Santa Clara Vanguard 2024

[TOC]

4 hours ago, RiverCityAndTroopersFan said:

Veering back on topic, I have talked to several people involved in other corps and their response to SCV’s demise has been “Covid hit corps hard”. What do you all make of that?

Some can't accept reality, or they are auditioning to be a DC spoke person for some hack. 

[Sutasaurus]

5 hours ago, RiverCityAndTroopersFan said:

Veering back on topic, I have talked to several people involved in other corps and their response to SCV’s demise has been “Covid hit corps hard”. What do you all make of that?

I think the reference “SCV’s demise” is a bit harsh. Granted, the organization has put themselves into a bad situation but demise? Um, no. As for the Covid “excuse”….Every corps dealt with the pandemic but some still managed to show up in Indy. FWIW, I believe a combination of mostly bad management decisions and Covid, to an extent, put them in this boat. Let’s hope SCV can row that boat back to transparency and legal/financial health….Time will tell.

Edited December 6, 2023 by Sutasaurus

[Richard Lesher]

4 hours ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

Apparently Covid hit SCV harder than it hit BD, Mandarins, or Pac Crest.   Or any of the other World Class Corps not from California.  Hmmm.  I wonder why?  

Let me tell you............................. (again)

At the end of Fiscal Year 2019 (Oct-31-2019) SCV lost $545,000 against their best revenue year ever ($5.9M)

The Bingo Manager retired after 13 years (when she was in her 60's to boot when she started as a prior member parent and Board Treasurer). 

It was at this time the Director Charles Frost Resigned as well. 

So while SCV is still pre COVID they are now looking for two very key leadership employees. One to run the heart and soul of their Revenue Stream, and the other to run the entire organization 

When the Bingo manager retired they stopped using a volunteer base to run the bingo games. Previously SCV would reach out to other non profits (usually school booster clubs) and make a appropriate donation to said boosters for parental volunteers. It was through this mechanism it is legal to use Bingo money for what is effectively labor to run Bingo. 

SCV went to a full paid staff in 2020 with new Bingo management. Now, I understand it, this is easier to work with, and is less hassle with the turn over of volunteers and having to train people all the time. It does however cost twice as much. What was a yearly donation budget of $250K is now more than double that in Bingo staff payroll.  

OK, as well SCV hires a new CEO, and one of the first things he tries to do is terminate the Vanguard A-Corps, and only have the Cadets as a local west coast corps. Needless to say he ends up getting fired. 

Mind you, this is all BEFORE COVID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So SCV is now in early 2020 without the foundation of a DCI World Class Corps. Before the CEO officially is on the outs COVID has started to take effect and Bingo operations are shut down by the state and county.

Now, what SCV doesn't do is implement alternative health practices to operate Bingo (for example, BD stated calling Bingo numbers via the FM radio and people would play from their cars). The SCV CEO just decided they were doing to do nothing until they could operate business as usual. 

So we are into the Spring of 2020, the SCV CEO is fired, they are not operating Bingo, and COVID is hitting everything and no one knows what is going on with anything in regard to SCV's operations. 

OK.................. 

An executive team is compiled between two currently sitting board members, and they make a CEO and CFO team. Just about everyone (except Bingo operations and some fleet and building maintenance) are working remotely.  

What they do not do is pick up where Charles Frost left off at the end of 2019.

Remember, they lost a CEO and their best Bingo manager in history at the same time, hired a lunatic to run the place, and then COVID hit.  

At the end of fiscal year 2020 they have $1.5M in investment savings. At the end of fiscal year 2021 they have $1.8M in investment savings. 

Now........... important note............ End of FY21 is the beginning of the 2022 season, and SCV is in a position to write a $2,000,000 check and it would be good on day one. 

So SCV leadership decided, OK we can do this drum corps thing. The last guy they had running the place left in 2019, and bingo has just been floundering along and the two guys they hired to keep the lights on have basically been working remotely for two years. The year end financials have not really been closed up correctly, they did the same for 2020 and 2021, and throughout 2022 the same thing happened.  

Now, what I speculate happened was as the tour went on there were challenges, none of which anyone in SCV leadership took the time to think through. COVID changed the game, no one took the time to consider the additional costs and logistical challenges and management just threw money at the solutions as they came up throughout the season. I speculate all this because at the end of the 2022 summer somehow SCV started defaulting on operational lenders (the folks they would never borrow from long term and usually pay at the end of 30 days, like food vendors, etc....). 

To me, as a CFA and prior SCV Treasurer that means they brunt through that $1.8M in investments they started with, and went beyond that, and went beyond the revenue stream they earned during the year to what mathematically resulted in defaults. 

Now we are in September of 2022 and it is announced that the Vanguard Cadets are terminated. 

OK, honestly, at this point I totally bought into the COVID is hard excuse. I truly did. However, SCV continues to conduct auditions into December of 2022 and right on the heels of a December audition they announce that the Vanguard A-Corps is going to not tour either. 

OK.............. they are lying now. How could they not know they can't pull off a season until the very last moment they are taking audition money? 

I call BS, and become the Emperor of Drum Corps Trolls. 

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

Turns out SCV started violating California State Charity Laws when their registration expired in March of 2020 (the time the lunatic CEO was causing all sorts of nonsense). SCV is notified by the California Department of Justice in Nov-2020, and Sep/Oct of 2021 they are delinquent. 

While never actually getting back on track SCV then continues to operate a tour in 2022 while entirely in delinquency. All solicited donations since 2020 are in violation of California Law. 

It is not until the spring of 2023 do I make public that SCV is in violation of CA Law, and only at this time does SCV finally make any sort of effort to slow down their visibility with donations. 

Now we are in April of 2023, SCV is making all sorts of excuses. 

April passes

May Passes

June Passes

July Passes

August rolls around and there is another violation notification from the CA DOJ. Just days prior the Treasurer of SCV resigns (he is currently a BD board member now). 

September rolls around and the new CEO is giving the impression everything is going to be OK. 

October passes, SCV starts submitting much tardy financials and registrations to the State, and finally clear up fiscal year 2019. However, 2021 is now the cause of the continued delinquency status. In fact, 2021 was rejected for administrative errors, and the financial audit did not accompany it. Fiscal year 2022 is also pending. 

November rolls around and the DOJ issues a second warning for the delinquency now tied to fiscal year 2021. The DOJ uses vocabulary that now includes the State Tax Board as the DOJ is going to request the Tax Board revoke SCV's non profit status. 

That's where we are today. All things being equal, SCV is technically 120 days from 16-November from having their non profit status revoked. 

 

 

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Richard Lesher

[Jeff Ream]

4 hours ago, Sutasaurus said:

I think the reference “SCV’s demise” is a bit harsh. Granted, the organization has put themselves into a bad situation but demise? Um, no. As for the Covid “excuse”….Every corps dealt with the pandemic but some still managed to show up in Indy. FWIW, I believe a combination of mostly bad management decisions and Covid, to an extent, put them in this boat. Let’s hope SCV can row that boat back to transparency and legal/financial health….Time will tell.

it's quite possible covid delayed what has happened

[HockeyDad]

9 hours ago, Richard Lesher said:

Let me tell you............................. (again)

At the end of Fiscal Year 2019 (Oct-31-2019) SCV lost $545,000 against their best revenue year ever ($5.9M)

The Bingo Manager retired after 13 years (when she was in her 60's to boot when she started as a prior member parent and Board Treasurer). 

It was at this time the Director Charles Frost Resigned as well. 

So while SCV is still pre COVID they are now looking for two very key leadership employees. One to run the heart and soul of their Revenue Stream, and the other to run the entire organization 

When the Bingo manager retired they stopped using a volunteer base to run the bingo games. Previously SCV would reach out to other non profits (usually school booster clubs) and make a appropriate donation to said boosters for parental volunteers. It was through this mechanism it is legal to use Bingo money for what is effectively labor to run Bingo. 

SCV went to a full paid staff in 2020 with new Bingo management. Now, I understand it, this is easier to work with, and is less hassle with the turn over of volunteers and having to train people all the time. It does however cost twice as much. What was a yearly donation budget of $250K is now more than double that in Bingo staff payroll.  

OK, as well SCV hires a new CEO, and one of the first things he tries to do is terminate the Vanguard A-Corps, and only have the Cadets as a local west coast corps. Needless to say he ends up getting fired. 

Mind you, this is all BEFORE COVID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So SCV is now in early 2020 without the foundation of a DCI World Class Corps. Before the CEO officially is on the outs COVID has started to take effect and Bingo operations are shut down by the state and county.

Now, what SCV doesn't do is implement alternative health practices to operate Bingo (for example, BD stated calling Bingo numbers via the FM radio and people would play from their cars). The SCV CEO just decided they were doing to do nothing until they could operate business as usual. 

So we are into the Spring of 2020, the SCV CEO is fired, they are not operating Bingo, and COVID is hitting everything and no one knows what is going on with anything in regard to SCV's operations. 

OK.................. 

An executive team is compiled between two currently sitting board members, and they make a CEO and CFO team. Just about everyone (except Bingo operations and some fleet and building maintenance) are working remotely.  

What they do not do is pick up where Charles Frost left off at the end of 2019.

Remember, they lost a CEO and their best Bingo manager in history at the same time, hired a lunatic to run the place, and then COVID hit.  

At the end of fiscal year 2020 they have $1.5M in investment savings. At the end of fiscal year 2021 they have $1.8M in investment savings. 

Now........... important note............ End of FY21 is the beginning of the 2022 season, and SCV is in a position to write a $2,000,000 check and it would be good on day one. 

So SCV leadership decided, OK we can do this drum corps thing. The last guy they had running the place left in 2019, and bingo has just been floundering along and the two guys they hired to keep the lights on have basically been working remotely for two years. The year end financials have not really been closed up correctly, they did the same for 2020 and 2021, and throughout 2022 the same thing happened.  

Now, what I speculate happened was as the tour went on there were challenges, none of which anyone in SCV leadership took the time to think through. COVID changed the game, no one took the time to consider the additional costs and logistical challenges and management just threw money at the solutions as they came up throughout the season. I speculate all this because at the end of the 2022 summer somehow SCV started defaulting on operational lenders (the folks they would never borrow from long term and usually pay at the end of 30 days, like food vendors, etc....). 

To me, as a CFA and prior SCV Treasurer that means they brunt through that $1.8M in investments they started with, and went beyond that, and went beyond the revenue stream they earned during the year to what mathematically resulted in defaults. 

Now we are in September of 2022 and it is announced that the Vanguard Cadets are terminated. 

OK, honestly, at this point I totally bought into the COVID is hard excuse. I truly did. However, SCV continues to conduct auditions into December of 2022 and right on the heels of a December audition they announce that the Vanguard A-Corps is going to not tour either. 

OK.............. they are lying now. How could they not know they can't pull off a season until the very last moment they are taking audition money? 

I call BS, and become the Emperor of Drum Corps Trolls. 

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

Turns out SCV started violating California State Charity Laws when their registration expired in March of 2020 (the time the lunatic CEO was causing all sorts of nonsense). SCV is notified by the California Department of Justice in Nov-2020, and Sep/Oct of 2021 they are delinquent. 

While never actually getting back on track SCV then continues to operate a tour in 2022 while entirely in delinquency. All solicited donations since 2020 are in violation of California Law. 

It is not until the spring of 2023 do I make public that SCV is in violation of CA Law, and only at this time does SCV finally make any sort of effort to slow down their visibility with donations. 

Now we are in April of 2023, SCV is making all sorts of excuses. 

April passes

May Passes

June Passes

July Passes

August rolls around and there is another violation notification from the CA DOJ. Just days prior the Treasurer of SCV resigns (he is currently a BD board member now). 

September rolls around and the new CEO is giving the impression everything is going to be OK. 

October passes, SCV starts submitting much tardy financials and registrations to the State, and finally clear up fiscal year 2019. However, 2021 is now the cause of the continued delinquency status. In fact, 2021 was rejected for administrative errors, and the financial audit did not accompany it. Fiscal year 2022 is also pending. 

November rolls around and the DOJ issues a second warning for the delinquency now tied to fiscal year 2021. The DOJ uses vocabulary that now includes the State Tax Board as the DOJ is going to request the Tax Board revoke SCV's non profit status. 

That's where we are today. All things being equal, SCV is technically 120 days from 16-November from having their non profit status revoked. 

 

 

 

Let us know if you hear the strains of  “Nearer My God To Thee” coming from Space Park Drive. 

[cixelsyd]

10 hours ago, Richard Lesher said:

OK, as well SCV hires a new CEO, and one of the first things he tries to do is terminate the Vanguard A-Corps, and only have the Cadets as a local west coast corps. 

And at the rate things are going, will we be wishing we took that deal while it was still available?

[RiverCityAndTroopersFan]

15 hours ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

Apparently Covid hit SCV harder than it hit BD, Mandarins, or Pac Crest.   Or any of the other World Class Corps not from California.  Hmmm.  I wonder why?  

I think all the corps are nervous about acknowledging it could happen to them

[IllianaLancerContra]

10 hours ago, Richard Lesher said:

Let me tell you............................. (again)

At the end of Fiscal Year 2019 (Oct-31-2019) SCV lost $545,000 against their best revenue year ever ($5.9M)

The Bingo Manager retired after 13 years (when she was in her 60's to boot when she started as a prior member parent and Board Treasurer). 

It was at this time the Director Charles Frost Resigned as well. 

So while SCV is still pre COVID they are now looking for two very key leadership employees. One to run the heart and soul of their Revenue Stream, and the other to run the entire organization 

When the Bingo manager retired they stopped using a volunteer base to run the bingo games. Previously SCV would reach out to other non profits (usually school booster clubs) and make a appropriate donation to said boosters for parental volunteers. It was through this mechanism it is legal to use Bingo money for what is effectively labor to run Bingo. 

SCV went to a full paid staff in 2020 with new Bingo management. Now, I understand it, this is easier to work with, and is less hassle with the turn over of volunteers and having to train people all the time. It does however cost twice as much. What was a yearly donation budget of $250K is now more than double that in Bingo staff payroll.  

OK, as well SCV hires a new CEO, and one of the first things he tries to do is terminate the Vanguard A-Corps, and only have the Cadets as a local west coast corps. Needless to say he ends up getting fired. 

Mind you, this is all BEFORE COVID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So SCV is now in early 2020 without the foundation of a DCI World Class Corps. Before the CEO officially is on the outs COVID has started to take effect and Bingo operations are shut down by the state and county.

Now, what SCV doesn't do is implement alternative health practices to operate Bingo (for example, BD stated calling Bingo numbers via the FM radio and people would play from their cars). The SCV CEO just decided they were doing to do nothing until they could operate business as usual. 

So we are into the Spring of 2020, the SCV CEO is fired, they are not operating Bingo, and COVID is hitting everything and no one knows what is going on with anything in regard to SCV's operations. 

OK.................. 

An executive team is compiled between two currently sitting board members, and they make a CEO and CFO team. Just about everyone (except Bingo operations and some fleet and building maintenance) are working remotely.  

What they do not do is pick up where Charles Frost left off at the end of 2019.

Remember, they lost a CEO and their best Bingo manager in history at the same time, hired a lunatic to run the place, and then COVID hit.  

At the end of fiscal year 2020 they have $1.5M in investment savings. At the end of fiscal year 2021 they have $1.8M in investment savings. 

Now........... important note............ End of FY21 is the beginning of the 2022 season, and SCV is in a position to write a $2,000,000 check and it would be good on day one. 

So SCV leadership decided, OK we can do this drum corps thing. The last guy they had running the place left in 2019, and bingo has just been floundering along and the two guys they hired to keep the lights on have basically been working remotely for two years. The year end financials have not really been closed up correctly, they did the same for 2020 and 2021, and throughout 2022 the same thing happened.  

Now, what I speculate happened was as the tour went on there were challenges, none of which anyone in SCV leadership took the time to think through. COVID changed the game, no one took the time to consider the additional costs and logistical challenges and management just threw money at the solutions as they came up throughout the season. I speculate all this because at the end of the 2022 summer somehow SCV started defaulting on operational lenders (the folks they would never borrow from long term and usually pay at the end of 30 days, like food vendors, etc....). 

To me, as a CFA and prior SCV Treasurer that means they brunt through that $1.8M in investments they started with, and went beyond that, and went beyond the revenue stream they earned during the year to what mathematically resulted in defaults. 

Now we are in September of 2022 and it is announced that the Vanguard Cadets are terminated. 

OK, honestly, at this point I totally bought into the COVID is hard excuse. I truly did. However, SCV continues to conduct auditions into December of 2022 and right on the heels of a December audition they announce that the Vanguard A-Corps is going to not tour either. 

OK.............. they are lying now. How could they not know they can't pull off a season until the very last moment they are taking audition money? 

I call BS, and become the Emperor of Drum Corps Trolls. 

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

Turns out SCV started violating California State Charity Laws when their registration expired in March of 2020 (the time the lunatic CEO was causing all sorts of nonsense). SCV is notified by the California Department of Justice in Nov-2020, and Sep/Oct of 2021 they are delinquent. 

While never actually getting back on track SCV then continues to operate a tour in 2022 while entirely in delinquency. All solicited donations since 2020 are in violation of California Law. 

It is not until the spring of 2023 do I make public that SCV is in violation of CA Law, and only at this time does SCV finally make any sort of effort to slow down their visibility with donations. 

Now we are in April of 2023, SCV is making all sorts of excuses. 

April passes

May Passes

June Passes

July Passes

August rolls around and there is another violation notification from the CA DOJ. Just days prior the Treasurer of SCV resigns (he is currently a BD board member now). 

September rolls around and the new CEO is giving the impression everything is going to be OK. 

October passes, SCV starts submitting much tardy financials and registrations to the State, and finally clear up fiscal year 2019. However, 2021 is now the cause of the continued delinquency status. In fact, 2021 was rejected for administrative errors, and the financial audit did not accompany it. Fiscal year 2022 is also pending. 

November rolls around and the DOJ issues a second warning for the delinquency now tied to fiscal year 2021. The DOJ uses vocabulary that now includes the State Tax Board as the DOJ is going to request the Tax Board revoke SCV's non profit status. 

That's where we are today. All things being equal, SCV is technically 120 days from 16-November from having their non profit status revoked. 

 

 

 

Dude - 

We are both products of our military training.  
 

You, as an intel guy get lots of small & medium-size bits of information and develop a picture of what is going on. 
 

I had 2 Pentagon and 2 Major Command tours - I’m a staff puke. What I am good at is taking reports and distilling them into one or at most two PowerPoint slides (or single-page point paper) for the generals and senior civilians to show the crux of the issue at hand.  We had all the background information if they want to  dive deeper, but what we gave them was enough to understand and briefly speak on the issue without causing trouble (& for their part - the leadership knew their role as well & rarely went beyond the boundaries set in the briefings).
 

 FWIW, I think we need both types in the current discussion. 
 

ETA - Curiosity question- How did it come to pass that the guy in charge of bingo lives in Hawaii?   As I have said before, w/ RL providing much backup, I would think that bingo is something that requires pretty close supervision.  Especially when it seems to be what is powering the whole machine. 

Edited December 6, 2023 by IllianaLancerContra
Further pontificating

[IllianaLancerContra]

25 minutes ago, RiverCityAndTroopersFan said:

I think all the corps are nervous about acknowledging it could happen to them

Possibly.  
 

But here is another possibility- These Corps had a functional, non-inbred, BoD who followed the state and federal regulations.  

[Brian Tuma]

41 minutes ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

Possibly.  
 

But here is another possibility- These Corps had a functional, non-inbred, BoD who followed the state and federal regulations.  

I should try to dig up my post from a decade ago addressing that exact topic with my local corps lol. Hint - my location rhymes with Milwaukee