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EYEWITNESS LOCAL NEWS
MULTIFEST MEETINGfrom Eyewitness News Online Meeting Focuses On MultiFest Future Reported by: Videographer: Jeremy Bias Web Producer: Heath Harrison Reported: Feb. 23, 2013 6:04 PM EST Updated: Feb. 23, 2013 10:40 PM EST
Charleston
, Kanawha County
, West Virginia
The controversy surrounding MultiFest was front and center Saturday night. The board of the festival held a town hall meeting to discuss ways to move forward. After the former treasurer, Deborah Starks, pleaded guilty to federal tax fraud in January, she said she had drained more than $300,000 from the festival's funds. Her husband and MultiFest founder, Stephen Starks, was not charged in the case, but recently resigned as president of the festival and was replaced by the Rev. Roy Terry. Terry says the board wants to forget about the past and move on. “We have reorganized,” Terry said. “We got things going and we are now ready to enlighten the community or what we've been up to.” The board also says they have accountants now who will be taking care of the festival's financials, to try and keep anything like this from happening again. About 30 people attended the meeting. The controversy surrounding MultiFest will be front and center at a meeting about the festival’s future Saturday night. The board of the West Virginia MultiFest is having a town hall, hoping the public will join in on the discussion about where to go from here. Deborah Starks, the former treasurer of the nonprofit organization, pleaded guilty to federal tax fraud, saying she had drained more than $300,000 from the festival's funds. Her husband and MultiFest founder, Stephen Starks, was not charged in the case, but recently resigned as president of the festival. He was replaced by Rev. Roy Terry, who said he hopes the meeting will restore the people's faith in the yearly event. “We're having an informational meeting to share with the public the plans and the goals for the board of the West Virginia Multi Cultural Festival and share with them our plans to have a festival this August and have had for the past 23 years,” Terry said. Festival officials are encouraging all sponsors and supporters to attend. The meeting is set for 7 p.m. at the First Baptist Church on Shrewsbury Street in Charleston. MORE NEWS FROM EYEWITNESS NEWS
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