{"id":278505,"date":"2026-04-21T13:13:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T13:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/278505\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:13:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T13:13:07","slug":"uncertainty-and-questions-surround-the-future-of-measure-p-after-funds-were-embezzled-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/278505\/","title":{"rendered":"Uncertainty and Questions Surround the Future of Measure P After Funds Were Embezzled"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) \u2014\u00a0Uncertainty still surrounds the future of Measure P funding following the embezzlement of more than $1 million by a former Fresno Arts Council staff member.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">On Monday, the Fresno Parks, Recreation and Arts Committee met to discuss a 5-year evaluation of Measure P and the Expanded Access to Arts and Culture (EAAC) Grant Program it funds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">But those numbers did not include the actions of former Fresno Arts Council operations manager Suliana Caldwell.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cThat was not the subject of our evaluation because we felt that we did not have information pertaining to that,\u201d said PRAC commissioner Jose Leon Barraza.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">On Monday morning, Caldwell pleaded guilty to embezzling $1.8 million from the Council.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Investigators say she abused her position, made unauthorized withdrawals and falsified financial reports.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">RELATED:\u00a0<a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" href=\"https:\/\/abc30.com\/post\/former-fresno-arts-council-employee-pleads-guilty-fraud-18-million-scheme\/18928464\/\" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Former Fresno Arts Council employee pleads guilty to fraud in $1.8 million \u2018scheme\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Caldwell\u2019s attorney revealed in a federal courtroom that she struggles with alcohol and gambling addiction, and prosecutors say much of the money was gambled away or used to fund vacations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cI can\u2019t speak to exactly what Ms. Caldwell would say. She\u2019s very upset. It\u2019s just unfortunate all around for the artists, for the community, for Ms. Caldwell and for her family,\u201d said Caldwell\u2019s attorney, Kevin Rooney<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The damage from Caldwell\u2019s theft is still being assessed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">More than 30 Measure P recipients had their funds frozen when the crime was discovered in February.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cI really feel for the arts community right now, because they have taken a hit and it seems like nothing is not getting done fast enough,\u201d said PRAC chair Kimberly McCoy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Caldwell\u2019s actions interrupted the second cycle of funding distribution.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">But as the third cycle prepares to open for application, questions still remain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cI find it hard to proceed on with cycle three when we still have all this other stuff going on with cycle two,\u201d McCoy said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Caldwell could face up to 20 years in federal prison.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Her sentencing is scheduled for August 10.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2026 KFSN-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) \u2014\u00a0Uncertainty still surrounds the future of Measure P funding following the embezzlement of more than&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":278506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-278505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}