RENSSELAERVILLE — David R. Bryan, a former town supervisor, has been accused of stealing $40,000 from the Rensselaerville Library and is being investigated for stealing $8,000 from the Rensselaerville Trinity Church.

He held positions of trust in both institutions, which are vital to small-town life.

Bryan, 53, of 8 Bennett Lane in Rensselaerville was charged yesterday with third-degree grand larceny. Bryan, who serves as president of the library, an unpaid post, wrote several checks to himself from the library’s bank account, and transferred money from the library’s account to his personal account, according to the Albany County Sheriff’s Department.

Bryan could not be reached for comment.

He was released on pre-trial probation after his arrest at the Voorheesville patrol station yesterday and is scheduled to appear in Rensselaerville Town Court on Monday.
Bryan and the library have accounts at different banks, said Chief Deputy Craig Apple of the Albany County Sheriff’s Department. Another person has access to the library’s account, said Apple. "We haven’t spoken with them yet," he said. Bryan had written "dozens, possibly hundreds" of checks to himself, said Apple.

A one-and-a-half week investigation began after deputies were made aware of the suspicious activity of the library’s account while following up on another investigation, Apple said. At this stage, the sheriff’s department believes about $40,000 is missing from the library’s account and that the larceny began in mid-2005.

Bryan, a board member of the Rensselaerville Trinity Church, also deposited approximately $8,000 from the church’s funds into the library’s account to conceal the larceny, the sheriff’s department says.

He is a senior warden of the church, acting as a lay preacher, said the deacon assistant of Trinity Church, Rev. Clement O. Hulick.

Bryan is also the town’s Democratic Party chairman. He was the town’s supervisor from 1987 to 1994. He ran unsuccessfully for supervisor in 2005.

On April 12, John Geurtze, another former Rensselaerville supervisor, was charged with defrauding the government, a class E felony, punishable by up to a year in a state prison.

Ed Lynch, Albany County’s commissioner of general services, compared the mileage of Geurtze’s vehicle with his gas card statement, which showed Geurtze’s county-issued vehicle was only getting three miles per gallon, officials said.

Geurtze, a county property manager since 2003, was placed on unpaid leave pending a disciplinary hearing after a drunk-driving arrest last month, said spokeswoman Kerri Battle last week.

Bryan is the house principal at the Abrookin Vo-Tech Center in Albany. The sheriff’s department spoke yesterday with Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Joseph Dragone and will be following up, said Apple.
If found guilty, Bryan could face up to two years in a state prison, said Apple. Apple said investigators spoke with Bryan yesterday, and he was "very cooperative and very remorseful."

Reaction
Democratic Councilwoman Sherri Pine said she was "dumbfounded" when she’d heard the details of Bryan’s arrest. Pine described Bryan, the Democratic Party’s chairman, as an organized, "decent leader." Bryan, she said, opposed closing the Cass Residential Center, a juvenile detention facility that put many town residents on edge after a youth escaped five months ago.
Bryan opposed closing the center because he thought, by closing it, the kids and workers would be punished, Pine said. Bryan also created the 20-week club, similar to a 50/50, to raise money for party candidates. The party’s treasurer, Pine said, "took care of all of the money."
"I know him personally. He’s a good guy," she said.

Myra Dorman, vice president of the Rensselaerville Library, who is also a Republican town board member, said she had been on the phone all day yesterday and had spoken with the sheriff’s department.
Dorman said she had spoken with people in the community, many of whom were "disappointed."
"We have such a fine library," Dorman said. The library was originally organized in 1798 and the present library was founded in 1896. All of the library’s funding, except a small portion in the town’s budget, comes from private donations, Dorman said. This year, the library was budgeted $3,000 by the town.
"It’s going to be hard to get [donators’] trust back," said Dorman. When people have donated money and it’s taken away, she said, they feel robbed. The small library, located in a Tudor-style building on the main street of the Rensselaerville hamlet, has three paid positions — librarian, assistant librarian, and a maintenance position, she said. Each year, the library holds a cocktail party and a lawn party to raise money.
"People have been extremely generous," Dorman said. "The library means a lot to a lot of people."