Though he was wanted in Michigan for allegedly embezzling funds as a public works official, Scott Baker breezed through a background check for a similar position on Fort Myers Beach.
Baker, the deputy director of public works for Fort Myers Beach, was arrested March 29 on a Michigan warrant for a felony charge of embezzlement. Baker is accused of stealing $6,000 from the city of Center Line, Mich., in 2007 and 2008, where he was public works superintendent. When the city replaced old water meters, Baker was in charge of selling the old meters for scrap metal and returning the money to the city — but city officials called police when some of the money was unaccounted for.
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The Michigan warrant for Baker’s arrest was issued in April 2010, after he had been appointed interim deputy public works director of Fort Myers Beach — and gone through his first background check with the town.
In January 2010, Scott was promoted to a permanent position as public works director. In March 2011, Fort Myers Beach ordered a second background check on Baker — which failed to show his outstanding felony warrant.
Background checks cannot reveal a warrant unless it has resulted in conviction, said Sara Decicco, operations manager of Tops Human Resource Solutions, the company that conducted Baker’s background check.
“A warrant doesn’t mean that that person has been convicted of a crime, so it would be unfair for us to be reporting information that hasn’t been handled by a judge yet,” Decicco said.
Even if Baker had been convicted in Michigan, it wouldn’t have shown up on the particular background check Fort Myers Beach ordered. The town ordered a check of every county Baker had lived in for the past seven years — which included Lee County, and Oakland and Wayne counties in Michigan. Baker’s warrant was issued in the city of Center Line, which is in Macomb County — a conviction made there would not have shown up in the report.
Fort Myers Beach Town Manager Terry Stewart said the town knew nothing of Baker’s outstanding warrant. Officials were never contacted by Michigan State Police, or by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which contacted Baker once before arresting him.
“The only thing that I was aware of was that Mr. Baker told me that there was an investigation going on regarding a matter in his former town,” Stewart said, noting Baker told him it was unlikely to lead to an arrest.
That conversation, about two years ago, is what led Stewart to ask for a second background check. Stewart said Baker claims he was unaware of the outstanding warrant against him — a claim Detective Sgt. Patrick Young with the Michigan State Police said is untrue. Police asked Baker to report to Center Line, but Baker spent two years putting off the trip.
“He knew there was a warrant,” Young said.
Baker was released from Lee County Jail on April 6, after paying a $6,000 bail, and is back at work on Fort Myers Beach. His arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday in Center Line. Stewart said the town requested Baker’s records from Michigan, but has no plans to fire him. Stewart also looked into town policy governing disposal of scrap metal, and found Fort Myers Beach requires the scrap yard send all checks directly to the town.
Ryan Machasic, Baker’s lawyer, said he could not discuss the case. Baker did not respond to requests for comment.
Baker, who made $56,305 a year working for Fort Myers Beach in 2010, listed the Center Line water meter project that led to his arrest as an accomplishment on his resume when applying for his new job.
In his cover letter, Baker also talked about his successes in Center Line — but he did not list any Center Line employees as references.
“I have been instrumental in developing the largest department budget in the city, while being fiscally responsible with the best interests of the city always coming first,” he said in the letter.
The application for a position in the Fort Myers Beach government asks only if the applicant has been convicted of any offense other than a minor traffic violation — to which Baker answered no.
