Dear Scouters,
Let me start with thanking everyone for coming out today. We had about 30 Scouters there (including one Cub Scout and his young sister) for the meeting. The press was also there today so look for stories that will come out tomorrow. There were also a few published today. I have some links below. Although the same courtesy was not extended to the Scouters who attended today's meeting, I would like to remind those who are contacting the council, to be please remember that most of these folks have only been with us a brief period of time. It appears that many of the problems we are facing have been building for some time (more on that later), so the current professional staff did not cause this to happen. Please treat them accordingly and in compliance with the Scout Oath and Law. With that in mind, here is our update for today:
We are not sure that you know, but apparently we are a corporation. That term was used over and over today as the board voted (legalese aside) to attempt to sell Will J Reid Scout park. We always thought that we were a youth serving group - not some "corporation" that seems to be more interested in the health of the "corporation" than the program they were charged to deliver. It seems we may have been misinformed. It was particularly painful to watch as as several board members recounted how many years they have served on the board and in Scouting. There were several past board presidents there as well. Several noted that the financial problems were 20 years in the making. Somehow they failed to mention that they were actually serving on the board - and did not to fix the problem - during the time this was building. The amazing part was that they all said that they didn't want to sell the park, yet nearly all of them voted to do just that (again legalese aside). It was very clear that the only reason the board allowed us in to watch the meeting was to try to convince us that they were doing the right thing.
In all, about five voted against the idea and 20 voted for it. There was a call for abstentions, and it seemed that there were more board members there, but no one raised their hand to abstain. One would have thought that a vote this important would be a role call vote, so there was no confusion, but the board president decided on his own to go with a hand vote.
There were some voices of reason. Mara Childers seems to understand where we were coming from and Karen Codman also made some great common sense suggestions. Brian Russell also tried to at least stall the proceedings until other options could be investigated. Both Mara and Brian had some ideas on fundraising but both ideas were basically tabled at the meeting. Another board member (who's name I did not get) said that even of we sell Will J Reid, it may not be enough to save the council. What's next, Tahquitz?
Speaking of fundraising, have you donated to FOS? Has your unit donated? How about your neighbor or work? Remember, that this is all about money (as disgusting as it sounds, it is). The council's goal was $50.00 per Scout as I recall. There are some units who have not donated any money and others where donations are way down. If you are a member of those units, please reconsider. Talk to those who have not donated and see if we can bring in some more dollars. We are facing a process now that will result in the sale of a major program resource and big part of Cub Scouting and training in the council. It will also affect the other area councils and other groups who use the park. This sale will permanently cripple the LBAC and in particular, the Cub Scout program in our council. Let's see if we can help.
Today's number for the outstanding debt is $710K according to John Fullerton. He told me (Tim) that the $500K number that was quoted to those of us who attended the budget meetings in February was for the end of the last fiscal year, it wasn't made clear at the time. We still are hearing that the actual number is different, but $710K is the "official" number. Most, if not all of it, is to repay the endowment fund.
There was an ad hoc committee formed today that was charged with raising funds for the council. Although the board would not earmark the funds to any property, it can only help. This is a short term committee that has been charged with raising $250K in a a relatively short period of time. Hopefully, the committee will be allowed to do their job and more information will be provided to us later.
Finally, I spoke briefly to John Fullerton today. He says that he wants to work with us to find a solution. We are not sure what to do about that so we are looking for ideas from you. In my mind (Tim) and in the mind of a chartered organization rep that emailed me, we could start with more transparency from the council. I will now shamelessly borrow/build upon from some of their ideas. The council should provide:
• Organization charts, bylaws and governing documents for the LBAC and Board of Directors (for example, it appears that they do not follow Robert's Rules as noted by the Board President today) including terms of office and rules regarding removal of members
• Financial records for the last several years including loans from the endowments
• Title/lease documents related to all of the LBAC properties including any encumbrances
• Detailed information on how the funds will be spent if Will J Reid is sold
• A detailed plan of improvements needed to transform Will J Reid to a first class Scout facility
What do you Scouter's think? Email me with your thoughts. We are also looking to see if we have any real estate or corporate attorneys among us for a possible next step.
In the media:
http://www.lbreport.com/
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_15211791
http://www.gazettes.com/articles/2010/06/02/community_news/doc4c06a1cd2d017298735967.txt
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