The Cadets and GH history of sexual abuse (news article)

[Jeff Ream]

2 hours ago, MusicManNJ said:

It does say that the EEOC reported this to the old board. Which, if true, brings a whole lot of new questions since they old board position has been "We never heard such things before."

And who even knows who the board was then 

[BRASSO]

10 hours ago, Terri Schehr said:

God I hope not. 

 Some  possible good news came out of this otherwise rather sordid, grim depiction in this article from yesterday: Doug Rutherford, the new Chairman of the Board at YEA, informs the reporter that he believes their current probation status will not affect the 2018 Cadets marchers ability to go out on tour and perform/ compete this summer. 'Have to assume he feels confident enough in this to convey that in the interview with this reporter. If so, we at least do have some new  and optimistic info regarding what up to now had been some speculation about this Cadets 2018 ability to go out on tour in some quarters. 'Glad to have this touring confirmed by someone that is actually involved in these proceedings with the DCI HQ as well.

Edited April 15, 2018 by BRASSO

[MusicManNJ]

17 minutes ago, BRASSO said:

 Some  possible good news came out of this otherwise rather sordid, grim depiction in this article from yesterday: Doug Rutherford, the new Chairman of the Board at YEA, informs the reporter that he believes their current probation status will not affect the 2018 Cadets marchers ability to go out on tour and perform/ compete this summer. 'Have to assume he feels confident enough in this to convey that in the interview with this reporter. If so, we at least do have some new  and optimistic info regarding what up to now had been some speculation about this Cadets 2018 ability to go out on tour in some quarters. 'Glad to have this touring confirmed by someone that is actually involved in these proceedings with the DCI HQ as well.

And the plan is to operate all programs as scheduled. More announcements will be coming out shortly.

[rpbobcat]

36 minutes ago, BRASSO said:

 Some  possible good news came out of this otherwise rather sordid, grim depiction in this article from yesterday: Doug Rutherford, the new Chairman of the Board at YEA, informs the reporter that he believes their current probation status will not affect the 2018 Cadets marchers ability to go out on tour and perform/ compete this summer. 'Have to assume he feels confident enough in this to convey that in the interview with this reporter. If so, we at least do have some new  and optimistic info regarding what up to now had been some speculation about this Cadets 2018 ability to go out on tour in some quarters. 'Glad to have this touring confirmed by someone that is actually involved in these proceedings with the DCI HQ as well.

To me DCI's probationary status isn't what could affect the ability to tour this summer.

What I think could potentially affect the Cadets touring ,as well as all YEA programs, is their current financial situation.

I presume ,since all the BOD members are new,their knowledge of YEA's financial situation  was limited to the same public information everyone else could see.

I would hope that, by now,the BOD has engaged a Forensic Accountant to determine exactly where YEA stands financially.

As long as they are on a sound financial footing,there should be nothing to prevent them from touring.

 

 

 

Edited April 15, 2018 by rpbobcat

[BRASSO]

15 minutes ago, rpbobcat said:

To me DCI's probationary status isn't what could affect the ability to tour this summer.

What I think could potentially affect the Cadets touring ,as well as all YEA programs, is their current financial situation.

I presume ,since all the BOD members are new,their knowledge of YEA's financial situation  was limited to the same public information everyone else could see.

I would hope that, by now,the BOD has engaged a Forensic Accountant to determine exactly where YEA stands financially.

 

 

 

 Good point. There is some speculation out there that there is some level of financial debt. Such speculation is bolstered by the fact that as part of the terms, DCI HQ will be looking at the current financials. That said, its assumed Doug Rutherford would have a pretty good idea of where they are at moment financially to state with some level of confidence that there are sufficient funds there to enable the Cadets to go out on their national tour in June. But its likewise true,  that the final arbiter of that will really be DCI HQ itself.

Edited April 15, 2018 by BRASSO

[HockeyDad]

11 minutes ago, BRASSO said:

 Good point. There is some speculation out there that there is some level of financial debt.

Really?  Who is speculating?  Other than you?  How about you man up and instead say, "I speculate that there is some level of financial debt."  Own your statements. 

[garfield]

4 hours ago, MusicManNJ said:

Yes... and know. In the world of financial stability (not something we normally associate with most corps) when comparing YEA to DCI it is clear DCI is on much firmer ground. I also recognize that is not saying much.

I know a little something about the financial health of the drum corps, all of them, and I can tell you that almost every, single corps in the activity is on "firmer ground" than DCI.  While I don't want to presume that you have a literal definition of "firmer ground", I'm not going to hold you to one because I think your general sense is wrong, not specifically your detailed understanding of DCI's finances.

DCI, is a nothing-ness.  Vapor.  Almost entirely air.  It produces nothing itself except the organization of the summer tour and, to the extent permitted by the BoD, "promotion" of the activity.  Without the drum corps' existence, DCI is a big, fat nothing-burger.

This is not an attack on it's ability to do what it's asked to do, it's that "DCI", as you're referencing, "the organization", has a 5-year goal of having 1/2 million dollars in ready funds on its balance sheet.  That may seem like a lot of dollars (remember, it's a GOAL) but it's not, not in reference to it cash flow and not in reference to the financial demands placed on DCI at the beginning of the year.

You have to recognize that the drum corps in DCI have made the decision to have DCI pay out almost all of its net "profit" to the drum corps so they can use it for their productions.  They voted to NOT allow a big reserve to build up in DCI because, in their view, they could use those funds more directly and more efficiently at the local level to do darn-near anything DCI could use it for.

DCI runs a nearly zero-sum year every single year, keeping very little money for itself to use in Indy.  YEA! has a much better financial position that DCI does but they are not unique as most of the mature corps have some retained revenue each year and, if you really want to good education in financial management, go study the 990's for SCV and BD.  Even the smallest financial drum corps is on "firmer ground" because it, as a performing unit, can generate revenue by charging ticket prices for a show.  What can DCI do, in and of itself, to generate revenue?  Nuff said.

There was thread on here some years back related to the 990's for each corps.  The knucklehead author says he's going to update it, but the study revealed some interesting things about the finances of the corps and DCI.  You might search DCP for it...

EDIT:  Sorry, I forgot that DCI does generate revenue by selling media.  But I wonder how that would go if they didn't have corps to perform and record?

(Yes, I know, I'll get to it as soon as my assistant comes back from maternity leave and I can actually devote some time to it.  I'm already reading the '16s and its pretty interesting!)

 

Edited April 15, 2018 by garfield

[garfield]

22 minutes ago, HockeyDad said:

Really?  Who is speculating?  Other than you?  How about you man up and instead say, "I speculate that there is some level of financial debt."  Own your statements. 

Yea, I'd heard something about that but it was so far back in the thread that I can't remember who made the reference.  Maybe it was Brasso I'm remembering.

Problem is that debt could have been accumulated in the last 18 months that wouldn't show up on the '16 reports, so any info about the subject would have to be released from inside the organization.  I've not seen any reference to it anywhere, that I recall.

[MusicManNJ]

14 minutes ago, garfield said:

This is not an attack on it's ability to do what it's asked to do, it's that "DCI", as you're referencing, "the organization", has a 5-year goal of having 1/2 million dollars in ready funds on its balance sheet.  That may seem like a lot of dollars (remember, it's a GOAL) but it's not, not in reference to it cash flow and not in reference to the financial demands placed on DCI at the beginning of the year.

 

Let's see what the new accountants and auditors find out. Then we will know for certain.

[Peel Paint]

One reasonable guess about DCI wanting to take a good look at YEA's financial records is not that they think the organization is on shaky financial ground but rather more of a ...hmmmm... situation. If it's correct to say that YEA was controlled to a high degree by George Hopkins with minimal, rubber-stamp oversight, and because there's evidence that Hopkins was engaged in criminal activity, then an audit of the books is something that should be done just to be sure there's also no evidence of siphoning funds, possibly using YEA funds to settle claims due to Hopkins' actions that should have been paid by Hopkins personally, etc. No one has said there is evidence of any of that; it just might be worth a double-check.

Edited April 15, 2018 by Peel Paint