The Summerland Advocate-Messenger - Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community

NORFOLK – One of the last bus drivers in Norfolk begins his day by taking Nancy Stehlik to work.

Wrapped in a purple coat and earmuffs, Stehlik inches her walker onto the small bus’s wheelchair lift.

Driver Neil Schlecht pushes a button and the lift whirs down, placing Stehlik outside of work.

For the rest of the day, he takes seven people to clinics, church and the grocery store. He jokes with riders just as he’s long done as a driver for North Fork Area Transit, the bus service which, until recently, used 35 buses and vans to give as many as 10,000 rides a month.

It feels like any normal day on his route. It isn’t.

On Jan. 6, the buses serving Madison County stopped operations. The transit system’s general manager, Jeff Stewart, had allegedly stolen up to $1 million, much of it taxpayer money, from the transit nonprofit. A warrant had been issued for Stewart’s arrest. But he’s nowhere to be found – authorities believe he’s fled the country.

Now, Schlecht drives a lone bus around Norfolk, bought off Facebook in January by a city council member trying to ensure that people without transportation weren’t entirely stranded.

The bus system screeching to a halt left 60 employees without a job. And it left hundreds of residents without reliable transportation, including senior citizens, people with disabilities, students and single parents.

North Fork Area Transit has since tried crowdfunding to bring regular bus service back. It’s racing to raise $500,000 by the end of February, the match needed to secure a pledge from the Johnny Carson Foundation. Board members of the transit nonprofit say the full $1 million could allow buses to begin running in March.

As of Thursday, Feb. 23, it was still $100,000 short of the money needed.

The investigation into Stewart and the transit system’s finances is ongoing.

But emails obtained by the “Flatwater Free Press” shed light on the days before Stewart’s disappearance, as board members of the Norfolk-area transit nonprofit began to belatedly notice giant financial red flags.

Those emails show state employees growing increasingly frustrated – and concerned – with Stewart’s questionable financial management. For example: The transit authority, with an annual budget of $3.4 million, didn’t have an accountant. Stewart was doing the books – and allegedly cooking them – himself.

“It’s a huge disappointment for the community,” said Shane Clausen, a Norfolk city council member.

Public transit in Norfolk has been run by a nonprofit separate from the city and county for more than 50 years.

It started small, with a bus for the elderly and individuals with disabilities.

In 2021, it expanded and re-branded, becoming North Fork Area Transit.

The public transit nonprofit’s board hired Stewart in January 2022.

With expansion came a funding influx: A total of $427,074 from the City of Norfolk since October 2021, with more money promised; a $750,000 payment from Madison County in July 2022, from COVID relief funds.

In the 2022 fiscal year, North Fork Area Transit took in $944,035 from the federal and state government, according to the Nebraska Department of Transportation. From 2020 to 2022, it received an additional $920,997 in federal COVID relief.

“We’re putting a lot of trust in you, so there’s a lot of weight,” Troy Uhlir, a Madison County commissioner, told Stewart when the board approved its contribution last July.

The bus service grew to include three routes in Norfolk. It added two regional routes to companies in Madison, Lindsay and Wayne. It transported students for both Norfolk and Pierce Public Schools.

In its first year after expanding, the transit’s buses made more than 70,000 trips – 72% more than the year before.

“As the system grew and made itself more accessible within the community, (the need) was eye-opening in a lot of ways,” said Norfolk Mayor Josh Moenning.

By last December, buses were averaging nearly 10,000 rides a month. Meanwhile, board members and state transportation staff were expressing concerns, according to emails obtained by the "Flatwater Free Press."

“Many red flags from our end and I am sure your end too,” Corinne Donahue, project manager for the state’s mobility management team, wrote to transit board members Dec. 5. “One item to consider is reviewing or quietly requesting from the insurance company the policy to see if there is coverage for employee theft/embezzlement.”

Days later, Department of Transportation staff flagged missing signatures on paperwork submitted by Stewart for monthly federal and state reimbursements. Receipts and fuel invoices were missing. Revenue and deposits didn’t match up. Pay stubs were incorrect.

Then board leaders say they discovered transit funds going toward personal spending, including casinos, airline tickets and hotels.

By Dec. 15, Stewart was suspended. A day later, police issued an arrest warrant. They haven’t yet located him.

“This is still an ongoing investigation, and there’s some questions that can only be answered by speaking with him,” said Todd Volk, Madison County Sheriff.

In the meantime, bus riders have had to find another way around Madison County.

Cecilia Herada, a single mom of two, relied on public transit to get her children to daycare and herself to work.

Now Herada has to rely on a patchwork of rides from bus driver Schlecht, who sometimes gives her a post-shift lift in his car, and from her relatives.

She’s far from alone. Norfolk’s bus system allowed car-less college students to get to class. Senior citizens unable to drive used it to get to dialysis appointments. It served as a key part of independent living for individuals with disabilities, Norfolk leaders say.

“They were kind of left stranded,” said Jesus Trejo of the Salvation Army. “That sudden stop of services … was devastating.”

A few local Good Samaritans are now trying to help.

Just two weeks after North Fork Area Transit suspended services, Norfolk city council member Shane Clausen and his brother Aaron began the Fellowship Transit – after buying a lone 14-passenger bus they found on Facebook Marketplace.

“Lo and behold, we were in the transit business,” Shane Clausen said.

The bus is free, with operating costs paid out of the Clausens’ pockets and from small local donations. It’s only a short-term fix, Shane Clausen said.

“Our goal is to only operate (until) NFAT gets up and going again,” he said.

Ponca Express, a bus service run by the Ponca Tribe, had already been offering an appointment-based bus service in Norfolk. They’ve continued running, but are spread thin now that North Fork Area Transit is in limbo, Donahue said.

This week, the Norfolk City Council pledged $150,000 if the bus service nonprofit is able to raise the remaining money to match the Carson Foundation’s $500,000 matching grant.

If the bus system can’t raise enough funds, the board will have to decide whether to shut down entirely or declare bankruptcy, Donahue said.

As the bus service’s future hangs in the balance, Schlect continues to drive the bus bought by the Clausens every weekday. He listens to classic rock as he takes riders to their destinations.

In the middle of his route, an ad interrupts the music: “Our community needs North Fork Area Transit,” the voice says. “And now is the time to show your support.”

Schlecht turns the volume up on the commercial, points to the speakers and steers the bus to his next stop.

The "Flatwater free press" is Nebraska’s first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.