Jeff,
About 24 hours ago, you sent an email to a public bulletin board... . . . . . . . . Noone on the BOD, in their right mind, is going to respond to a request like this on here. And that's what I would call a 'good business practice'. Especially with the gray cloud hanging over AMSAT that has been throwing lots of lightning bolts its direction lately. Either way, it looks like they have their form 990's posted to amsat.org, ref:
https://www.amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/AMSAT_2019_Form99...
When it comes to a forensic audit of an organization, I don't think you really comprehend the magnitude of that effort. Let's consider a very simple case. Say some AMSAT engineer (using AMSAT funds), purchased a pack of current limiters for $5.00 and sent them to someone at location A on one side of the US. They probably ordered a few extras, because sometimes things go wrong. Then, they did their work and the rest were sitting on the bench. Then, maybe someone else on the other side of the US needed some. So, the member that had them, decided to (on their own dime) ship them to the other location (rather than having AMSAT foot the bill, because it can take time), so they were sent off to complete whatever project. Now, maybe there's a couple left at the new location, but not enough to justify actually shipping them to anyone. So right now, they are sitting on someone's shelf, waiting for the next need to arise. What you're asking for is spending the time, energy and effort on determining when they were purchased, who purchased them, who they were sent to, asking individuals to sift through emails so they can maybe recall where something was sent, etc... And, for how many years do you want to look back? I run my own business, have a lathe/mill/laser out in my garage with a bunch of tools that are company property... and if you asked me to find one of my business screwdrivers out there, I could... but it may take me a couple hours to find the Exact one.... and that's in my own garage, 10 feet away from where i'm sitting. I would literally be screwed!
What's the end-game here, really? Besides casting doubt in the membership? What do members need their minds put at ease about.... specifically? And, be Specific. If you wanted to forensically audit some individual situation, that's one thing... but if you're going to push for a forensic audit of finances and all physical assets, over the years, what you're really doing is signing everyone up for a pile of wasted time and money, because that's going to take forever and cost a pile! Think about all the individual components that have been ordered over time and all the places they had to go. Think of all the hardware or components with defects that were chucked into wastebins due to defects... The ends should justify the means.
Good luck,
Joseph Armbruster
KJ4JIO
On Sun, Aug 9, 2020 at 3:25 AM Jeff Johns via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
About 24 hours ago I asked if the legacy BoD members and Officer which are running against me during this election cycle would join me to call for a full forensic accounting of AMSAT’s finances.
The call to ask them to step-up and help ease the minds of many members was not answered. Why? It could be a myriad of things but because they will not (so far) step forward and help promote financial transparency is very disturbing. If there is nothing astray, then there would be nothing to worry about other than the cost for a third-party to perform the audit.
I will once again ask them if they are willing to move forward a motion to authorize a forensic audit of AMSAT’s finances. Along with this audit, a full inventory of all AMSAT assets should be performed. Can any BoD member tell us, the general membership, the last time an inventory was performed? I can’t find anything in any minutes that are published. It’s good business practice to perform inventories. The Treasurer, as a CPA, should be very familiar with inventory practices in business. AMSAT is a business, albeit non-profit. An inventory of physical assets would go a long way to helping to heal AMSAT by removing the cloud.
Regardless of who wins this election, there will still be a cloud over AMSAT regarding the handling of members’ monies until an independent source provides an authoritative summary of both AMSAT’s finances and physical assets.
If elected, I would make the motion to have this occur in order to ease the minds of members and donors. This needs to happen regardless of who wins seats and I would ask all members to encourage the Board to make this happen.
Jeff WE4B http://we4bravo.com _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb