Re: USCF at work 4 days a week
Rob
> Mike Murray wrote:
>
> > On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:42:58 -0700 (PDT), Rob <robmt...@gmail.com>
> > wrote:
>
> > >Mike stated he understood the USCF to have not had a operational
> > >positive cash flow for at least the last five years. If his statement
> > >is true then any losses due to lawsuits are more like "icing on the
> > >cake" rather than the cause of all the financial woes.
>
> > No, this is not like icing on the cake. It's more like a gallon of
> > icing glopped on a cupcake.
>
> If I may. Neither malformed allusion seems appropriate. A gallon of
> excrement glopped (etc.)...is more in keeping with the 'spirit' of
> things here...
>
> m.
COmments from Mr. G's website:
>USCF Executive Board member Susan Polgar posted the following on her blog on May 13, 2009. My >comments are in blue.
>>Under the leadership of USCF President Bill Goichberg, Vice President Jim Berry, VP of Finance Randy >>Bauer and Executive Director Bill Hall, the USCF lost approximately 1,500 members (according to Mike >>Nolan) in February in comparison to 12 months ago.
>>The USCF also lost $420,000 (according to USCF Chief Financial Officer Joe Nanna) in the first 7 >>months of this fiscal year.
>False. Joe Nanna reported no such thing, and the actual loss after the first 7 months was $45,713. The >loss after 11 months is $62,553. We would have a surplus had we not been sued by an Executive Board >member.
??? How can you project a surplus when you are 62k in the red after
11 months?
>>In the month of March, the USCF lost 2,049 members compare to a year ago.
>>In the month of April, the USCF lost another 2344 members compare to a year ago.
>Scholastic membership especially has been declining in recent months. Probably the principal cause is >the economy; many schools have less money to fund chess programs.
??? It has been declining for more than the last several months and
the USCF cannot show a positive
??? operational cash flow for at least the last five years.
>>The USCF membership was nearly 96,000 in 2003 and it is less than 80,000 right now.
>The apparent implication that this was caused by the current board is misleading. In 2003 and 2004, >USCF lost 11,846 members. In 2003 through 2005, USCF lost 13,145 members. In 2006 through 2008, >USCF lost only 1,481 members.
>>In addition, due to incompetence and mishandling of legal contracts, the USCF lost the $150,000 >>guaranteed annual revenues from our official B&E partner.
>We did not lose $150,000, we replaced our partner with a new one who will also pay USCF substantial >revenue. We did not receive the full guaranteed $150,000 for 2008-9 from our previous partner and the >matter is going to arbitration.
??? Wasn't a substantial amount of money "forgiven" If that is the
case did the USCF operate in the black
>>The USCF can longer afford to host its own U.S. Championship / U.S. Women's Championship, send >>teams to the Olympiad or the World Team Championship. In fact, the USCF cannot even afford to send >>its own Zonal President to the FIDE meetings to fight for the rights of our players.
??? What do the other organizations do in these cases
>USCF has found excellent sponsorship for the U.S. Championship and U.S. Women's Championship, and >substantial partial sponsorship for the Olympiads. We would be in much better financial shape were it not >for legal bills related to a board member who has sued her own organization, and another board member >who refused to cooperate with a USCF investigation of his improper conduct.
>We don't need to pay our Zonal President's expenses to go to FIDE meetings and have rarely done so in >the past. Especially with finances tight due to legal bills, why pay when this is not necessary?
>>If it was not for the generosity of the KCF or Mr. Sinquefield, there would be no U.S. / U.S. Women's >>Championship and our teams could not go to the Olympiad. But as of now, our team has no money to >>compete in the World Team Championship.
>If we found no sponsors as well as being saddled with Polgar/Truong related legal expenses, these events >would be in peril. However, we DID find sponsors! How much sponsorship have board members Polgar >and Truong produced for USCF?
??? I think since they got on the board their entire time has been
spent defending themselves
>>Instead of focusing of fixing the many serious problems and finding ways to cut spending and increasing >>revenues, the USCF leadership continues to use USCF members' money for political purpose.
??? I dont know what this means
>There is nothing political about defending USCF from lawsuits and the threat of lawsuits. We could have >done a whitewash and declined to consider the powerful "fake Sloan" evidence, but that would have been >improper and caused major risk of a large successful suit against USCF.
??? Is the USCF better off now after the lawsuit than it was before
the lawsuit
>>Many decisions that could effect the future of the entire federation are being made in secrecy. At least two >>current board members, including USCF President Bill Goichberg, and one past board member were >>involved in a "bribery for votes" scheme.
>A "bribery scheme" exists only on the Polgar blog and forum, where "anonymous" posters appear to be >using the strategy of "Repeat a lie enough times and it becomes true."
??? What is this charge
>>Unfortunately, the truth is being hidden from its members. Instead of focusing on promoting and growing >>chess and the USCF, hundreds of thousands of dollars of USCF members' money have been spent >>without proper authorization to go after people who are critical of this administration, including USCF >>volunteers, members and delegates.
>The truth is not hidden, it's available at www.uschess.org/legalupdates.
??? 24k people in the last six years voted with their pocketbooks and
left the USCF. That says something.
>>3-time U.S. Champion GM Lev Alburt spoke out here about his experience serving on the USCF board. >>5-time U.S. Champion GM Larry Evans also spoke out about it many times in the past.
>Is Polgar trying to pretend that statements made by Alburt and Evans about 17 years ago were intended to >apply to the current situation? Why is it that when she posts these old comments, no date is ever included?
??? The same people are involved in the organization,aren't they
>And while we're on the subject of Evans, Polgar submitted a sworn statement to the court saying that I >attacked Evans when he ran for the USCF Executive Board in 1992. This statement has accuracy that is >typical of most Polgar claims, as Evans NEVER ran for either the Executive Board or its predecessor the >Policy Board.
>>No matter what kind of pressure I face, I will continue to report to you what goes on behind the scene and >>what are some of the causes for the failure of the USCF. It the next month, I will share with you the specific >>problems and potential solutions to fix these problems.
??? I wish the USCF all the best. I don't know what it will take to
fix things but I can say that the egos and
??? personalities of most of the people I have observed dont play well
together. That needs to end before ??? any real progress can be
made,IMO