The headline for this column comes from the long-running soap opera, “Days of Our Lives”, which opened each day’s episode with those words.
The trek which the FTBOA has been on fits the description of a soap opera and would be humorous if it were not so tragic. What the membership has endured under the current economy and the board’s ”let’s take care of ourselves” approach to managing the organization has only added to their misery. The struggle to make a living without support from the board members through the nine months of the ”top-down” farce that President Fred Brei has fobbed onto the membership proves that the board does not have the best interest of the membership in mind.
If you want to get a feel for the situation, just walk the barns at the sales and listen to the comments. There is no doubt that the economy is horrible for everyone, but in the thoroughbred industry, it is even more so. The little guy that is hanging on by a thread isn’t asking for a miracle but is begging the FTBOA leadership to not make it any worse.
The board candidates have been chosen and in October, the membership will get another dose of “our way or the highway” shoved down their throats. What is unique is the fact that the nominating committee has added people to the list that have as much or more interest in OBS as they do in FTBOA. In a recent Wire to Wire advertisement, there is a share for sale in OBS stock for $240,000 and that is probably under the market value.
So if you are on the FTBOA board (none paid) and on the OBS board, where are your loyalty and vote going? And don’t tell us that you are going to vote with your heart and not your wallet! The significance of this is the conflict of interest that will be raising its head when we get down to the business of racing in Marion County. Most people agree that it (racing) ”ain’t gonna happen”.
I was told the FTBOA board recently met and unanimously gave the “thumbs down” to anymore subsidizing of the Florida Equine Publications branch, Wire to Wire, Florida Horse Magazine, and that money pit Horse Capital Digest which was just the right size for the bottom of the birdcage or the cat litter box. Even so, the latter is still planned for a resurrection when HITS comes to town.
Rumor has it that salary structure is under scrutiny and there is not enough money to fund a replacement writer for the man who just quit, leaving the publications without a staff writer and of course there isn’t anyone in the advertising sales department.
In the theft department, according to Mr. Brei, the organization is pressing on to bring the alleged embezzler to justice. I have been told, however, that the case will fall apart because the powers that be made an agreement when he was terminated, promising not to prosecute.
The indictment promised by Fred Brei is strict “window dressing” and the alleged embezzler has not broken a sweat because he allegedly knows things that the average member would like to know and that too was mentioned at his termination. What good is a canary if he can’t sing? The police will be involved after almost two years and the board hopes of the board is that it can sweep it all under the carpet!
The board is terrified that this would ever go to court and the amounts are closer to the $250,000 that was estimated in this column rather than the paltry sum of $10,000-$12,000 disclosed by Mr. Brei when his top was down in July 23, 2011!
Speaking of audits and things that go “bump” in the night”, Fred told the world on February 11, 2011, in one of his “top-down installments” that the review was complete. “The underlying audit of the FTBOA and FEP operating and breeders trust funds have been completed…What we are finding in this review is the same thing we face at our farms and homes, and that is the old, “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”
In the real world the review was just completed (some board members got it two weeks ago). This is not the first time Fred has been less than truthful. He also told the membership at the June 28 Florida Farm Managers’ meeting that when he got the review the membership would get it immediately, while at the time trying to draw the key review person into saying all was well.
The reviewer/member that prepared it had numerous roadblocks tossed in her path and information was kept from her in true Enron fashion. Members still do not have a copy of the review. Just how complete it is will be left for the members to decide. Never has an organization with nothing to hide gone to such lengths to hide information.
So, what’s it all about, Alfie? Well, don’t expect anything to change. I have talked to board members over the past few years on a one-to-one basis and I have given them information regarding the goings-on that are now the troubles of the moment. These same board members are to this day taking the “I didn’t know” approach. Some board members came on board roaring like lions and now are bleating like lambs. Where do they get that Kool-Aid?
When it comes to the truth…Stay thirsty, my friend.
