Trouble in Peacetown
Jim Corbett has been accused by Peacetown's former director of misappropriating funds, but Peacetown's Summer Concert series will continue
Say it ain’t so, Joe, er, Jim! That was many people’s reaction to a recent article in the Sonoma County Gazette, which revealed that the former executive director of Peacetown, Elizabeth Smith, had accused Peacetown founder and Board President Jim Corbett (AKA Mr. Music) of fraud and misappropriating funds.
Smith and two former Peacetown board members say that over $70,000 meant for Peacetown (payments from the Barlow and grants from the city) went to Corbett himself or Corbett’s other nonprofit, the Mr. Music Foundation.
Corbett denies any wrongdoing — though he admits to a certain financial insouciance. (“I’m a musician not a bookkeeper,” he told Gazette publisher Amie Windsor, the author of the article.)
Corbett said he felt blindsided by the Gazette piece. “One look at my personal bank balance would tell them that I’m not an embezzler,” he told the Sebastopol Times.
Peacetown’s board—what remains of it after they ousted one dissenting board member and another quit—is standing behind Corbett.
Smith, who was laid off from Peacetown in April in what she claims was a retaliatory action, made the long-simmering debate within the organization official by taking her accusations to the Sebastopol Police Department on June 26. Because of a potential conflict of interest, they passed the case to the Petaluma Police Department.
Although Windsor does a heroic job of following the money in her Gazette article, some readers were left wondering if what they were seeing was malfeasance or a really stunning level of cluelessness on Corbett’s part.
Whichever, Corbett isn’t backing down.
“I was feeling pretty vulnerable and stabbed by former trusted friends, but after hiring a crack criminal lawyer and talking with my bookkeeper today, I am feeling very confident…” Corbett told the Sebastopol Times. “In the mean time, I’m holding my head up high and keeping a high profile at Peacetown every Wednesday.”
The show must go on
The Peacetown Summer Concert series is scheduled to continue as usual throughout the summer with the exact same line-up, Corbett said.
“We have six more weeks of Peacetown at the Barlow, followed by the final three weeks back at Ives Park,” Corbett said. “I’m so happy to be able to return to that venue.”
He said the lineup at Ives Park will be as follows: August 23, Sol Horizon; August 30, Tom Rigney and Flambeau; and September 6, Burrows and Dilbeck.
“It will be big fun,” Corbett said—which is more than can be said of his looming legal difficulties.
I would hope everyone does not rush to judgement.
The Gazette article felt like a hit piece. For all he has contributed to our community Jim deserves the benefit of a doubt. It is disappointing to hear folks jump to conclusion without knowing all the facts.