WTVP: Lesley Matuszak, other ex-employee appear to have approved ‘improper’ spending

PEORIA — WTVP-TV’s board of directors has for the first time cited former CEO Lesley Matuszak and former finance and human resources director Lin McLaughlin as the two who “appear” to have approved “improper, unauthorized, or questionable” spending that has sent the public television station into a spiral of controversy.

In a statement released Tuesday night, board chairman Andrew Rand said:

“The board has spent the last ten weeks reviewing multiple options to ensure the future financial viability of WTVP. After the unexpected resignations of the Director of Finance/Human Resources and the CEO, the board found itself facing an uncertain financial future with evidence of improper, unauthorized, or questionable expenses which appear to have been approved by the former CEO and Director of Finance/Human Resources.”

WTVP has been buried in hardship and controversy for months following the resignation and death of Matuszak. Matuszak resigned as CEO on Sept. 27 and died by suicide in her Moss Avenue home on Sept. 28.

A criminal investigation has since been opened regarding the improper spending practices.

More: WTVP is at the center of a financial crisis. Here’s what we know so far

Members of the public were able to address WTVP’s board of directors on Tuesday and voiced to the board a mixture of disappointment, words of encouragement and even calls for the entire board to resign as WTVP remains mired in controversy.

One citizen who spoke to the board during public comment of its bi-monthly meeting urged the board to “fight, fight, fight,” to keep the station operating and thanked the board for its service during the extreme tribulations it’s seen this year.

Others were not so kind. Elaine Hopkins told the board they all should resign and labeled the situation unfolding at WTVP “sad and shocking.”

Rand also used Tuesday’s meeting to dispel any rumors that the station would be closing or that the board had explored a vote to close the station.

“There was no plan to vote to close the station today,” Rand said. “That is just a vicious rumor for people who like to start vicious rumors. But that was absolutely not true, and everyone in this room knows that and we apologize for however that communication got the rapid fire legs it did over the weekend. It is categorically false.”

In October, WTVP announced it would be slashing $1.5 million from its budget after it found “questionable, unauthorized or improper” spending in the station’s finances. Those cuts included the laying off of nine employees and a halt in publication of Peoria Magazine.

Again on Tuesday, however, the board painted a bleak picture of the station’s finances. Through November, the station has a $468,000 budget deficit. Its revenues total roughly $1.4 million while its expenses sit around $1.9 million this year.

WTVP had a net loss of $560,000 in 2022.