Not such a Bad Day.

L

L. Costa

New member
As some of you know I am the Financial Officer for the NBRSA. After months of reading comments telling us that Rodney is a victim of the bad NBRSA leadership I've decided to provide you with information that may give you a different perspective.
I will start by saying that up until a few months ago I considered myself to be a friend of Rodney's. He is very enthusiastic about benchrest and is a likable guy.
Next I have to say that I am not a lawyer so you should not take anything that I am writing as a proven fact that Rodney or Audrey are guilty of anything. I will simply tell you what we have found without even trying. Just to make it clear, there is no rummaging through the files to find anything out of the ordinary. What we did find basically jumped out at us.
A little more background:
Rodney approached me at the IBS Nationals at Holton to to see how I felt about his going to New Zealand. I told him that I would be polite but not to expect anything else. As we continued to speak he told me that he had a leadership role in the NBRSA financials and that Audrey was dedicated more toward the magazine and membership. That's when I got a major problem with Rodney's involvement in the financial side of the NBRSA and what I knew about them.

Let me explain:
1) Was Rodney a member of the NBRSA?
We found that Rodney had not paid for a membership in years. He was given a membership by Audrey.
Gene Bukys and I confronted Dennis (previous president), at the Super Shoot and Dennis denied ever having given the authorization for Audrey to give Rodney the memberships. Some time latter Dennis re-canted on that and said that indeed he had given authorization to Audrey. I guess that's possible.
In any case on Feb 11 of this year Audrey was on her way out but decided to give Rodney a two year membership without anyone's authorization. It was caught, Gene wrote Rodney a letter and the membership was paid. Was this a little too late?
With all that in mind is it fair to send Rodney to New Zealand and keep the next guy, who is for sure a member from going. Should the USA team have a potential non-member representing it? As the "financial' person, did Rodney know what was going on?

2) Did Rodney know about the advertising manipulation? Remember he was the "financial" head.
The NBRSA gets a majority of it's revenue from advertising on the magazine. The deal with Audrey gave her 50% of the advertising revenue. So, if a client buys $800 of advertising the NBRSA gets $400 and Audrey gets $400. Simple! Well, that's until the twist comes in. In the twist Audrey gives a one or two year free membership ($60 per year) to close the deal. Unbeknown to the customer he pays the $800, the NBRSA gets only $340 or even $280 while Audrey gets $400. If the client pays by credit card the NBRSA gets $310 or even $250 while the Browns still get the $400. Nice!!
No one authorized this clever sales method. Is this legal? I don't know but to me it sure fails the honorable and fair test.
Just to make it clear, the customers had no idea how the money was being distributed or if Audrey had authorization to make these deals. THIS IS IMPORTANT!!

3) Did Rodney know about the money Audrey took out of the NBRSA account?
The NBRSA put a temporary hold on an advertising commission check for over $17,000.00 until Audrey could provide the financials justifying this large amount. Instead of providing the financials Audrey went to the bank and took out the whole amount. In case you don't known, every check requires two signatures under NBRSA rules. There was no authorization for this! The same day Audrey may have thought about this and decided to put $724 back and then the following day she put the rest back.
This pissed me off! I asked Gene to inform the police or the prosecutor's office and see if this was a criminal action. He refused. He's tired of this whole mess and just wants it put behind us and get going on NBRSA business. Good luck with that!

I could keep going but instead I will wait for the 10 year scheduled outside audit that will take place next year. My hope is that there are still enough documents left to complete an audit.

As an interesting data point, we have an old letter signed by Audrey recommending expulsion to a member of the NBRSA. The board decide to give the member a one year probation. Another incident where a member was given probation was (as I have been told) done with Lou's involvement. Maybe he can tell us the reasons for that probation.

The good news is that now the NBRSA has a martyr and we can all bow down to him on Nov 11. As Obama so richly said: "Never waste a good crisis".
 
When they came out of the meeting at the super shoot, all bragging about how they got Rodney off the world team once and for all. I made a call and found out this information and I text it to a friend of Gene’s so Gene wouldn’t make a fool of himself and told him he better call Dennis . He called Dennis and ask the wrong questions playing games . He then talk to Dennis and ask the proper questions and got the right answer. That yes Rodney was given the membership for 2016 and the boardmember I talked to said yes they were aware of it .
Here is the text that I sent right after I made the phone call . This was done at the super shoot on 31 May.
Sounds like Gene just didn’t know how to handle and employee which Rodney was not .
Also I was told the back those checks show they were both deposit back that day on the ninth. I’m pretty sure there is a copy of that from the bank . This is what I was told from somebody that has a copy .
Like I said it’s his vendetta just to get him off the team he succeeded .
 

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Larry, thanks.

What so many seem to forget is the NBRSA is a Non Profit Organization. There are strict rules set up by the IRS governing the behavior of such organizations.

As a member, I would still hold forth the option of taking this to what ever Law Enforcement Entity would have jurisdiction. That would only seem prudent considering the upcoming audit.

Since you have read most of the Post in the various Threads concerning this matter, you are aware that there are two groups who seem to be set on doing as much harm to the NBRSA as possibe. One group seems to be acting out of ignorance. Perhaps what you have put forth this eavning will cause them to take pause and see that they have been mislead concerning the facts surrounding this whole affair.

The other group seem out to do as much harm to the NBRSA as possible regardless of the facts in the matter at hand. Their motives seem to be under wraps. Perhaps they want to break away and start another Sanctioning Organization and take as many NBRSA Members with them as they can.

If that is their motive, they have every right to do this. Just be up front about it.
 
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First I was at World Team meeting and nobody came out all happy to get Rodney off the team. Rodney was not taken off the team at that time. He was given a chance to make good and stay on in May and again in August and he completely reject the approach. Yes emotions were high but not happy high, they were as pissed as I was. I could not believe all the financial stuff I was running into.

Second I was at a casual meeting on the firing line on a practice day with Dennis and Gene. We asked Dennis if he had given authorization to Audrey for the membership and he said no he had not. Maybe he did not remember, okay. This still does not excuse Rodney AFTER Gene was president to get a free 2 year membership without authorization. That's Bull and you know it. If he had not been caught he'd probably still be using the fake membership now. There is no way for you to justify all the stuff in my post.

I know by the emails you have sent around to a few folks that you would like to use this opportunity to make changes. That's great, we need to make changes otherwise we stagnate; but let's not do it because of Rodney. Let's do it for the right reasons, to improve the quality of our sport.

I am done at this point. As usual I will step back from this and let you all have fun. Goodbye.
 
Larry, can I get some clarification on some points and share some comments on some points?

1.You became the Financial Officer in Oct and didn't know about Rodney's "leadership role in the NBRSA financials" until August? How did that happen? What does the Financial Officer do?

2. Your point 1) reads as though Rodney was a legitimate member during 2016, when he earned a spot on the World Team. Whether he was involved in a conspiracy on Feb 11 to cheat the NBRSA by accepting a knowingly-illegitimate free membership is not clear (in other words, was he "on the hook" for additional "free" work on behalf of the NBRSA?); however, the fact that he paid his dues after being "caught" may remove a bit of the sting from that issue.

3. Your point 2) is confusing in the following respects:

-- First, you're the Financial Officer -- why do you refer to Rodney as the "'financial' head"?

-- Second, last year's financial statements show that the NBRSA gets less than 25% of its revenue from advertising -- why do you say it gets the "majority of its revenue from advertising"?

-- Third, I don't understand the "twist" - are you saying that Audrey gave free memberships to folks other than Rodney in return for them encouraging customers to place advertisements? If so, were those free memberships also revoked? Is there any credible evidence that Rodney was involved in the "clever sales method."

4. Regarding your point 3), if the rules require two signatures, how was Audrey able to get money out of the bank accounts? Also, is there any evidence that Rodney participated in that action?

Regarding a 10-year audit, that sounds VERY pricey! Given the involvement of a Financial Officer, who may not handle the check book, I wonder if such an expense is justified.

BTW, I wish you had responded to the two emails I sent your way last year (when I was a member) regarding several NBRSA financial-related questions and comments; maybe I'd still be a member. Also, it's interesting that you said "Audrey was dedicated more toward ... membership." When I didn't renew I did not hear anything from anyone to the effect of, "Hey, did you forget your renewal?" I couldn't help but wonder whether anyone cared whether folks renewed their membership.
 
Hunter
I normally don't respond to people that hide their name. For you I make one exception, only one. I know you won't stop; you're so predictable.

1) Audrey kept saying she was in charge of the financials. We got suspicious during training because when she could not answer a question she would go find Rodney

2) Sting? Are you kidding me. That's okay in your book? So what else do you excuse? Do you suffer from a soft set of core values?

3) I'll explain it so that you can understand. He claimed he WAS the person doing the majority of the financials before Audrey left. It's painful to have to explain that. The rest of three is unbelievably simple to understand.

4) You know exactly what I said. Two signatures on checks. This was not a check, it was a withdrawal, and it was unauthorized. You act like a lawyer trying for the got-you. The problem is you're so pathetically obvious.

5) Pricey. The statutes of the NBRSA demand it as do the rules we operate under. We have no choice.

6) Respond to your emails? Hell, I don't even know who you are other than someone who sits by his keyboard like a vulture waiting for a chance to chew the eye out of someone.

7) Of course I would welcome you as a member but it sure would be a forced smile. Have a nice day.
 
All this stuff about Rodney's wife and what she did or didn't do is just chaff.

No one should be banned from any organization because of the actions of another person, even the person's spouse.
 
Larry you said
Second I was at a casual meeting on the firing line on a practice day with Dennis and Gene. We asked Dennis if he had given authorization to Audrey for the membership and he said no he had not. Maybe he did not remember, okay.

Check your timeline
last time three of you were at a shoot was in 2016 at nationals before Gene was even President .
 
Quite right Lou. It was a phone call on speaker at the firing line just before the world team meeting at the super shoot.
The content was exactly as I said.
 
Larry, I consider you one of the smartest men I know. You keep talking about Audrey. Publicizing all this stuff about Audrey only sets our organization up for lawsuit. A lawsuit I believe we will surely lose. I have never questioned what she had done as an employee. That’s between her and the company she worked for and should have been kept confidential. If there’s something there for the NBRSA to prosecute then let them prosecute.
Audrey was 100% responsible for and in charge of managing NBRSA financials. At most, Rodney might have provided some technical support on how to run reports, graph data, etc. Rodney was not a paid employee.
The statement about trying to remedy this situation is pure BS! Not one member of the Board or any executive has initiated any contact with either Rodney or Audrey since this transition! Wayne wanted Rodney to “apologize” but, wouldn’t say to who or for what! Rodney approached Gene at the East-West and got full-scale temper tantrum. He finally
approached Chris Harris at the IBS Nationals to try and figure out what their beef was. Since the termination notice, the Board has had at least two meetings to discuss this situation, and STILL not one of them has called him to discuss the information that they were given that led to this whole situation.

Gene and a few others did not want to have to deal with Audrey at the World Shoot so, they went after Rodney.

The NBRSA was running fine until Gene took over as new president.
He has separated the NBRSA across the United States with bad judgment and ill feelings and along with the board created a situation way worse than when the IBS split off. All of this, for what? So much of this mess is personal and has crossed the line with conflicts of interest between Gene, the board and world team members. In the end, pitted friends against friends and destroyed a man’s dream of participating in a world match. A dream you, yourself have worked so hard to achieve.

We need somebody that can put this organization back together. Gene needs to step down along with four of the directors. They’re not capable of saving this. For the betterment of this organization they need to be gone.
They are not bad people, they have just proven to be bad leaders.
 
Lou Murdica said:
Larry, I consider you one of the smartest men I know. You keep talking about Audrey. Publicizing all this stuff about Audrey only sets our organization up for lawsuit. A lawsuit I believe we will surely lose. I have never questioned what she had done as an employee. That’s between her and the company she worked for and should have been kept confidential. If there’s something there for the NBRSA to prosecute then let them prosecute.
Audrey was 100% responsible for and in charge of managing NBRSA financials. At most, Rodney might have provided some technical support on how to run reports, graph data, etc. Rodney was not a paid employee.
The statement about trying to remedy this situation is pure BS! Not one member of the Board or any executive has initiated any contact with either Rodney or Audrey since this transition! Wayne wanted Rodney to “apologize” but, wouldn’t say to who or for what! Rodney approached Gene at the East-West and got full-scale temper tantrum. He finally
approached Chris Harris at the IBS Nationals to try and figure out what their beef was. Since the termination notice, the Board has had at least two meetings to discuss this situation, and STILL not one of them has called him to discuss the information that they were given that led to this whole situation.

Gene and a few others did not want to have to deal with Audrey at the World Shoot so, they went after Rodney.

The NBRSA was running fine until Gene took over as new president.
He has separated the NBRSA across the United States with bad judgment and ill feelings and along with the board created a situation way worse than when the IBS split off. All of this, for what? So much of this mess is personal and has crossed the line with conflicts of interest between Gene, the board and world team members. In the end, pitted friends against friends and destroyed a man’s dream of participating in a world match. A dream you, yourself have worked so hard to achieve.

We need somebody that can put this organization back together. Gene needs to step down along with four of the directors. They’re not capable of saving this. For the betterment of this organization they need to be gone.
They are not bad people, they have just proven to be bad leaders.
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Lou,
First of all I am not speaking for the board. I was commenting to you and your post of Nov 11 where you want to memorialize Rodney. I am commenting as a financial officer only and I was only giving a financial perspective. Please note that I did not say that anyone was guilty of anything and I will wait for the audit for a final determination. I never questioned Rodney's role in the financial management until HE TOLD ME HE DID A LOT OF IT.
As you well know Rodney will be back in the NBRSA (probation) on Jan 1 and he will be able to qualify for the next world team if he so desires. Beating on this forever is only hurting the organization.
I don't know some of the board members very well and you may be right that some may be voted out on the next election cycle. That's up to the members THEN.

I do know Gene, and what I can tell you is that he is trying very hard to put this stuff behind us. It's not fair to guess at his motives. I believe he gave Rodney and Audrey every opportunity available to make this disappear. Gene is trying to get past this and to move on to the real business of the NBRSA. The board and Gene are stuck in this pile of crap because people keep bringing it up and nothing else is getting done.
Give the team a chance! Let it go!

I could easily go back and say this phone call that meeting, etc, etc, etc, and you would respond with this, that and the other and we would keep this infernal beast going. I'm asking for a moratorium.

Judge the performance of the team in a year without these continuous interruptions. That's only fair.
This has been a very emotional conflict and it takes time to heal. I believe that if we all make an effort we can all put this to rest.

I'll start the process by apologizing to Hunter for making it personal in my response. I should not have done that. I do recommend to you Hunter that you join the NBRSA and vote to make the organization better.

I only have a couple of days before going to New Zealand and I don't need any more distractions. I will stop now and I will not be checking back until after the match. Be well.
Larry Costa
 
Being an outsider and really non of my business from my perspective is it is creating quite abit of unreversable damage to new prospective competitors who were contemplating joining the organization. Hopefully it can all get worked out to everyones satisfaction with no hard feelings being left behind. As its also unfortunate to see those who were once competitve friends and highly respected by outsiders like myself and each other now being in harsh conflict with each other and really quite sad to openly witness.
 
Louis.J said:
Being an outsider and really non of my business from my perspective is it is creating quite abit of unreversable damage to new prospective competitors who were contemplating joining the organization. Hopefully it can all get worked out to everyones satisfaction with no hard feelings being left behind. As its also unfortunate to see those who were once competitve friends and highly respected by outsiders like myself and each other now being in harsh conflict with each other and really quite sad to openly witness.
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Quite possibly the most meaningful post in the last month!
 
"As the Benchrest Turns"

Been out of the loop for a few years due to conflicting interests... WOW what a soap opera. Not sure if I'd want to come back.

Pat Hurley
 
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