We were denied access to corporate records and communications from the first day of our terms.
We commissioned a formal legal demand letter and sent it to AMSAT's secretly hired law firm.
Two days later, Joe Spier resigned.
Clayton Coleman was (duly) elected in a short emergency meeting.
Clayton Coleman restored access to communications, and some additional records were available. He called the first (and only) regular board meeting of the year, and we heard some reports, made some motions, and kicked off some plans. This was nearly 5 months into our term.
The biggest step forward at this meeting was Clayton agreed to end the business relationship with the secretly hired law firm. That spigot was off.
Things actually looked like they were improving.
No followup since then. No regular meetings since then. No resolution on who actually signed the checks. Could we recover the money?
When the rest of the board finally angrily revealed they really did know all about the secretly hired law firm all along, and it was ok with them that the lawyers were used specifically to make our lives harder, and when some of them decided to run for another term, we decided to speak up. That's all we can do.
If members want another year of zero board meetings because the incumbents really hate Patrick and Michelle asking inconvenient questions about unauthorized expenses, then members will return the same people to the board.
Every month, Patrick and I will still be going through the financials carefully and asking questions. That's an essential part of the job.
If members want a functional board that publishes minutes and can show progress, collaboration, and decision-making, then please vote for people that will help do that: Robert McGwier, Howie DeFelice, and Jeff Johns.
Thank you for the opportunity to answer.
-Michelle W5NYV
On Mon, Jul 13, 2020 at 10:06 AM Russ Ramirez via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb@amsat.org> wrote:
I have been a member on/off since 2012. I have never been removed from this AMSAT mailing list, but have not always been able to log into the AMSAT.org web site. In spite of this, I have renewed my membership, typically at Hamvention (until this year, but did so online), and made extra purchases to support the work of AMSAT.
I definitely echo the message of Hans BX2ABT. Not everyone is bad, but unfortunately too many are not good either.
When reading over each point of view of this ongoing dispute, it is not very clear what started this dispute. In a statement in response to allegations of financial mismanagement, Clayton wrote:
*AMSAT's corporate records give a full accounting of all expendituresand are provided to its Directors upon request, in compliance with ourgoverning documents and law of the District of Columbia (D.C.) Ouroffice remains closed due to COVID-19, where those documents reside.Furthermore, AMSAT complies with IRS rules for 501(c)(3) disclosure ofpublic financial documents, such as the Form 990 available on theAMSAT website *
The above statement is either wholly true, or gray, because making a statement like this which is completely false would be illegal.
Michelle, you have claimed that you (and Patrick) were denied access to financial transaction records upon your written request. Can we simply focus on *what* specifically started this whole thing?
Russ Ramirez K0WFS _______________________________________________ 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