Important message for SSA members

Jeremy Zawodny wrote:
wrote:
Jeremy Zawodny wrote:
C. Dianne Black-Nixon wrote:
SSA Members,

Please visit the SSA homepage at www.ssa.org for an important message
regarding the Society.
[ Why it's not posted here is beyond me. Text below. ]

Possibly because they don't want this spread all over the internet?
But, then again, you already took care of that....

If they were that concerned about it "getting out" I'd have expected
them subject to say "Important Message for SSA Members ONLY" or some
sort of "not for redistribution" statement in the notice.

But instead they posted it to a world-wide message board at roughly the
same time that it hit my inbox too.

Do you mean the SSA website, where your membership number and password
are required to see the article?

--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA

www.motorglider.org - Download "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane
Operation"

Anyone that would be stupid enough to post this message on rec.aviation
should be blackballed and thrown out of SSA as an abuser of his membership
privilidges. Mr. Zawodny, you sir, are a jerk!


"Jeremy Zawodny" wrote in message
...
C. Dianne Black-Nixon wrote:
SSA Members,

Please visit the SSA homepage at www.ssa.org for an important message
regarding the Society.

[ Why it's not posted here is beyond me. Text below. ]

Message from the SSA Chairman

September 1, 2006

Dear SSA Member:

As Chairman of the SSA Board of Directors, I am committed to keeping
members fully informed regarding all issues relating to our Society, and
must now report some serious societal financial problems, and actions the
Executive Committee has taken to deal with them.

On August 5 th 2006, I notified the Board of Directors that the Executive
Committee had been informed by the SSA Executive Director, Dennis Wright,
that the Society had not filed federal tax-exempt information returns with
the Internal Revenue Service since 2002. In the past, Johnson, Miller &
Co. PC, CPA, our outside accounting firm, prepared SSA’s returns. Both
Dennis Wright and James Francis, a principal of Johnson, Miller & Co.,
reported to the Executive Committee that this omission was due to our
Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, Alan Gleason, not providing
sufficient financial data required by Johnson, Miller & Co. to prepare the
returns. The Executive Committee immediately asked Johnson, Miller & Co.
to come to the SSA’s office and obtain all the requisite data to enable
them to do so.

On August 17, 2006, Mr. Wright reported to the Executive Committee that
during the gathering of information to prepare the delinquent returns, Mr.
Francis had discovered that the SSA had not submitted federal payroll
withholding, social security or Medicare, as well as New Mexico state
withholding taxes for at least five quarters beginning in 2003. Although
payments were made for other quarters, SSA did not file appropriate
returns for at least twelve quarters. Additionally, the financial
statements, specifically the balance sheets presented to the Board and the
membership, did not reflect the unpaid taxes as liabilities of the
Society. At this time, it is not known whether anything else is inaccurate
in the balance sheets, however, further investigation is ongoing.

The Executive Committee immediately retained an outside attorney and
investigated the situation. On August 23, 2006 Mr. Gleason claimed that a
lack of available cash on hand caused him to decide to not pay the taxes
when due. When questioned, he admitted not to have made anyone else,
including the Board, aware of such decisions. The Executive Committee
placed Mr. Gleason on paid administrative leave until such time as all
information required to submit the state and federal tax returns is
ascertained and it is determined exactly what federal and state taxes are
due. Once those issues are resolved, appropriate further action regarding
Mr. Gleason will be considered. Measures to protect SSA funds and other
assets have already been put in place, as has an interim system to control
SSA financial matters.

While accurate figures have not yet been derived, it appears that the
actual tax liability could be between $200,000 and $300,000 which with the
addition of interest and, to the extent not mitigated, penalties, could
total as much as $600,000.

This obviously signals a potentially catastrophic situation. The Executive
Committee intends to have a thorough and independent financial
investigation conducted to ascertain, among other things, the reasons for
the apparent cash shortfall.

To the best of its ability, the SSA will pay all applicable taxes,
penalties and interest imposed by state and federal governments. Doing so
will strain Society finances to the limit, however the SSA can borrow from
certain unrestricted funds within the SSA Foundation. To place our Society
on a sound financial footing going forward, significant reductions in
services must occur. A task force of present and former SSA Board members
has already been established to assist the Board in this regard.

The situation I have described above is clearly the single most serious
challenge the Society has faced in its 75 year history. Please understand
that SSA leadership is totally committed to reaching a successful
resolution to this problem, but doing so will require significant
continued support by the membership. SSA members have a long history of
aiding the Society when most needed. I hope I can rely on you personally
to support your SSA leaders during this extremely difficult time, as we
strive to bring these matters to a successful resolution. Our goals are to
meet our financial obligations to state and federal governments and to
transform what has always been a struggling organization operating “on a
knife-edge” into one that is financially strong, and that meets your needs
as a member.

To save costs, all subsequent communications from me regarding these
important issues will be posted on the members-only section of the SSA
website and in SSA e-News. You may contact your Regional Director, other
members of the Executive Committee, or me directly should you have further
questions.

Sincerely yours,

C. Dianne Black-Nixon
Chairman of the Board of the Soaring Society of America

Knowing Jeremy, I have no doubt it wasn't in purpose. I also initially
thought it was publically available on ssa.org (which would then show
up on search engines etc...) since using cookies we are automatically
logged on. Only once you logoff you realize you need to sign on to see
the message.
I'de call it an oops.

Ramy

Brian Glick wrote:
Anyone that would be stupid enough to post this message on rec.aviation
should be blackballed and thrown out of SSA as an abuser of his membership
privilidges. Mr. Zawodny, you sir, are a jerk!


"Jeremy Zawodny" wrote in message
...
C. Dianne Black-Nixon wrote:
SSA Members,

Please visit the SSA homepage at www.ssa.org for an important message
regarding the Society.

[ Why it's not posted here is beyond me. Text below. ]

Message from the SSA Chairman

September 1, 2006

Dear SSA Member:

As Chairman of the SSA Board of Directors, I am committed to keeping
members fully informed regarding all issues relating to our Society, and
must now report some serious societal financial problems, and actions the
Executive Committee has taken to deal with them.

On August 5 th 2006, I notified the Board of Directors that the Executive
Committee had been informed by the SSA Executive Director, Dennis Wright,
that the Society had not filed federal tax-exempt information returns with
the Internal Revenue Service since 2002. In the past, Johnson, Miller &
Co. PC, CPA, our outside accounting firm, prepared SSA's returns. Both
Dennis Wright and James Francis, a principal of Johnson, Miller & Co.,
reported to the Executive Committee that this omission was due to our
Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, Alan Gleason, not providing
sufficient financial data required by Johnson, Miller & Co. to prepare the
returns. The Executive Committee immediately asked Johnson, Miller & Co.
to come to the SSA's office and obtain all the requisite data to enable
them to do so.

On August 17, 2006, Mr. Wright reported to the Executive Committee that
during the gathering of information to prepare the delinquent returns, Mr.
Francis had discovered that the SSA had not submitted federal payroll
withholding, social security or Medicare, as well as New Mexico state
withholding taxes for at least five quarters beginning in 2003. Although
payments were made for other quarters, SSA did not file appropriate
returns for at least twelve quarters. Additionally, the financial
statements, specifically the balance sheets presented to the Board and the
membership, did not reflect the unpaid taxes as liabilities of the
Society. At this time, it is not known whether anything else is inaccurate
in the balance sheets, however, further investigation is ongoing.

The Executive Committee immediately retained an outside attorney and
investigated the situation. On August 23, 2006 Mr. Gleason claimed that a
lack of available cash on hand caused him to decide to not pay the taxes
when due. When questioned, he admitted not to have made anyone else,
including the Board, aware of such decisions. The Executive Committee
placed Mr. Gleason on paid administrative leave until such time as all
information required to submit the state and federal tax returns is
ascertained and it is determined exactly what federal and state taxes are
due. Once those issues are resolved, appropriate further action regarding
Mr. Gleason will be considered. Measures to protect SSA funds and other
assets have already been put in place, as has an interim system to control
SSA financial matters.

While accurate figures have not yet been derived, it appears that the
actual tax liability could be between $200,000 and $300,000 which with the
addition of interest and, to the extent not mitigated, penalties, could
total as much as $600,000.

This obviously signals a potentially catastrophic situation. The Executive
Committee intends to have a thorough and independent financial
investigation conducted to ascertain, among other things, the reasons for
the apparent cash shortfall.

To the best of its ability, the SSA will pay all applicable taxes,
penalties and interest imposed by state and federal governments. Doing so
will strain Society finances to the limit, however the SSA can borrow from
certain unrestricted funds within the SSA Foundation. To place our Society
on a sound financial footing going forward, significant reductions in
services must occur. A task force of present and former SSA Board members
has already been established to assist the Board in this regard.

The situation I have described above is clearly the single most serious
challenge the Society has faced in its 75 year history. Please understand
that SSA leadership is totally committed to reaching a successful
resolution to this problem, but doing so will require significant
continued support by the membership. SSA members have a long history of
aiding the Society when most needed. I hope I can rely on you personally
to support your SSA leaders during this extremely difficult time, as we
strive to bring these matters to a successful resolution. Our goals are to
meet our financial obligations to state and federal governments and to
transform what has always been a struggling organization operating "on a
knife-edge" into one that is financially strong, and that meets your needs
as a member.

To save costs, all subsequent communications from me regarding these
important issues will be posted on the members-only section of the SSA
website and in SSA e-News. You may contact your Regional Director, other
members of the Executive Committee, or me directly should you have further
questions.

Sincerely yours,

C. Dianne Black-Nixon
Chairman of the Board of the Soaring Society of America

Brian Glick wrote:
Anyone that would be stupid enough to post this message on rec.aviation
should be blackballed and thrown out of SSA as an abuser of his membership
privilidges. Mr. Zawodny, you sir, are a jerk!


Kicked out out of the what? The who? The $250,000 computer scandal a
few years ago was bad enough. Do you really thinkt that the SSA will
survive this in its current incarnation?
I'm disgusted.

Shawn

Shawn Curry wrote:
Brian Glick wrote:
Anyone that would be stupid enough to post this message on
rec.aviation should be blackballed and thrown out of SSA as an abuser
of his membership privilidges. Mr. Zawodny, you sir, are a jerk!


Kicked out out of the what? The who? The $250,000 computer scandal a
few years ago was bad enough. Do you really thinkt that the SSA will
survive this in its current incarnation?

Yes, I think it is a much better incarnation that we have now, and we'll
get through this.

I'm disgusted.

I'm disappointed. I know many of the people working with/for the SSA,
and they are good people that don't deserve the grief this accounting
situation will cause them.
--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA

www.motorglider.org - Download "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane
Operation"

What distresses me the most about the article is:

"The Executive Committee placed Mr. Gleason on paid administrative leave
...."

Is there no black and white anymore?

Colin

Why is there a private section? As a non-profit, I would expect SSA to
be as tranparent as
possible.

Why wasn't he canned?

Mike Schumann

"COLIN LAMB" wrote in message
link.net...
What distresses me the most about the article is:

"The Executive Committee placed Mr. Gleason on paid administrative leave
..."

Is there no black and white anymore?

Colin

Legally, if they are a non-profit, all of their financial info needs to be
available to the public.

Mike Schumann

wrote in message
oups.com...
Why is there a private section? As a non-profit, I would expect SSA to
be as tranparent as
possible.

Let's not shoot the messenger. I happen to think this is an excellent
forum for airing the SSA's dirty laundry.