Pioneer Suspended by DCI

[garfield]

11 minutes ago, dcifanforlife said:

The 2019 tour is decided at Fall Meetings.   Pioneer can't participate in those meetings so I don;t see how they can make any plans (hire staff and recruit members, etc) for 2019. If they don't have any show dates who is going to work for them or attend any camps?   Would you pay camp fees?  Would you donate or volunteer for this organization?

All Pioneer can do now is an orderly liquidation of all assets.   Roman awards himself, his wife and son severance packages that gives a majority of the sale proceeds to them. Roman is a DCI Hall of Fame Member so he gets free tickets to all shows for life.    Retiring to a cabin  in Northern Wisconsin is better than trying to run a drum corps and drive  bus during the 2019 tour.

 

I'm not sure where you determined that Pio can't participate in the fall meetings.  AFAIK, Pio is still a member of WC, and the future you paint in your post is not the only possible outcome. 

If RB steps down, it's reasonable to expect that, if title to assets is, in fact, transferrable, a group of alums or a group from another WC corps could absolutely right Pio's ship and put them in a position to pass admin review and be allowed to participate in 2019 shows.

For as long as that possibility realistically exists in the eyes of DCI, they would allow Pio to be a part of the scheduling in the fall.  It's much easier to write Pio OFF the tour than it is to add them to the tour once it's set in TEP-land.  TEP's have to pay for corps - insisting Pio be added after a show is purchased is a sure way to blow up the relationship between the TEP and DCI.

 

[garfield]

44 minutes ago, Legoman said:

But the implication is that RB owns everything: the corps, the equipment, the land. There is no Pio without RB.

This could simply be a mailing address, too, and assets could be titled in Pio's name as well.

 

[Bluzes]

2 minutes ago, garfield said:

For as long as that possibility realistically exists in the eyes of DCI, they would allow Pio to be a part of the scheduling in the fall.

Under that scenario would the kids lose their 2019 tour fees if they are able to proceed business as normal now. Which is what may be implied in both statements and the hammer comes down latter? By now being such a serious issue one would think heads would have rolled already. Seems a real power play is developing?

[Legoman]

Oh, I'm sure that's just the address used for mailing, contact, business, etc. And it was probably a simple, "we have to have an address, we'll just put mine down." But it comes across as pretty weird (to me, at least) that there is no neutral office space. It's probably pretty common though.

[garfield]

1 hour ago, N.E. Brigand said:

So Roman Blenski went the "snitches get stitches" route.

We seem to be in the midst of a larger cultural debate about whether or not it's appropriate to "rat" on wrongdoing.

Glad DCI is taking whistleblowing seriously.

...and whether or not it's appropriate to call a "rat" by that name, too, right?

Many here have used juicer words than that to describe a "trusted confidant" who abused that trust.  I wouldn't waste the breath to call GH only a "rat", and maybe RB is due some of that disdain now, too.

The windows in my glass house are very clean and see-through.

 

[MikeD]

1 minute ago, Legoman said:

Oh, I'm sure that's just the address used for mailing, contact, business, etc. And it was probably a simple, "we have to have an address, we'll just put mine down." But it comes across as pretty weird (to me, at least) that there is no neutral office space. It's probably pretty common though.

The address did not show as his when I searched his name. A different one showed up.

[garfield]

2 minutes ago, Legoman said:

Oh, I'm sure that's just the address used for mailing, contact, business, etc. And it was probably a simple, "we have to have an address, we'll just put mine down." But it comes across as pretty weird (to me, at least) that there is no neutral office space. It's probably pretty common though.

"Amateurish" in a 1972-way is an apt description, IMO.

 

[cixelsyd]

16 minutes ago, garfield said:

I'm not sure where you determined that Pio can't participate in the fall meetings. 

Probably from the DCI statement, where it said "decision to suspend Pioneer from all DCI activities".  It is unclear whether the fall meeting is an "activity"... but if it is, then Pioneer will not participate in it unless they are reinstated by that time.

[garfield]

21 minutes ago, WIS said:

Roman controls things - he does not own them, unless he leases assets to the corps.  The true owner is the Wisconsin State Attorney General, who stays hands-off unless there is a complaint filed and their investigation resulted in a removal of the current board and directors or seizing the assets for protection.  I think complaints have to be for financial mismanagement of a non-profit organization funds (Pioneer is a public charity).

If the corps closed today all assets would be required to be given to another 501(C)(3) or sold with the proceeds going to another 501(c)(3) after paying any underlying debt.  Roman can't take anything unless he buys it or if the corps owes him money.

Say Roman decided to buy all equipment from Pioneer (which he would have to pay full fair market value) and start a whole new corps under a new federal identification number.  He can do that with everything except the land/buildings.  The self-dealing rules of the IRS prohibit any officer or director of the non-profit purchasing real estate from the entity, even at fair market value.  He would have to remove himself from any direct contact and/or involvement for five years before he could offer to purchase the property at fair market value.  If he decided to rent the land from the current Pioneer corporation he would have to pay full fair market value rent - no bargain rent would be permitted. 

 

Sorry, not much of this is correct.

Roman most-certainly can own the assets and rent them cheap to the corps.  If the corps folds, RB would be entitled to keep his asset and do with it as he pleases.  If the asset is not titled in the name of the NP,  there's not an AG in the country that will "seize" assets from the orgs founder and "give" them to some other entity.

If Roman owns the equipment and leases it to the corps, he doesn't have to buy it back from the corps, he simply stops leasing it.  The "self-dealing" rules (citation, please) don't require the owner give or lease rent-free anything at all.

 

[JimF-LowBari]

14 minutes ago, Legoman said:

Oh, I'm sure that's just the address used for mailing, contact, business, etc. And it was probably a simple, "we have to have an address, we'll just put mine down." But it comes across as pretty weird (to me, at least) that there is no neutral office space. It's probably pretty common though.

Thinking it’s used so the mail gets to RB and no one has to drive to property the corps owns to pick it up. Think I’ve seen home address used when a group does not own property.