Editorial
This editorial expresses my personal views and not necessarily those of the committee For the Players.
The Board of Directors sought the help of their
attorney to rewrite their Bylaws and the Articles of Incorporation.
Inconvenient aspects of these were eliminated.
The concept of “membership” was purged, and the
Board assigned themselves and their Bondholders the sole controllers of the
OMBC. These revised documents are
published on their
website.
The committee For
the Players is interested to know who is now controlling OMBC and who is
electing them. Two of our
bond-holding members, Dave Rogers and Gloria McCain, wrote to the Board's attorney to request this information. (Please
click to read
Dave’s and
Gloria’s requests. Also read
Dave's 2nd Request)
They would seem entitled to it. Under the newly revised Bylaws, the treasurer is required to provide access to the books of OMBC’s financial condition to Bondholders upon reasonable request.
The Board and their attorney do not see it that way.
The president of the Board wrote to Dave refusing his
request. She explained that their
attorney had advised that she needn’t respond to Dave.
He was not entitled to this information.
I don’t know if Gloria has received a response.
The lockout is complete.
This is the latest in a long stream of alienating, paranoid actions.
The Board has removed player members from its
charter, elevated the few Bondholders remaining to the controlling force on
the Board, and is now refusing to furnish Bondholders with information they
need to vote for new board members.
The OMBC has now arranged its conversion to an
autocratic organization. It
operates for the benefit of the club owners and is controlled by the most
senior of these. Most of the old
bondholders have cashed out, all but one of the Board has resigned, and the
spirit of the Center has been impoverished by this heavy-handed and callous
treatment of players.
Nobody should be surprised that volunteers are drying
up and players are deserting the Center.
The sense of belonging has been sucked away by the repeated
insistence that players are not “members” but “customers”.
The club spirit of OMBC has fled, driven away by the
uncaring actions of club owners and their leader.
The game owners can feel more secure, their
leader is as firmly enthroned
--John Christman 10/27/2015