Today (03/24/2021), an e-mail was sent out to at least some Members from the current GFA President Steve Rodriguez (Lot 301) regarding a letter I recently sent to Ray Wood (Lot 254) pointing out that Ray is ineligible to serve on the GFA board, and therefore needs to resign. A full copy of my letter and Steve's recent e-mail are appended below.
Our current GFA bylaws may be found here: https://www.goodnowflow.net/gfa-bylaws
Nearly 2 years ago, the board correctly admitted that our bylaws are the only document that describes the "workings" of our Flow:
Our GFA bylaws direct that only a living human being owning a lot on our Flow is eligible for Membership in the GFA:
According to a check of the Essex County Real Property website earlier today, Ray Wood does not own the lot which the board falsely ascribes to him. The lot on which Ray is most correctly described as a guest is owned by a trust. In NYS, a trust is Juridical Person or Entity, not a Natural Person as required above:
Our bylaws (which were written by the board) require that all officers and directors must be voting members in good standing:
Ray Wood, does not own a lot on our Flow. Therefore, Ray Wood is not a Member of the GFA, and is ineligible to hold any position on the board.
My Two Cents:
Despite Steve's inflammatory implying to the contrary, I have no interest in interfering with anyone's perfectly legal right to use a Trust. I have a HUGE interest in protecting our Flow and GFA. This matter could and should have been easily resolved by 5 minutes worth of work from the bylaws committee proposing an amendment to our bylaws allowing for Trust ownership. But, the board refuses to perform even that tiny service to the Members - a clear indicator to me that there is very little actual wish to serve on the currently sitting board, and instead a strong desire to lord over Members. I believe the board refuses to act because they do not want to admit that they have made a mistake, that the mistake was correctly and professionally pointed out to them long ago, and that they chose to do nothing. Board members and supporters have frequently excoriated me in the past for freely admitting I am far from perfect, but I have not yet seen the board admit that they are imperfect humans, too.
I believe I have been reliably informed that when a non-profit (which our GFA is) conducts its operations in blatant violation of its own bylaws, that is a primary reason for a non-profit to lose its status. If that happens because of the lazy stubbornness of the board, we will all suffer. I have tried for almost two years to resolve this and other matters with the board without the intervention of outside parties, but the board has either ignored my requests for consultation or simply said "no". I pledge to do all I can to prevent the board's unethical improprieties from causing problems for our Flow now or in the future.
Please Vote Wisely, Not Habitually.
Thank you very much for your DEEPLY appreciated
and ongoing support in 2021 and beyond!! :-)
