Per the California Attorney General Vanguard is operating illegally as a non profit

[JimF-LowBari]

1 hour ago, Slingerland said:

The fix here isn't difficult, and most states give multiple opportunities for businesses that have failed diligence to right their ways before shutting them down. But the current BOD leadership should get in front of this and go public with acknowledging the problem and telling the community what they've done/are doing to fix it. 

 

Started watching corps FB page and what gets posted from admins is “donate, the debt is being reduced, donate”. Bunch of responses have “what’s going to be different so this doesn’t happen again” and response to that is 🦗 🦗. 

[LabMaster]

46 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:

Started watching corps FB page and what gets posted from admins is “donate, the debt is being reduced, donate”. Bunch of responses have “what’s going to be different so this doesn’t happen again” and response to that is 🦗 🦗. 

I would think at this point in time and org repair, that questions asked of the BOD or SCV, VMAPA or whomever is course correcting, by interested parties; alums, volunteers, donors, DCI org & member corps; those with a dog in the fight so to speak, that their questions and concerns are answered in full.  With thorough appropriate detail by the leadership, bending over backwards to show full visibility and trust, that all efforts are being made to resolve all issues ethically and legally, to bring SCV back.  Just a thought.  

[JimF-LowBari]

25 minutes ago, LabMaster said:

I would think at this point in time and org repair, that questions asked of the BOD or SCV, VMAPA or whomever is course correcting, by interested parties; alums, volunteers, donors, DCI org & member corps; those with a dog in the fight so to speak, that their questions and concerns are answered in full.  With thorough appropriate detail by the leadership, bending over backwards to show full visibility and trust, that all efforts are being made to resolve all issues ethically and legally, to bring SCV back.  Just a thought.  

That’s the problem, the FB posts I’ve seen are made by alumni and others who supported the corps. They want the corps to survive but have questions about the corps direction. Appears questions are asked by means other than social media posts and no information given at all.

At this point even a “we have a lot to deal with folks, please be patient and we’ll let you know” would go a lot further than silence IMO

Edited April 17, 2023 by JimF-LowBari

[DFA1970]

So the bottom line is and was always...it's not about the "money" or lack of it...it's the mismanagement of the organization. That's why I didn't donate any money to their situation because I never believed it was just about that.

Edited April 17, 2023 by DFA1970

[DFA1970]

On 4/14/2023 at 11:49 PM, Richard Lesher said:

Reminding folks who I am. 

Richard Lesher, CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) and prior board member/treasurer of Vanguard and from 2006 to 2012. I'm also currently a commissioned officer in the US Army Reserves. So I guess that gives me some legit credentials to have certain opinions. 

 

I've recently been censored from the SCV Alumni Facebook forum (which is under control of SCV the organization with a director level employee still as an Admin). 

So I will now voice my serious concerns here for the whole Drum Corps community. 

As of 14-April-2023 Vanguard is Delinquent as a Charity in the State of California. 

https://rct.doj.ca.gov/verification/web/SearchResults.aspx 

https://rct.doj.ca.gov/verification/web/Details.aspx?result=42a872a8-e982-469d-9401-bfc112f97bf4

The problems started as far back as 2020 with Vanguard's failure to supply the State Department of Justice with audited financial statements. 

At this point the Attorney General is merely pointing out that Vanguard failed to provide Audited Financial Statements. 

A year passes, and Vanguard has still not provided Audited Financial Statements to the California Attorney General. 

Now the Attorney General is warning Vanguard of penalties to include up to having their status Revoked. Vanguard is no longer in good standing. 

We are now at September 9, 2021. 

This is a very important date folks as we all know this is basically the start of the drum corps season for the year 2022, and we all know what happened after that. 

Oh and the following month we have the Attorney General reminding Vanguard they still haven't provided Audited Financial Statements. 

Here an indication of a duplicate payment for registration (I guess they get "some credit" for trying), but a reminder they not in compliance without independently audited financial statements. 

 

*****************

What does this all mean?

Being delinquent in the state of California with this Charity Registration means that:

1) Vanguard cannot solicit donations. They are, and they have been, and it's reported on their 990 filings (Grants, and such). 

2) They have been delinquent since 15-MAR-2020, so all solicitation thereafter is in violation of the law. 

3) I will bring up the Bingo Salaries again here and I will not take it down this time. 

           a) Bingo employees cannot be paid with bingo income. 

           b) OK, Bingo employees "are not" being paid with bingo revenue. 

           c) Well, if Vanguard cannot solicit donations, and they cannot disperse donations then what are Bingo employees being paid with? 

                  i) where ever the funding came from it's an illegal source 

                  ii) even if the funding was from savings and investments, those funds originated from donations and bingo, neither of which can be dispersed while Vanguard is                    delinquent 

Remember, Vanguard operated as like nothing was wrong during the entire competitive year of 2022 and was in violation the entire time. 

Vanguard also took audition fees for 2023 and right on the heels of that terminated the season. So someone high up knew where they were going in terms of finances and decided to take money in anyway for services they new they couldn't provide. 

Jeremy Van Wert is not the singular cause of this gross mismanagement. 

OK, I'll be back later with more. 

These three letters from the California State Attorney General give me a lot of coverage and protection from defamation. So my future posts should be fun read for you all. 

 

Edited April 17, 2023 by DFA1970

[DFA1970]

I found this snip it about what can happen if you don't register.

What Happens If Your Nonprofit Does Not Register

There can be harsh consequences if your nonprofit fails to file the annual renewal after being requested to do so by the Attorney General. Namely:

• the California Franchise Tax Board will be notified to disallow your nonprofit's state tax exemption
• your nonprofit will be billed $800 plus interest by the Franchise Tax Board, which represents the minimum tax penalty, and
• late fees of $25 will be imposed by the Registry of Charitable Trusts for each month or partial month for which the reports are delinquent.

Moreover, your nonprofit's directors, trustees, officers, and return preparers responsible for the failure to timely file these reports are personally liable for payment of all late fees and penalties. Charitable assets cannot be used to pay them. In other words, they must pay them out of their own pockets!

[greg_orangecounty]

12 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

well a quick web search  kinda killed your argument:

 

https://oag.ca.gov/charities/delinquency

No it does not. 

That webpage from the CA A.G. is a summary of what "delinquency" means and the consequences.  Under Title 11 Law Division 1. CA Chapter 4, Sec. 314 (3) Regulations adopted pursuant to the Supervisor of Trustee's & Fundraiser for for Charitable Purposes Act states "Grounds for Issuance of Cease & Desist Order".  SCV is considered "delinquent" by the CA A.G.  However, there is still a legal procedure which includes receiving a C&D from the A.G.  Until they get that they are still operating within the law, which includes soliciting donations (which they're doing). 

This is why I mentioned in an earlier post the state is backlogged due to COVID, which may buy them time to submit the past audits and make this all go away. 

[Tenoris4Jazz]

9 minutes ago, greg_orangecounty said:

No it does not. 

That webpage from the CA A.G. is a summary of what "delinquency" means and the consequences.  Under Title 11 Law Division 1. CA Chapter 4, Sec. 314 (3) Regulations adopted pursuant to the Supervisor of Trustee's & Fundraiser for for Charitable Purposes Act states "Grounds for Issuance of Cease & Desist Order".  SCV is considered "delinquent" by the CA A.G.  However, there is still a legal procedure which includes receiving a C&D from the A.G.  Until they get that they are still operating within the law, which includes soliciting donations (which they're doing). 

This is why I mentioned in an earlier post the state is backlogged due to COVID, which may buy them time to submit the past audits and make this all go away. 

The backlog is over 2 YEARS LONG?!?!?!?!   Sound like the same management team at VMAPA is running the CA DOJ...  

[Richard Lesher]

I am working on a depository of all the stuff I have come upon, and eventually I’ll have a place to vent than take up my disproportionate share of DCP forum space.

Anyway, I’ve shown it in other areas around the internet and probably likely early on in this forum.

There are two board members who have been involved in the range of 20 years with SCV. They are both currently on the board.

https://www.scvanguard.org/board-of-directors/

Now, they were there before I got there, and they were there after I left from my 6 years on the board. They are more than aware about how the whole auditing thing is supposed to go. They might not know about the regulatory filings required, but they know the financials needs to be audited.

Now, additionally, the CFO that was in place during the COVID years after SCV got rid of Brett B. had been on the board during my time on the board. He and I both sat in on the same board meetings. He has come and gone here and there on the board, and when Brett B was given the boot he and Van Wert took on the duel role of CEO and then split it up between them as CEO CFO later.

So the previous CFO too knows (the CFO prior to Jenn Bauman the current one).

Now, the current CFO Jennifer Bauman served as Treasurer of the Board, was a regular Board member, was a Board President and then eventually became CFO when the previous one left. So she too has coverage over a period time when she is exposed to what right it.

OK, so lets do this.

If you look on the 990 fiscal year 10 -31 -2018 the following names are on it in positions as board members. This is the last period I presume there is an independent financial audit.

Current CFO – Jennifer Bauman then fiscal year 2018 Board Treasurer

Prior CFO – Mike Kovalich, FY 2018 then Director

Current Director - Ray Pulver, FY 2018 then Director

Current Director – Linda Garbarino FY 2018 then Vice Chair

So the person that was supposed to cover down on financial audits knew better during the time the audits stopped.

The person that was overseeing the finances as the Board Treasurer during the finances knew better.

Then there are two 20 year tenure Board Members who have known about these audits for decades.

https://www.scvanguard.org/board-of-directors/

https://www.scvanguard.org/administrative-staff/

************

I can’t entertain arguments that even remotely approach explaining away this current situation as an administrative oversight.

If that was the case, then at the first notification from the Attorney General they should have been on this.

If that was the case, then CPA’s would have been paid to be on retainer for an Audit rather than use the money to retain Design Staff for the Corps.

When I was on the Board of Directors, SCV submitted the Tax form 990 after independently audited financial statements were finalized. Nothing went to the IRS without first having it audited. 

****************

Getting in the weeds. 

 

Source from SCV"s Tax Form 990

Part IV item 12a  

Did the organization obtain separate, independent audited financial statements for the tax year? If "Yes," complete Schedule D, Parts XI and XII

Answer for FY 2018 = YES

Answer for FY 2019 = NO (well, thank god they didn't lie to the IRS)

Answer for FY 2020 = NO (well, thank god they didn't lie to the IRS)

2021 are not posted on the IRS, the copy of 2021 I have are from SCV's website and not “signed” and don’t answer this question.

2022 isn’t even remotely ready (this goes for all corps).

2023 we are currently in.

So its looking like SCV will probably need an audit of 5 years to get current by time they get it going.

So its looking like SCV will probably need an audit of 5 years to get current by time they get it going.

So its looking like SCV will probably need an audit of 5 years to get current by time they get it going.

So its looking like SCV will probably need an audit of 5 years to get current by time they get it going.

So its looking like SCV will probably need an audit of 5 years to get current by time they get it going.

I am probably the first person to realize the scope of auditing services SCV needs. I speculate that SCV is oblivious, certainly the the entirety of the Board does not know. 

But to you all in the DCP Forum community.............. You all now know too if you read this far. 

Edited April 17, 2023 by Richard Lesher

[IllianaLancerContra]

5 hours ago, Terri Schehr said:

My late father in law said decades ago that this tour model wasn’t sustainable.   It’s good that they’ve pared down the schedule and it seems to be a bit more regional.  Some groups are taking it upon themselves, like Jersey Surf, to do the fiscally responsible thing and cut way back.   It’s like a top spinning out of control.

I once asked a board member of a corps who was complaining about being bullied by staff to spend more and more money why he just didn’t say no? He just looked at me in a confused way.  You can just say no. Treat them like spoiled children. 

One of the most misguided things they did was raise membership to 165.  That is a real head scratcher.  I asked Jim “Is this what smart people do?”

We are witnessing Drum Corps’ death by a thousand cuts.  When DCI realizes the tour is unsustainable they will have no one but themselves to blame.