsive to that request."

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So. if the auditor never explained to Ericka how $189,149 could be due to delinquent taxes, how was Zon going to explain it to the residents of Guilford at the SB meeting 10 days after the transfer? He couldn't, so he didn't. The question is, was Zon or Sheila aware of the transaction and ignored it or did Ericka keep it off the SB's agenda? 

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At a minimum, Town "Staff" had already figured out, that the $189 thousand deficit was not due to delinquent taxes in June when the Auditor gave her finding. Town staff then waited over two more months to inform the SB of the Auditor's "findings." This tactic kept the info from every taxpayer in Guilford until 9/8/25 when Ericka and Sheila chalked it up to an "oversite."

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04/28/25 First Auditors meeting with newly elected auditors Lyndsey and Rita. Again, there was no mention of the budget issue by Town Staff or the Auditor Wilkins.

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06/30/25 The Professional Auditor informs the Town of her finding. The report indicated that Guilford residents had voted on budgets that were calculated and presented incorrectly for the last three years. This caused $623,763 in Tax Revenue Shortfalls while also eliminating $68,000 in a Law Enforcement Fund which was established by the voters of Guilford at the 2024 Town Meeting. 

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08/25/25 SB and newly elected Town Auditors are notified of the professional Auditor’s finding.

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So, How did this happen?

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Well, among other duties, the Town Administrator works with the SB Chair to create the agenda and lists the warrants to be paid. She communicates with the Town's law firm on legal issues and is invited into every executive session the SB enters. Everything the SB does, including most email communications, goes through the Town Administrator.

 

So, Guilford’s town administrator, Ericka Elder, found out in February of 24 that accessing the reserve fund required due notice and a public hearing when Jason Herron asked her for a discussion with the SB and made suggestions to follow the policy as written.

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In July of 2024 Ericka was listed as "empowering Zon's campaign" and was reminded again that due notice and a public hearing is required when the SB improperly removed funds from the reserve. Connie Burton was the first to confront the SB about his situation, but it escalated further when Tammy Sargent filed her Open Meeting Complaint.

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So, not only was Ericka aware of the SB’s policy violations, but now she was also communicating with the Town’s law firm on behalf of the SB while they attempted to dismiss Tammy’s complaint about the Reserve Fund.

 

To add, at this same time, Ericka is also working with the entire SB to revise the Reserve Fund Policy.​ Ericka can not claim ignorance concerning the Reserve Policy

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Monday 9/9/24 The SB dismisses Tammy’s complaint but later admits it had violated the policy putting it front and center on Ericka and Zon's radar again.

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With the Town Office closed, on Friday 9/13/24, the appointed Treasurer/Town Clerk, somehow believing that the budget deficit was due to delinquent taxes, executed 13 transfers. The last one removed $189,146 from Guilford's Reserve Fund. This was apparently done without telling the Chair of the SB, Zon or the Chair of the FAC, Sheila.

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09/23/24 SB Discusses Draft Auditors Report. Neither Ericka nor Zon mention the $189,146 AJE that just removed funds from the reserve.

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Ericka said absolutely nothing until months after the auditor "discovered" the error on June 30. In fact, Town "staff" avoided telling the newly elected Town Auditors and then the SB of the error until the end of August 2025. They finally disclosed it to Guilford taxpayers briefly during the SB discussion on 9/8/25, a full 2 months after Town Staff received the auditor findings. 

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Sheila Morse then led the SB meeting (instead of the Chair Verandah) and motioned to retroactively approve the transaction that the previous SB never authorized in the first place. Sheila and Ericka chalked it up to an "oversite."​

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I have my suspicions as to what happened, what say you?