Krista Sisterhen was recently appointed to Upper Arlington's Library Board of Trustees.

Unlike the 16 other applications for Trustees who submitted their applications using the publicly posted process, Sisterhen's and her fellow appointees applications were handled privately and kept away from the sunshine of the normal submission process through the UA City Clerk.

Here's a summary and links to some publicly available information about Sisterhen:

Under the Taft administration, the Governor's Office on Faith-based and Community Initiatives awarded We Care America, a firm with ties to the Bush administration, a $2.1 million, 20-month contract beginning in September 2005.

As Director of this office, Sisterhen approved and signed the $3,500 a day contract with We Care America to administer faith based and community based contracts.

Things went astray with We Care America, but they weren't discovered until 2007 --- after Sisterhen was already out of office.

• Dayton Daily News: Money for faith-based work went astray, records show. The article revealed that the organization use TANF funds to pay for reserved parking spaces, two 50-inch flat screen televisions that don’t work, and a “study” that praised their work.
• Then suddenly We Care America closed, staff disappeared, phone lines were disconnected, and 15 groups complained that they have not received payments totaling $78,370 from We Care
• Dayton Daily News: Faith-based grant company shuts down
• Dayton Daily News: Contractor's offices are vacant; only questions remain

Governor Strickland then asked the Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles to investigate the whole mess.

After leaving the post in the Taft administration Sisterhen found her way on to another quasi public payroll, serving as the area manager for faith-based and community initiatives at the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Timeline

July 2003: Governor's Office on Faith-based and Community Initiatives established by law.

October 2003: Gov. Taft appointed Sisterhen the director of the newly established Governor's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives

September 2005: Sisterhen contracts with ‘We Care America’ to administer contracts.

January 2006: Sisterhen resigns, and new Gov. Ted Strickland replaces staff and begins reviewing grants and contracts.

March 2006: Strickland asks state Inspector General Tom Charles to investigate, and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to audit the office.

June 2006: Sisterhen teaches class at the 10th Annual 2006 Smart Marriages Conference:

Getting State Money: The 1% Solution
Chris Gersten, Krista Sisterhen, Mary Myrick
Learn how to access state marriage money - how to open doors and build relationships with state and federal elected and appointed officials.

2007: Results of Strickland's audit of Sisterhen's office is made public