PRESIDENT JIM SCOTT CITED CONFLICT OF INTEREST
For three years Hold Your Horses Magazine has been around, first in hard copy and then in 2011, it started in its present online format.
As horsemen started to suffer not only because of economic times but also poor leadership at the FTBOA, Hold Your Horses became a venue and a sounding board for the small breeder as well as a prod for change in the “Brick Building”.
I had served on the Florida Thoroughbred Managers’ Board of Directors for some ten years or so with my initial term candidacy being urged on by then-President Bobby Jones. The FTFM prided itself at that time as being not only a charitable organization but also a place that the “little guy” could turn to in times of need as well as having an organization that catered to the little man’s voice.
After a three-year hiatus, I again ran for the board at the urging of many members and was elected by a generous margin according to people who were involved in the tally.
Two weeks ago, I received a phone call from FTFM President Jim Scott. He wanted to know if I was going to write about the Farm Managers meeting that took place on March 27, 2012, with guest speakers FTBOA President Phil Matthews and CEO Lonny Powell. I assured him that I was.
He informed me that he thought it was a conflict of interest since I was on the FTFM Board of Directors and that my asking questions at the meeting were inappropriate as well. I told him that I did not see it that way as I had to Hold Your Horses Magazine and Website before I was elected to this term.
Jim then asked me to forward him my column when completed. I agreed to do that and did after I had sent it to print. Jim thought he was going to edit my column as he indicated at the FTFM board meeting on April 11, 2012.
At that meeting, Jim said, “I want you off the board”. He said that a stallion farm had informed him that they would not be donating stallion seasons to the FTFM auction if he did not correct this “conflict of interest”. I
Did I ask him which farm? He replied that it was Journeyman Farm – Brent & Crystal Fernung.
When Jim also stated that I had written that Journeyman Stud should be boycotted, I informed him that it was not true as I had never said that in any column. His reply with a puzzled look on his face was, ”You didn’t?”. I repeated, “No” and asked him if he had read the columns. He replied, “No”. I wonder how any leader of an organization can make decisions without crucial and accurate information.
The answer is simple; it just didn’t matter. Those FTFM directors who work for FTBOA board members already had their marching orders. He also said that I would be hearing from FTFM attorney Michael Siboni about my removal. I told him he did not need to do that, just have a board vote. (Why waste the money?)
That vote was taken after some discussion and the following Board Members voted to have me removed even though most said they had not read what I had written because they were internet challenged.
Ken Breitenbecker, a former employee of FTBOA board member Brent Fernung and Journeyman Stud and now an employee of FTBOA board member Bonnie Heath; George Isaacs, former FTBOA board member and farm manager at Bridlewood farm owned by FTBOA board member Linda Appleton Potter; Bobby Jones, former FTBOA board member; FTFM President Jim Scott, farm manager for Kinsman farm owned by FTBOA board member Jessica Steinbrenner; and Bill Rainbow, who is happy as a clam with what the FTBOA is doing.
As you can see, two of the above board members served on the boards of FTBOA and FTFM simultaneously, supposedly without conflicting.
Board member Bill Bazzell was absent. Board member Gordon Reiss voted against removing Steele.
I thank those who elected me to the office and I was proud to represent you. It seems that the term “conflict of interest ” cuts one way with the FTFM board. The membership elected me to have a voice in their destiny as well as to show that they want to have a change in the direction that Florida breeding is traveling.
The fact that a stallion farm would withhold seasons whose revenue benefits charities, as well as individuals that have fallen on hard times, speaks volumes. This is not the first time that Journeyman Stud has withheld stallion seasons. According to Executive Director Debbe Wojack, two years ago Journeyman Stud refused to donate seasons because they lost their placing in the Farm Managers’ Directory due to not making the deadline even after several extensions.
She also said that they withheld donating stallion seasons this year until the last moment and after much begging by board member Breitenbecker. Then, when Leroidesanimaux (BRZ) was announced as Stallion of The Year at the annual Farm Managers Stallion Auction and Awards, they were infuriated because Wildcat Heir did not get the award. This kind of stuff is pretty mean-spirited when the result is to hurt a great organization that is a mainstay of charity in the community.
I would have to say that there is nothing that I could do that would hurt Journeyman Stud as bad as what they have done to themselves.
Equally alarming is the fact that President Jim Scott called board members days ahead of the meeting to line up the votes he needed to oust a member from the board and gave them the same inaccurate information that he has been spreading while pleading his case as to why that member should be removed. No sunshine there!
When an elected board of a charitable organization chooses to bow to the interests of people trying to harm that organization rather than the members who elected them, there is cause for concern.
