Richard Lesher Posted December 10, 2023 Share Posted December 10, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said: i wonder is the silence lawyer driven? I don't know. I am skeptical of the council they seek and say they are using. Here are two of my "lawyer" experiences with SCV this past year. 1) When I first broached the Bingo Salary question. I was approached by an attorney claiming to represent SCV. The e-mail was sent to me after normal business hours, and he tactfully requested I provide my proof of my claim. Mind you, I was a the initial phase of my discovery process. I have 100% confidence in my analysis, but it could be countered with someone willing to doctor SCV financial records. So I balked. As it turned out, I later found the DOJ letters, and their claim per legal council that SCV is in compliance with all laws (as communicated to by by the Board President via e-mail with SCV organization e-mail address) was entirely false. Now, before the DOJ letters were found I had already calculated they are probably paying bingo illegally, as it would take Donation income on par with their best years to meet the bingo salary needs. So at the claim at the time wasn't 100% locked in. With the discovery of the Delinquency that meant donations were off the table for legal cash flow sources for Bingo Salaries, and changed my assessment from highly probable to 100% certainty. I also discovered the attorney that came after me was a prior board member, and served at the time SCV started falling into Delinquency. They were also sitting on the board while they were compliant. So they had an example of what was right. 2) I played around with VMAPA.org, and snagged the Domain, and used it as my whistleblowing site. It was fun while it lasted, and they came at me with international mediators using international law from lawyers located in Tennessee to help them with the filing. I would have had to pay $2,000 to the mediators located in Europe to drag this out and try and keep the domain. They let it expire back in 2018, and I jumped on it. They came crying foul when I used it to dump all their 990's and DOJ letters on it and rubbed their face in it. What that means to me is they were not at all interested in dragging me into a California Court with my CA DOJ documents and my explaining how I came about the Domain after I notified the board of SCV and DCI and they did nothing for two months before I bought it up. To this day they have done nothing with the Web Domain, and haven't even bothered to point it back to their own website. The domain itself appears to be under the control of the attorneys. I migrated all my content to: TruthInDrumCorps.com Honestly, the website only ever got to 150 independent viewers, and is not worth anything, nor my time. SCV has spent way more money than I did messing around with it, and there never was any significant traffic to be afraid of (not even the SCV alumni were frequenting it). It's just a nice depository for all documents (which I am falling behind on keeping updated). Once this is all behind me I'll more than likely dump everything there. ***************** So to my point, SCV really doesn't seem to have substantial attorney council, but as a cautionary process on my part I'm leaning heavily on DOJ letters, 990's, state and city laws/ordinances. In fact, their net worth at the FY2022 990's indicated a net worth of only $690K (down from $3.7M the year prior) with substantial debt, and now their overhead is stacked with staff. I really don't think they are saving much to bolster that net worth. ************* I mean WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Their NET ASSETS decreased $3,000,000 in one year while that year included income from marching members, bingo, and donations (illegal or otherwise). ************* I have been telling folks off the record (now on the record) that whatever I thought was going on (this time last year) it is going to be worse than I think it is. If anything, I was limiting my assessment to the data I had at the time, and now I have FY2022 990, holy mother of god. I was right. Edited December 10, 2023 by Richard Lesher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Lesher Posted December 10, 2023 Share Posted December 10, 2023 I suppose my hope lies in my previous experience. If all the BS stops right here, right now, and Bingo and the Board are entirely purged the economic market that Bingo players provide can fix everything inside of a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Lesher Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 This is what I have been waiting for. All numbers and calculations are derived from the FY2022 990 with CFO Jenn Bauman’s signature on it. VMAPA never had the resources to meet the needs of Bingo Payroll legally. Even without estimating the floor staff Payroll, VMAPA cannot even legally meet the needs of the Bingo Managers Salary as disclosed on the IRS 990. The argument for investment reserves cannot be made. Current Liabilities exceeds Current cash + savings + investments to meet those liabilities. There is nothing to pay Bingo Staff with that isn’t Bingo Revenue. Bingo $2,255,441 Cannot be used for Bingo Payroll Tuition $1,298,242 2023 did not have members in 2023 amount is Zero Fundraising $21,003 Illegal Activity Grants and Donations $457,855 Illegal Activity Unrealized Gains From Investments $70,674 Comingled funds with Bingo sources Realized Losses on Investment Sales $(93,950) Comingled funds with Bingo sources Sale from Inventory $42,595 OK source of Funds for Bingo Payroll Misc Income $24,406 OK source of Funds from Bingo Total Net Income 2022 $4,076,266 Funds available for Bingo Payroll $67,001 Bingo Manager Salary per IRS990 $85,000 Deficit legal sources of Revenue for Bingo Manager $(17,999) Cash + Savings $147,360 Investments (Comingled with Bingo) $458,717 Total Funds available to meet short term Liabilities $606,077 Current Short Term Liabilities $653,964 Deficit Financial Liquidity $(47,887) ***************** Since 1-November-2023 VMAPA has been in violation of: City Bingo Ordinance 5.75.080 - Exclusive operation by members of the licensee organization. CA Gambling Laws § 326.5 - Payment of Bingo Staff with Bingo Revenues. Penalties are a $10,000 fine, and termination of their Bingo License. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted December 12, 2023 Share Posted December 12, 2023 It was a year ago today SCV announced no 2023 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmurrey74 Posted December 12, 2023 Author Share Posted December 12, 2023 Can’t wait to see what they bring in their return. I would love some hard-hitting, aggressive, angry SCV. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Lesher Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 43 minutes ago, rmurrey74 said: Can’t wait to see what they bring in their return. I would love some hard-hitting, aggressive, angry SCV. I thought that's what I was doing. 1 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOC Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 1 hour ago, rmurrey74 said: Can’t wait to see what they bring in their return. I would love some hard-hitting, aggressive, angry SCV. Your first post on this SCV thread since 9/11. Maybe you haven't been reading the posts by others, but it seems fielding a corps in 24 is not looking good. Someone should be letting us know what kind of numbers they have at auditions. Maybe I've missed it. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 1 minute ago, TOC said: Your first post on this SCV thread since 9/11. Maybe you haven't been reading the posts by others, but it seems fielding a corps in 24 is not looking good. Someone should be letting us know what kind of numbers they have at auditions. Maybe I've missed it. They have posted audition photos on social media. But it is hard to judge numbers from that. Right now I don’t think I trust anything coming from corporate SCV. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOC Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 2 minutes ago, IllianaLancerContra said: They have posted audition photos on social media. Are they photos from this year? Hmmm. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scheherazadesghost Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 (edited) 56 minutes ago, Richard Lesher said: I thought that's what I was doing. Maybe folks can only identify and/or appreciate those qualities on the field; as though Vanguard had ever demonstrated consistently that they can keep the anger on the field, 100% purged safely through the creative process. Alas, there seems to be a lot of bleedover, historically. Firsthand exp w that. And agreed anyway, I'd love an angry Vanguard show in 24, discordant and esoteric af... so long as it stays on the field. No transference from admin/staff to member or member to member. Bonus points if they can keep staff friendly fire down too. That takes a lot of maturity and patience, given our complex legacy. Also, a lighter show, say like Music of the Starry Night or Martha, would be a welcome breath of fresh air. So long as they're all kind and professional to each other, these designers, instructional staff and members can do no wrong in my eyes. Oh, and so long as the colorguard continues to point their feetsies all season long. Can't wait to throw babies. Because there are young people at this moment who have committed to Vanguard, I'll continue to cheer them on. Edited December 13, 2023 by scheherazadesghost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts