Fired Golf Pro Speaks Out
Frost Trial Starts Next Week
After eighteen months, six postponed trial dates, and more than a dozen incriminating headlines, the former golf pro and club manager at Frederick’s Clustered Spires is gearing up for the fight of his life.
Don Frost, who was fired from the top job at the city-owned golf course in May 2015, is anxious for his day in court. His trial, originally scheduled for Sept. 8, 2015, starts Monday, Oct. 17, and is expected to run through Friday, Oct. 21.
Frost, who has turned down two plea offers, talked about the struggle of being unemployed and unemployable for the past 18 months. He went on seven interviews, always came close, and landed no jobs. “I can’t even get an entry level with these charges against me,” Frost said. He refused to accept any deals before his jury trial because he is not guilty and refuses to say that he is, Frost said.
Frost, employed with the city since 1996, was charged with stealing money from the sale of merchandise and used balls.
Frost is credited with making Clustered Spires successful, and as a PGA pro, drawing more golfers to the city course. The award-winning Frost has also been recognized for mentoring youth, and supporting charities and volunteering.
Parsing what he knows about himself with the criminal depicted in the press keeps Frost awake at night. He has a lot to say about what transpired in May 2015, and about who stood to gain by the demise of his 20-year career at Clustered Spires. Throughout the past 18 months, he’s stayed mum while stories about his fall from grace claimed space on the front page and played out in front of him on television.
Following an edict from his former employers, and later his own attorney, Frost remained silent. It hasn’t been easy. Especially when the city’s demand for confidentiality apparently didn’t extend to its own Human Resources department, city alderwoman or state’s attorney, according to Frost.
A golf course employee gave Alderman Donna Kuzemchak several documents taken from Clustered Spires and Frost’s office, comprising alleged evidence that Frost was complicit in stealing from the golf course. Kuzemchak, in turn, gave the documents to Frederick Police Department on Feb. 4, 2015, and to The Frederick News-Post on Feb. 9, two days before sharing them with Mayor Randy McClement and then-Human Resources Director, Shawn Ross on Feb. 11.
Kuzemchak’s reasoning, then and now, for going to the press is that she didn’t want the information to get swept under the rug by the current administration, according to city documents.
After he was fired, Frost applied for and received unemployment benefits. The City of Frederick appealed the decision three times to the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and was unsuccessful in all three hearings. In the last appeals decision, sent July 24, 2016, Hearing Examiner PA Butler wrote, under Evaluation of Evidence:
The employer’s case is based substantially on unverified hearsay testimony …. There is no indication that the hearsay is reliable, credible or competent or why the witnesses to the event were unavailable. The evidence presented by the employer that the claimant violated its work rules is not corroborated by any other testimony or evidence to support a finding of any degree or misconduct.
Three days later, on July 27, Frost was officially charged with theft. Four charges were ultimately consolidated into two, one for theft scheme between $10,000 - $100,000, and one for a theft scheme between $1,000 - $10,000.
Their faith has anchored Don and Valery Frost since Don lost his job and his reputation as a community leader and respected golf pro. But his faith in God doesn’t extend to faith in law and order, and Frost has a hard time masking his frustration when recalling the elements of the case against him, which he contends is a weak one.
The police report, written by Det. Steven Petruzzello includes interviews with golf course employees, including Frost’s assistant Maureen Bartolet. From the written report, Bartolet appears to corroborate allegations that Frost pocketed money for golf grips, along with money earned from selling used golf balls. Another employee told Det. Petruzzello, according to the report, that the course regripped 500 to 1,000 golf clubs annually, and that only cash or check were acceptable payments, by Frost’s decree. The proceeds were kept in a box in the reception area, which Frost, Peterson said in the report, pocketed, along with money earned from selling used golf balls. According to Petruzzello, revenue for these sales was not recorded. Frost contends that there is another side to the story.
An independent audit company reviews the city’s finances and accounting practices as part of an annual city-wide financial audit. The 2013 – 2015 audits found no evidence of theft, and auditors reported that they did random sampling of cash register receipts and income. For the two years, they tested one such item from Clustered Spires.
According to Frost’s 2007 agreement with the city, PGA industry standards should guide operational procedures unless otherwise stated in the agreement between Frost and the City of Frederick.
Frost confronted allegations of foul play under Mayor Jeff Holtzinger in 2007. An internal investigation ensued, a few stories appeared in local media, and nothing incriminating was found. “Clustered Spires is a great golf course. That is credit due to Don,” Holtzinger said.
Under Holtzinger, Frost’s compensation and means of compensation was clarified, along with the terms of his management of Clustered Spires, in a written agreement. Holtzinger, an attorney, said the agreement was designed to address complaints about Frost’s compensation arrangements.
“Everything they complained about was allowed by contract, so we pulled it all together into one agreement,” Holtzinger said.
As part of the agreement, Frost is directed to follow standard PGA guidelines for running a golf course. Frost believes this directive absolves him of any wrongdoing in handling cash payments for installing golf grips. He said credit card sales could not include the cost of installation, which is why he restricted payment to cash and check.
One elected official, according to Frost, unrestricted by city personnel regulations, was permitted to strong arm not only the prosecution, but also the termination of several other long-term employees, including the first female assistant golf professional hired more than a decade ago.
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