[amsat-bb] AMSAT Leadership Explanation ...
Kevin
wa7fwf at gmail.com
Sun Jul 12 19:45:12 UTC 2020
Dave,
I agree with you 100%, and also call for both to resign.
Kevin WA7FWF #19623
On 7/12/2020 12:03 PM, David Swanson via AMSAT-BB wrote:
> Director Thompson,
>
> You and Director Stoddard harassed and intimidated members of the board
> pre-2019 election. Fact.
> The pre-2019 Election board hired attorneys to deal with your intimidation
> and harassment. Fact.
> Every member of the pre-2019 Election board signed a letter, stating they
> were aware of the legal expenses. Fact.
> After you and Director Stoddard were elected to the board in 2019 you
> continued to harass and intimidate officers and board members of AMSAT.
> Fact.
>
> No matter what type of spin you put on this, no matter how many times you
> repeat your lies, you and director Stoddard are in the wrong here, and
> should resign immediately.
>
> Members of AMSAT that are reading this and wanting to know what they can
> do, it's simple. Do not vote for the candidates endorsed by Director
> Thompson and Director Stoddard in 2020. Call on Director Thompson and
> Director Stoddard publicly to resign. If they do not resign, do not return
> them to the board in 2021. With these simple steps AMSAT can return
> spending your membership dollars on keeping amateur radio in space, instead
> of defending against disgruntled former volunteers with bones to pick.
>
> -Dave, KG5CCI
>
> On Sun, Jul 12, 2020 at 12:30 PM Michelle Thompson via AMSAT-BB <
> amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:
>
>> Yes, I can try. You are correct. There is, and definitely should be,
>> latitude for ordinary day to day budgeted expenditures.
>>
>> An unauthorized expense is when money was spent for something it was not
>> allocated for, or if the amount spent goes over a set amount.
>>
>> Both cases occur here. There was a $4k overage to a consulting firm. The
>> first $10k was properly authorized. But, officers just kept spending past
>> the limit.
>>
>> Hiring a law firm needs to be carefully documented, especially when
>> historically legal expenses are often zero.
>>
>> Authorized and expected costs include things like trademark and regulatory
>> consulting and review.
>>
>> Anything out of the ordinary, an unusual or unanticipated reason, or
>> something regarding liability, loss, and many personnel decisions, needs
>> authorization.
>>
>> The authorization for FD Associates appears in AMSAT meeting minutes.
>>
>> Hiring Hurwit does not appear in the minutes.
>>
>> A variety of unusual and personally motivated expenses followed.
>>
>> Targeting individual members (the denial of access, the NDA runaround, the
>> false claims of conflicts of interest were all advised by Hurwit) and then
>> attempting to move these expenses to "overhead", is an unauthorized and
>> improper use of member money.
>>
>> Mentioning us by name in payments, and grossly mischaracterizing mild
>> complaints and requests for help as deserving of a nuclear response, is an
>> unethical use of money.
>>
>> The board needed to go on the record about this contract, given the very
>> unusual nature of the expenses which did not fit into a budgeted or
>> recurring category, but they did not.
>>
>> I understand you may discount my opinion.
>>
>> That is why we hired a corporate governance specialist who reviewed
>> everything. She also wrote the demand letter that finally got me and
>> Patrick access to records in early February, four and a half months after
>> we were supposed to start our terms.
>>
>> She reviewed the additional documents we now had access to and explained
>> that some expensss were unauthorized and improper.
>>
>> We made our case to the board, looking to resolve this. They were silent
>> and completely uncooperative, until recently.
>>
>> The change happened when we asked to see copies of all the Hurwit checks.
>>
>> I campaigned for transparency. Without financial transparency, many other
>> things simply don't work well.
>>
>> I'm optimistic there can be meaningful improvement.
>>
>> -Michelle W5NYV
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Jul 12, 2020, 09:14 Rich Gopstein <rich at ourowndomain.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Could you clarify "unauthorized"? Not disclosing the expenditure after
>>> the fact is different from authorization. Just trying to understand why
>>> the expenditures were not authorized. I took a look at the bylaws, and
>>> it's clear that officers can be given latitude to make expenditures on
>>> behalf of AMSAT without board approval for each expenditure (as you would
>>> expect - it would be impractical for the board to have to approve every
>>> expenditure).
>>>
>>> Rich
>>> KD2CQ
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sun, Jul 12, 2020 at 11:20 AM Michelle Thompson via AMSAT-BB <
>>> amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> The unauthorized expenditures have been admitted to.
>>>>
>>>> Months of attempts to call a board meeting and address it internally
>> have
>>>> been made.
>>>>
>>>> This failed.
>>>>
>>>> Legal advice was sought. We proceeded carefully, and documented what we
>>>> did
>>>> along the way.
>>>>
>>>> This worked.
>>>>
>>>> Patrick and I are in the clear.
>>>>
>>>> The officer and employee who signed these checks are not.
>>>>
>>>> They claim the entire board knew about it.
>>>>
>>>> There are no records of this contract. It was not disclosed to us when
>> we
>>>> joined. Adding in denial of access, we have problems only an election
>> can
>>>> solve.
>>>>
>>>> Unlike other things we do, this isn't rocket science.
>>>>
>>>> Speaking up to give members a chance to get a functional board, before
>> an
>>>> election, is simply the right thing to do.
>>>>
>>>> I didn't select the weekend the nominations to the board were announced.
>>>>
>>>> Preferring I resign instead of allowing a large amount of unrepentantly
>>>> unauthorized spending to continue is a mistake. Understandable though.
>>>> This
>>>> is upsetting. Please try not to shoot the messengers too many times.
>>>>
>>>> Members should get real value out of the membership. They should not
>> have
>>>> to pay for secretly hired law firms. Especially for such trivial and
>>>> easily
>>>> resolved reasons.
>>>>
>>>> Criticism isn't an existential crisis. Unauthorized spending definitely
>>>> is.
>>>>
>>>> If members agree with spending their money this way, then they will vote
>>>> to
>>>> return the same people to their jobs.
>>>>
>>>> I have faith in great potential for improvement. There are candidates
>> that
>>>> will follow the law and the bylaws and were willing to step forward.
>>>> Robert, Howie, and Jeff.
>>>>
>>>> We are fortunate to have a choice. This year it makes a big difference.
>>>>
>>>> Michelle W5NYV
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Sat, Jul 11, 2020, 00:52 Alan via AMSAT-BB <amsat-bb at amsat.org>
>> wrote:
>>>>> I read the recent allegations by Directors Stoddard and Thompson of
>>>>> improper
>>>>> behavior on the part of some AMSAT Officers and Directors with
>> concern,
>>>> but
>>>>> also caution. Concern, because nothing remotely similar has occurred
>> in
>>>> the
>>>>> 30+ years I have been a Member and sometimes Board Member. Caution,
>>>> because
>>>>> the nature of the accusations and particularly the timing during a
>>>> holiday
>>>>> week in the AMSAT election cycle had all the hallmarks of a cynical
>>>>> political hit. That is now the most plausible explanation. If they
>>>> believed
>>>>> the serious allegations to be true, it was irresponsible not to have
>>>>> brought
>>>>> them to the attention of the Members before now. These accusations
>> were
>>>>> either carefully crafted for maximum political effect, or to put the
>>>> most
>>>>> charitable face on it, represent genuinely honest concern but
>> egregious
>>>>> errors in judgement by the accusers.
>>>>>
>>>>> I call on Directors Thompson and Stoddard, in light of these
>> unwarranted
>>>>> accusations, to apologize publically to both those they have so
>>>> grievously
>>>>> misrepresented, and to the Members for the harm they have caused
>> AMSAT.
>>>> It
>>>>> would be honorable to resign because of how badly they have broken
>> trust
>>>>> with the organization and its Members. Lacking that, at a minimum they
>>>>> should pledge not to seek reelection. If as they claim they represent
>> a
>>>>> vision with wide support, surely they can find genuinely qualified
>>>>> candidates to replace them without their baggage.
>>>>>
>>>>> Hopefully AMSAT Members will consider carefully which current Board
>>>>> candidates have either expressed support for these failed Directors,
>> or
>>>>> been
>>>>> endorsed by them. There are other, better, proven candidates.
>>>>>
>>>>> Alan Biddle
>>>>> WA4SCA
>>>>> Past Board Member and Corporate Secretary
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
>>>>> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership.
>>>> Opinions
>>>>> expressed
>>>>> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views
>> of
>>>>> AMSAT-NA.
>>>>> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite
>>>> program!
>>>>> Subscription settings:
>> https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
>>>> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership.
>>>> Opinions expressed
>>>> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
>>>> AMSAT-NA.
>>>> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite
>> program!
>>>> Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
>>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
>> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions
>> expressed
>> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of
>> AMSAT-NA.
>> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
>> Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Sent via AMSAT-BB at amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed
> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA.
> Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program!
> Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
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