The Friends of Tracy Aviary last week elected a new slate of officers for the coming year for the board, which has struggled in recent months to overcome funding problems following an embezzlement case involving a former aviary employee.
Kent S. Lewis, deputy district attorney, was elected president, succeeding M. Scott Mietchen, who has been president for the past three years; he has served on the board a total of eight years.
Mietchen, who is director of major gifts for the University of Utah, will remain on the board's executive committee.
David S. Thompson, a certified public accountant and chief financial officer for the rural region of Intermountain Health Care, was elected the board's new treasurer. He succeeds Rick Johnson, director of risk management for Albertson's.
Lewis was not present for Thursday's meeting. But Mietchen said the board will be represented at a March 24 sentencing in 3rd District Court of Tricia Melissa Marek, 28, the aviary's former business manager.
Marek has admitted to stealing more than $30,000 from the bird sanctuary. She pleaded guilty Jan. 21 as charged in 3rd District Court to theft, a second-degree felony. She faces up to 15 years in prison when she is sentenced by Judge Leslie Lewis.
The former aviary employee was charged last July after an audit showed that more than $124,000 was missing from aviary funds. Mietchen said Thursday the aviary has asked through the prosecutor's office for a "significant amount in restitution" in connection with the embezzlement case.
The former board president reported that December was the best fund-raising month ever for the aviary.
About $25,000 was collected in gifts, through direct mail and telemarketing efforts, he said.
Located in Liberty Park, the aviary is owned by Salt Lake City but has been operated for the past five years through a contract arrangement with the Friends of Tracy Aviary.
In late December, Mietchen announced that the aviary had secured a $250,000 line of credit from Salt Lake City to be repaid with interest over the next five years. Any restitution funds secured for the aviary will go back to the city to pay off the line of credit, Mietchen said in the December interview.
The aviary has also been receiving funds from Salt Lake City and is the recipient of about $125,000 a year through Salt Lake County's Zoo, Arts and Park tax.