[Vision2020] Missionary Has History of Troubles

[Tom Hansen]

I would like to preface this posting with an apology to Saundra Lund for
implying that a citation referencing her claim that the missionary Laura
Silsby has a troubled history does not exist.

Truth be told, there are several citations supporting Saundra's claim.

My apologies.

That said . . .

Courtesy of today's (February 5, 2010) Spokesman-Review.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Missionary has history of troubles
For Silsby, Haiti arrest follows lawsuits, money woes
By Katy Moeller, McClatchy

BOISE – The Idaho woman who led a group of 10 Baptists on a mission to
help children in Haiti admits to failing to obtain paperwork needed to
move 33 children to the Dominican Republic.

But even before Laura L. Silsby and seven other Idahoans ended up in a
Haitian jail accused of trafficking in children, Silsby had a history of
failing to pay debts, failing to pay her employees and failing even to
follow Idaho laws.

Silsby has been the subject of eight civil lawsuits and 14 unpaid wage
claims. The $358,000 Meridian, Idaho, house at which she founded her
nonprofit New Life Children’s Refuge in November was foreclosed upon in
December. A check of Silsby’s driving record revealed at least nine
traffic citations since 1997, including four for failing to provide
insurance or register annually.

Silsby is a longtime Idaho businesswoman. In 1999, she founded an Internet
business. As CEO of PersonalShopper.com, the mother of three was named
eWomenNetwork’s international businesswoman of the year in 2006.

Three years later, building an orphanage for Haitian and Dominican
children became Silsby’s vision, and the 40-year-old brought others on
board, including her 24-year-old nanny, Charisa Coulter.

“The folks in the church embraced their vision, and it became a shared
vision,” said Coulter’s father, Mel. “The church made it part of their
missions program.” But Silsby’s failure to work with Haitian authorities
before trying to take children from the country last week has many
questioning the woman and the cause.

Members of her church, Central Valley Baptist in Meridian, did not return
calls Wednesday.

An e-mail circulated Wednesday at PersonalShopper.com urged employees not
to speak to the press or post any information on Web sites. “Given the
aggressive nature of the press and the fabrications already being
invented, we need to make sure nothing in writing is published that can be
misconstrued in any way,” the e-mail says. Employees also were given the
option to work from home to avoid reporters.

Fourteen claims, including two by the same employee, were filed against
Personal Shopper Inc. for nonpayment of wages between March 14, 2008, and
July 21, 2009, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.

Those claims led to nine liens against Personal Shopper Inc. The
determination involved $21,460 in wages and $6,000 in penalties.

Five were appealed, dismissed or dropped.

The business’s former marketing director, Robin Oliver, of Eagle, Idaho,
filed a civil suit against Silsby and Personal Shopper Inc. in October for
alleged unpaid wages, wrongful termination and fraud.

The suit says that Oliver was promised an annual salary of $110,000, with
twice-monthly payments of $4,583.33. The suit alleges that Personal
Shopper was delinquent on five payments, for a total unpaid wage claim of
$22,016.65.

-------------

Laura Silsby, left, flashes a thumbs-up to reporters Thursday as she and
Charisa Coulter, both of Meridian, Idaho, sit in a Haitian police truck
taking them back to jail in Port-au-Prince.

http://tinyurl.com/Laura-Silsby

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown