Whistle blowers call for financial accountability

[NO LEFT TURN]

When the Coronado Neighborhood Association makes wise decisions and does meaningful things, as I believe they have done in many respects, they deserve support. And when the Coronado Neighborhood Association makes mistakes and mischaracterizes community members as they have over the past year then they deserve an answer. Since now a year later these actions continue to "haunt me" and be used by certain individuals to mischaracterize myself and Michelle with the manipulation of the informaional resourses of the Coronado Neighborhood Assocaition.

When Michelle and I were elected to the board in May, 2008, it was discovered that there was an accrued balance of combined receivables of over $8000 from the home tour and the Dispatch advertising. $8000 was missing from the treasury! Fully one-third of the entire association budget!
What you will hear constantly from 07-08 Dispatch committee, who at the time consisted of Andrea Delgado, Don Mertes and Maureen Rooney, is that receivables in a business that uses the accrual method of accounting is commonplace. This is true as the money flows in and out of an organization on a monthly basis. What is not commonplace and is definitely unique to this situation is that the accrual method of accounting is being used to the advantage of particular individuals in leadership, specifically allowing accrual beyond a monthly basis. You hear of this often in the newspapers across America, and recently here in Arizona. What is not common and what was not acceptable to Michelle and me, was that this is what had apparently gone on in the GCNA. The monies owed and the goods and services rendered in good faith to Don Mertes for his Dispatch advertising, and advertising of certain other individuals, were allowed to accrue/accumulate over an extended period of time and were not disclosed to the elected board or to the membership of the organization, by design. In Don’s explanation at the August meeting, which was intentionally deleted from the minutes, was that “the then President Dianne Brennan had made special arrangements with the Dispatch Committee and Don himself, to allow him to continue to accrue/accumulate debt to the association and continue to advertise in the Dispatch without paying for it.” An ebb and flow of finances for the Dispatch and/or the Home tour are acceptable, allowing those in control to benefit financially from their elected board/committee position, most certainly is not.

Once we were elected and once we discovered this misuse of power, we were asked to keep this from the membership and to essentially do nothing with this information. Yet as newly elected members of the Board of the organization, we were taking on the responsibility of the undisclosed, accumulated receivables, while those actually responsible for the missing money had summarily resigned their positions just prior to the election, absolving themselves of any responsibility for this discrepancy.

Both Michelle and I asked for and were denied, access to any records that could shed any light as to what had actually happened. We felt that as duly elected board members, we had a fiduciary responsibility to the organization and to ourselves to rectify the situation. Stonewalled, strong armed and basically denied any information to which we were entitled for the entire month of May, the private exchanges between us and the Dispatch committee, Dianne Brennan, and the Treasurer naturally escalated in tone.

Matt Conn made it his business to portray Michelle and me in the worst possible light in the July general meeting minutes and accused us of being responsible for the resignations of Dianne Brennan, and the treasurer, Patricia McElroy but of course left out why the tone had escalated to the degree that It had. If you take a moment and read the minutes of the meeting in June, you will see that Michelle and I chose to do what we believed was the right thing, and not make public the misuse of the organization’s funds. We had been asked to keep quiet about the year long accumulated receivables of Don Mertes, which had reached a combined total of over $4000, or over half of the total accrued receivables, which by that time had been paid for by one of the other Dispatch Committee members, Andrea Delgado. Instead, I presented a positive vision for what the organization could accomplish in the up coming year. At that time, neither of us mentioned anything regarding the accrued/accumulated receivables or the deliberate attempt to keep the membership in the dark about the $8000 of missing money that had been allowed to accumulate during the previous year.

Lo and behold, we were in the middle of real live staged mutiny. A new election was being called! No announcement, no notice, but some great theater! Unannounced to the general membership, and as a surprise to us, members had been strategically placed and coached to call for a new election, and to also call for the formation of a new Bylaws Committee, when it became clear that they did not like the recommendations coming from the current committee which, Michelle and I served on. Coincidence? Maybe. It seems Michelle and I had gotten too close, had uncovered too much and were about to spill the beans and something had to be done! I guess I should just be glad I did not wake up to a severed horse head in my bed.

Michelle and I had been working with the appointed committee for months, formulating recommended bylaws amendments that consisted of broader, more inclusive membership, greater accountability regarding conflict of interest issues with board and committee members and in general, more disclosure to the membership as a whole. We ended up being the examples to others of what happens when a member or board member attempts to bring transparency and accountability to those who are benefitting from the structure of the existing power.

If you review the May pre-election minutes where I volunteered to run, you will see the names of those who may have been a little nervous voicing opposition to my becoming a member of the board. The June, 2008 meeting became an opportunity for those to exact their anger and resentment on those who dared to run and take seriously their commitment to the board, complete with punishment. There was even an exclusive, invitation only gathering at Maureen Rooney’s home after the July meeting to which a past Board member inadvertently invited a reporter from the Arizona Republic telling him that they would be “strategizing to make sure Wayne and Michelle do not remain on the board”.

The July, 2008 meeting was rife with personal attacks. At the June meeting, I had created a power point presentation entitled “Here Comes the Neighborhood” which provided vital information to the membership regarding our community, and as promised as a newly elected board member, a new direction to lead to a better place. I saw that on the July agenda, Vice-President, Matt Conn had inserted an agenda item entitled “There Goes the Neighborhood Association”, a sophomoric parody of my presentation designed to humiliate Michelle and me. I had officially requested, as a fellow board member, that Matt Conn not continue with his mockery and personal attack of my June presentation in which I tried to lay out a positive vision for Coronado. It was at that point that I decided that now, having been effectively removed from the by-laws committee and seeing all of our work dismissed and not wanting to continue to serve as a volunteer for an organization which allowed a small group to fleece the association and continue to do so unchecked, I was done and the new election could go ahead without me. Both Michelle and I had decided that the board for the upcoming year would be responsible for attempting to collect funds that we had no responsibility in accruing.
The July meeting proceeded as planned, and the August, 2008 elections resulted in the installation of a secretary that would not keep accurate, current minutes, would eliminate portions of what transpired at the general meetings and not disclose what was being discussed at the board meetings, not to mention never making the minutes public. They also elected a treasurer who would continue to play the game of “Hide the Money”, consistent with the non-transparent operations of the financial goings on (beyond the occasional statement of the balance in the checking account) and who would continue denying access to any of the financial records of the organization to which members were legally entitled. In other words, another stooge.

I am posting this information to the minutes because at the August, 2008 meeting, I was allowed a brief moment to rebut these accusations. I agreed to not continue the explanations at that meeting if the handout that I presented at the meeting as a companion piece to the power point presentation was included in the meeting minutes. It was voted on and agreed that it would be. It was not. Once Elizabeth Compton was elected as secretary, the minutes as recorded by the former secretary Mike Slaven, were changed and the handout was excluded from the record, and the ten minute explanation by Don Mertes on the permission and actions of the former Dispatch Committee and president Dianne Brennan were removed. Here is that handout :
http://www.coronadoneighborhood.com/Ratero_Reporter/Crossed%20the%20line.html
Upon my request, a paragraph was included in the revisions to the October minutes, put at the bottom half of a PDF identified as the Financial Report. Not the handout itself which I had requested to be included in the August minutes when the opportunity to explain my and Michelle’s position were shouted down by the Duck Call from the Vice president. This inclusion was voted on at the time and just dismissed by the newly elected Secretary. Here is a link to that handout.
What I have learned is that no one, not members, or even elected board members should ever dare question the motivations and actions of certain individuals involved as committee members. What others have learned, and what is most likely the real reason for the lack of participation in the organization is that involvement is only allowed at the whims of a few and only by those handpicked by them. And those few retain control because of the substantial benefit they reap from it, using the GCNA as their own private bank. They misuse the accrual method of accounting, accruing debt themselves and for others, then expect other board members and volunteers to act as collection agents for them or they work on fundraising events to pay down these accruals. Since they are expected to do the work as board members, it makes them look good to the members, especially when they can sing their own praises in the publication they are misusing in the first place. Which by the way they continue to do as is evidenced by the current BUZZ, for their ongoing and selfless community service while extending themselves the maximum credit allowed yet again for this fiscal year. Brilliant!

These few people also design processes that benefit them and allow them to continue to push their personal neighborhood agendas. They volunteer to write the policies that will put them in limelight with the city. One example is the voting process for letters of endorsement for city and private projects and the use of city funds granted for the use by the community. They write the language and railroad it through the process with the expectation that volunteers and members accept without question the dictates of a few, policies that may even be contrary to their own best interest. They do this as a last minute addition to the agenda or behind the scenes as a board, excluding the general membership completely or at a meeting at which the information has not been posted so there is no participation or an open, public process.

One need only look at the current state of the organization’s receivables at the time of this posting, and the nine month process to develop a policy to endorse projects, to see what the influence of these few members has been.

It is unfortunate that my motivations are unfairly characterized as fishing expeditions and witch hunts, distracting others, especially new board members, from seeing how these members have used the association for their personal gain. Since my motivation is portrayed as sinister, any request for financial information is met with stonewalling, and bully tactics. It is clear to me that if it is in the board’s interest to spend time and energy painting me as some sort of insurgent and work so hard to keep me from seeing information to which I am entitled, there must be something to hide. Why else would they not just open the books to me? This entire situation could have been avoided; it really does beg the question.

I was sent a painfully clear message last summer, and it appears that given the opportunity for a change in direction, the organization through its continued biased briefings of the newly elected board members, that nothing has changed. I only hope that the new leadership will take the time to review the past, in light of all of the facts, actually research the available information, and not just accept as truth what they have been told. It is the only way that the organization will ever be able to move forward and not continue to repeat the same mistakes of being consumed with receivable collections, financial manipulation, and representative power and control issues. It is time to move toward fiscal financial responsibility, transparency, and a community where all opinions are respected and no-one speaks on behalf of others in an attempt to censor and manipulate.

Recently, Michelle attempted to request from the new president, financial information to attempt to understand some obvious discrepancies and was again stonewalled and denied. She has chosen to walk away from sheer frustration and the belief that the GCNA is pretty insignificant as these things go. I on the other hand view the situation that if the Coronado Neighborhood Association is going to be the recipient of scarce city resources, and stand as the association that represents the community as a 501c on-profit, they must adhere to the rules and regulations that were set forth by the I.R.S. and state law and as well as maintain the ethical responsibilities that are inherent in a charitable organization created to serve the people..

I look forward to working with the new board members, especially Bob Meitz whom I have heard works with the ACLU and would understand the difference between a manufactured “witch hunt” designed to divert attention, and scapegoat those who do not deserve it and a legitimate request for information regarding the finances of a non-profit neighborhood organization. I will make that request September 7th 2009 unless I can obtain the co-operation of the board before then.

Feel free to visit my community website to see what I have contributed to the Coronado Neighborhood:
http://www.coronadoneighborhood.com/

Wayne Murray

[president]

Michelle was not denied information.

She was no longer permitted to email me with personal insults. There at the time were 6 other persons she could request the information from. She was told so, as were you.

[Wonkette]

Well, if that's true Tom then why wasn't she given access to the financial information she requested? Seems to me, someone has something to hide.

[NO LEFT TURN]

Perhaps Tom with all this interest in the subject "'The time has come,' the Walrus said, 'To talk of many things: Of shoes--and ships--and sealing wax-- Of cabbages--and kings-- And why the sea is boiling hot-- And whether pigs have wings.'" --Tweedledee; "Through the Looking Glass".

With my apologies to those who maybe have arrived behind the looking glass from one of the other communication lists to contextual posting on E-Hood Coronado here:

http://www.coronadoneighborhood.com/Ratero_Reporter/March_Hare.html



Hatter engaging in rhetoric
Your hair wants cutting,' said the Hatter. He had been looking at Alice for some time with great curiosity, and this was his first speech.
`You should learn not to make personal remarks,' Alice said with some severity; `it's very rude.'
The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he said was, `Why is a raven like a writing-desk?'
`Come, we shall have some fun now!' thought Alice. `I'm glad they've begun asking riddles.--I believe I can guess that,' she added aloud.
`Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?' said the March Hare.
`Exactly so,' said Alice.
`Then you should say what you mean,' the March Hare went on.
`I do,' Alice hastily replied; `at least--at least I mean what I say--that's the same thing, you know.'
`Not the same thing a bit!' said the Hatter. `You might just as well say that "I see what I eat" is the same thing as "I eat what I see"!'

RateroReporter