Several questions have arisen since NewspaperTree.com reported last week that a former El Paso Museum of Art employee was allowed to resign in January after city officials found she allegedly had been stealing money.

Why, people have asked, was Rosy Buenning allowed to resign instead of being fired?

And why hasn’t she been arrested and indicted in the five months since she quit her job if, as alleged, she embezzled more than $100,000 from the Museum of Art’s private foundation and more than $10,000 from the city?

Buenning, who worked more than 21 years for the city, allegedly admitted she had been embezzling money for most of the 2 years and seven months she spent in the Museum & Cultural Affairs Department, City Manager Joyce Wilson said.

But, Buenning initially indicated that only about $20,000 was involved, Wilson said, and it took a months-long audit and follow up investigation to determine that the sum allegedly exceeded $100,000.

“I understand that there may be a lot of buzz,” Wilson said regarding the questions about the case. “But, the reality is that when she is arrested and charged with the crime, we want to make sure it is for the maximum amount of fraud that we can document in order to convict for a maximum penalty. That is the reason for the delay in making an arrest.

“She left employment immediately after we became aware of the matter, and all other actions taken were done expeditiously, including the referral to the legal authority.”

Responding by e-mail to written questions from Newspaper Tree, Wilson said Buenning “wasn’t given any special treatment, and we (management) have been pressing for an arrest. However, it is up to the district attorney to proceed with charges based on evidence provided.”

As for allowing Buenning to resign rather than firing her, Wilson said, “We often accept resignations in lieu of termination conditioned upon the employee foregoing appeal rights to the Civil Service Commission and forfeiture of other rights.”

The city’s Human Resources director, Linda Thomas, wrote in an e-mail: “We let her resign in lieu of termination with a caveat that she cannot return to City employment ever.

“In order to resign in lieu of termination, she waived all Civil Service rights to appeal or petition to work for the city again. We could have gone through the termination process and perhaps ended with the same results.”

As for why Buenning has yet to be arrested, Police Department spokesman Javier Sambrano said: “The hold up right now is the grand jury. The case has been presented to a grand jury, but they haven’t come back with a decision yet.”

[Reporter's note: Officer Chris Mears, another Police Department spokesman called Newspaper Tree after this article was posted May 28 to say the case against Buenning has not been presented to a grand jury. Police investigators, he said, are waiting on information from Buenning's bank was subpoenaed through a grand jury. Note added at 12.10 p.m. May 29]

Radio talk show host Barbara Perez told her listeners Tuesday that Wilson allowed Buenning to resign rather than firing her because Wilson and Buenning are close friends and so Buenning could keep the pension she earned in more than 21 years with the city.

Wilson said neither statement is true.

For one thing, Wilson said, a city employee’s pension is not affected by a charge of theft, whether the employee resigns or is fired.

For another, Buenning is not entitled to a pension because she has no money left in her pension account.

“While she worked for the city overall for 20 plus years, she had breaks in service and withdrew her individual pension fund contributions, so she doesn't have a pension from the city now,” Wilson said. “Also, being convicted of a crime would not have stopped her pension if she was getting one.”

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To reach David Crowder, write to dcrowder@epmediagroup.com or call (915) 351-0605, ext. 30