In an open letter to the Board of Directors of the OB Community Foundation, the group that rebranded the OB Town Council, long-time resident and former OBTC Treasurer, Keith Fink, criticizes the board and lays out some urgent recommendations “to gain the community’s faith.” Here is his letter:
To the Members of the Board of Directors of the OB Community Foundation (OBCF):
I and other OBceans are concerned and disappointed with some of the actions, and inactions, of the OB Community Foundation.
When the OBTC imploded, the community was stunned, angered, indignant. There was a cry for answers – most notably, accountability and transparency.
The former was partially fulfilled with the resignations of the Executive Board, though it appears that all board members who had held their seats for the previous year or more were asleep at the wheel and equally culpable. The latter – transparency – never occurred.
Apparently, attempts at reviving the OBTC were futile, so the OBCF stepped in to fill the void.
They have adopted a set of bylaws that will purportedly avoid those situations that led to the OBTC’s demise.
But yet, the cries for transparency go unanswered, leading to skepticism and mistrust. The OBCF may be doing what is required of them, but that is insufficient to gain the community’s trust and confidence; the OBCF must go above and beyond.
To gain the community’s faith, the OBCF must do as many other not-for-profits do, from OB People’s Food Co-Op to the Sierra Club, and publish monthly their minutes and financials, not because it is required, but to demonstrate the pursuit of full transparency.
In this case, that includes publishing monthly, on the OBCF website, summaries of each public forum, minutes of each meeting of the members of the board, and full financials.
This also needs to include what is happening with the audit of and investigation into the OBTC funds. It is understandable that there may be details that cannot be divulged as the investigation progresses, but it is the board’s responsibility to tap dance around that and provide clarity to the community.
“It is in process” is insufficient (especially after a year!) and only adds fuel to the fire of discontent and mistrust. Full disclosure demonstrates that there is nothing to hide!
The OBCF is planning on producing several large events, all of which have associated expenses requiring fund raising.
Why would someone want to financially support an organization which fails to publicly divulge its finances? This is especially the case after its predecessor, the OBTC, perished in the flames of financial ruin!
Please, I implore you, for the OBCF’s sake, for the community’s sake, to gain the support of OB – post your summaries, minutes, finances, and OBTC updates on your website prior to this month’s forum (and monthly thereafter), put all of the scuttlebutt and innuendo to rest, and move forward with trust and transparency. OB expects and deserves nothing less!
Sincerely,
Keith Fink
Past OBTC Treasurer (last to file taxes)
40 Year OB Resident and Community Activist
To be sure, those members of the board of the OBCF who have been fighting the good fight over the last year or so to move the organization forward should be lauded for their efforts. These dedicated, unpaid, and usually underappreciated members, many of whom have full time jobs, a family, and/or other responsibilities, are making sacrifices for the community’s sake. With resolve, they are working to pull things together while continuing the production of OB’s traditional annual events – apropos of which, volunteers are needed (I am a current collaborator on the Holiday Parade). The call for transparency, however, is critically important and must occur without further delay while the community supports the OBCF with its many challenges and tasks.
Sounds to me like you should have run for a seat on their new board and helped to straighten them out.
Maybe everyone on that board should have been removed and an advisory group brought in to repair it, over a couple of years, before they started operating like nothing has happened and began requesting donations again.
You hit it: “before they started operating like nothing has happened and began requesting donations again.”