[b said:
Quote[/b] ]To tell you the truth I'm not sure who is who myself. Bug asked me to take over as president and I accepted. I also have Pak helping every step of the way, because I need it. That is where we are right not. The board will be built back up, as soon as we get our ducks in a row and figure out which way we are headed.
There’s that “we” again.
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Posted by Copper on June 16 2005,3:31
Okay, Here is the scolding thread
How things must work-
Non-profit and Profit = making money for the owners and making money for the society (for improvements, growth and all the many necessities).
For both profit and non-profit there must be a board if it is a cooperate. The board is the head of the body, which if the conservancy. I know that everyone wants this up and going right now, but that is not happening.
The whys? The board is not function(al). A body without a head dies. Is that what is envisioned for the NASC? Through all the board meetings only three of the board members have consistantly been at the meetings. More than that, there are board members promising positions and making connections behind the board's back. Everything must be brought to the board or there is only chaos with one end working against the other. Make up your minds if this dream is to become a reality and the take the steps to make it so. There must be an end to decisions being made by one or two people.
Well 0zzy, there was an active Board. Several of those individuals seemed to "fall off the face of the earth" as pertained to the NASC. I know who all of those members were and you should have known who they were too as you attended meetings religiously as did I. As time wore on, many of those people disappeared, quietly slipping out a cyber back door. Some were frustrated with the perceived unwillingness of some members to follow protocol, some for perceived lack of decorum, others for fear of being exposed to liability created as a result of the Board's perceived unwillingness to pursue Casper, and others for reasons unknown but there were a few left. Perhaps I should rephrase my question to ask who hasn't resigned from the Executive Board to date? 0zzy, It would appear that you are still active as both the Chair of Conservancy as well as the Finance Chair and now you are also Bugweed’s choice for President being assisted by PAK. We all saw PAK resign from her position as Secretary in an open thread but now she is active again and assisting you in this new role? I checked Copper’s profile to see when she had last logged on and much to my surprise found her photo and avatar no longer existed. I began re-reading those threads that I posted links to in their entirety as well as a few other threads and some logs of Board Meetings and to be quite blunt, it would appear the NASC has lost Copper as the Vice President of the NASC. Gee, I wonder why. Could it be her authority was undermined when people repeatedly acted outside the Board? Bugweed has evidently resigned and assigned you as President. Not that you aren’t a fine choice but wait a second here, why didn’t Bugweed call a meeting of the last known Board members, nominate you, and let it go to a vote?
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Posted by PlantAKiss on June 21 2005,1:13
There is a place for the younger members for sure but we need to get more organized and flesh out what we want to accomplish and how that will be done before we start giving anyone "official" assignments. We have had people working on various things in the past but that is kind of on hold for now.
What happened to everything being on hold?
I for one am very uncomfortable with whatever is going on right now as it appears there is activity (reorganization & web site building) without accountability. It doesn’t appear anyone even attempted to call the Board to begin meeting again to vote on a direction and that would be why no minutes were posted in this forum or sent out to the mail group in the past few months. Heck, there wasn't even an approved "Mission Statement" in place just a few months ago yet pamphlets are being distributed again? So exactly who is this “we” starting up again without laying the foundation? You and PAK? Sure appears Rose hit the nail on the head. She commented there were people out there promising positions and making connections without the Board and by gosh by golly, it just happened again. This is not only unprofessional but it might give the appearance of politics as usual, that good old boy network that may have cost the NASC dedicated volunteers the first year they tried to open up shop and again this year. A unified front is what is going to be necessary to recover ground. I believe the Board has/had a fiduciary responsibility to its membership to pursue Casper. Any past or present Board member who can’t make the connection right about now may be exposing themselves to liability. Who needs that type of grief? Seems as if there are too many friendships out there, either perceived or actual, that are creating one conflict of interest after the next ad this spells disaster. April commented on "transparency" as pertained to not for profits in the past. Colieo shared comments made by his Dad a while ago that outlined what was at stake here. I have long suspected that Casper is logging on as a guest to read all that goes on here so perhaps it is time to take this into consideration and if you are a board member who received regular group e-mails in the past where he was included in the NASC mail group, ask yourselves why it was that none of the e-mail sent to him ever bounced back as undeliverable? No mailer daemon failures? No recipient unknown, no at capacity, no nothing. Now if any of you use delivery receipt software, ask yourself who was opening up and reading his e-mails? Now ask yourselves why no obituary or missing person’s reports to be found?
So, I guess I am back to who really is "we"? Please unveil the shroud of secrecy because there are a lot of people out there who contributed to that auction in good faith thinking Bugweed was the President and Copper was the Vice President and that there was a viable Executive Board. They participated because they had faith in the leadership as well as the members who were actively involved at the time. Transparency eliminates the image that the NASC is some clique that organized to grow plants and go on “rescues” to spread around to “their” favorites.
There's another issue out there that is currently unresolved for me. A long time ago, I had a domain registered for the NASC for three years. I did this in good faith and with the approval of the Board because I saw a Board forming that was meeting regularly and moving forward and there were open lines of communication. That domain was registered, it is
www.NASarracenia.org Check it out, it is still nothingness. Rose provided her contact information and PAK was asked to provide hers but never did. I was then asked to provide my information. I believe I am on that domain registration and I quite frankly would like to get my name off.
Free webhosting was also donated with unlimited server space to include but not limited to free 1 GIG e-mail addresses for every Executive Board Member, regular Board member, and volunteer of the NASC provisional upon the NASC acquiring that not for profit status. Acquiring not for profit status is no easy feat as I am sure Rob from Botanique can attest. Basically, if there is no forward movement by the end of this year, I’d like to free that server up so the space can be made available to a viable not for profit. It seems fair given the most recent revelations.
Perhaps it is time to take a close look at the people who tried to help. Although I believe it was not the intent of the past or present Board to do anything but use the money for conservation, I for one am feeling duped and by the looks of the few posts above… I am not alone. If I would have had any idea it would have come to this I certainly wouldn’t have purchased plants to be able to donate to that auction to be put up for bid to help generate funds for an organization that can’t seem to get off the ground because of the mystery and intrigue created when Casper exited stage left. That being said, perhaps it is time to figure out who is left from the Board and maybe the Board should seriously consider donating the proceeds to The Nature Conservancy or even to Botanique or to any place that will use those funds consistent with the spirit in which they came to exist.
Here’s the problem and I doubt it is going to go away-
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Posted by Colieo on June 22 2005,11:13
I'm not truely involved in this, but with the word "audit" flying around so much, I wanted to ask my father (an IRS regional manager) what the implacations could be for something like this, just to make sure we truly grasped what an audit would involve. (First off, April, your right, he says it is a 501-C3.) I explained to him the situation with the NASC and Casper. I personaly do not see Casper making-off with the money (Remember, INNOCENT until proven guilty) but that is to be found out later; but if he did, my dad argrees that he has opened himself up to a lot of trouble. Mail fraud, tax exasion, embezzlement, state, local and federal tax dues...ect. However, as the situation is that Casper would have been stealing the money from the NASC, my father doesn't feel that the NASC has much to worry about at this point. He feels that Casper would be the target of any IRS audit, not NASC.
Cole
Now it is many months later and money was collected from a second auction. What would Colieo’s Dad have to say about that since the NASC isn’t even a registered corporation and who wants to go down on the record as being an Executive Officer under these circumstances regardless of whether it is a “for profit corp” or a “not for profit corp”? And in my mind there does still exist the issue of a Board’s fiduciary responsibility to its membership… those people who offered and bid on plants at these auctions.
This whole situation is incredibly frustrating, disappointing, and depressing to me. I was sort of looking forward to contributing to an education sub committee or committee. Who would have ever thought that missing money could have caused so much trouble? But this does not negate that a licensed practicing attorney from the state of incorporation should have been involved in this process a long time ago to insulate the Board, protect its membership, and to ensure the success of the NASC for years to come.
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Posted by PlantAKiss on June 21 2005,8:46 ... Not one of us who is on the board has any experience creating, organizing and running a not-for-profit organization. So what do you expect? No one is a business expert. No one is a legal expert. No one is a conservation expert. If any of you out there ARE experts in these areas...we could sure use your help!"
There’s that “we” again.
She was right though, many people who had the experience of creating, organizing, and running not for profits appear to have bailed ship while many others who may have wanted to contribute sat back waiting to see what the heck was going to happen next before they stuck their necks out. These people have been alienated. So everyone is running scared thanks to dear darling Casper and the people stuck holding the bag had nothing to do with the disappearance of that money. I wish the best for the NASC but reality check… appearances are everything.
And wolf9striker, you seem like a nice person. Suggestion since the lines of communication have deteriorated to such a point that it appears no one will have all the pieces of the puzzle to be able to get the whole picture of what’s happening ever since Casper disappeared… please consider letting the current Executive Board assemble and collectively decide to pursue Casper.