Gentoo Archives: gentoo-nfp

From: "William L. Thomson Jr." <wlt@××××××××××××××××.com>
To: gentoo-nfp@l.g.o
Subject: Re: [gentoo-nfp] Tax return and accounting discrepancies
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:17:34
Message-Id: 1300990634.13807.25.camel@wlt
In Reply to: Re: [gentoo-nfp] Tax return and accounting discrepancies by Matthew Summers
1 On Thu, 2011-03-24 at 17:43 +0000, Matthew Summers wrote:
2 >
3 > 1. The assertion that we have not filed with the State of New Mexico
4 > is false. We are in good standing (until 11/15/2011) as evidenced by a
5 > cursory search on the NM Secretary of State website.
6
7 You clearly have no idea what you are talking about! You cease to
8 realize my involvement in getting that reinstated. Or my overall
9 understanding of these matters, which predates yours!
10
11 > I link here for
12 > completion and to the announcement we published to the front page of
13 > www.gentoo.org:
14 > http://www.gentoo.org/news/20080519-foundation-standing.xml
15
16 Who do you think did that?
17
18 > http://www.nmprc.state.nm.us/cgi-bin/prcdtl.cgi (You will have to type
19 > in Gentoo Foundation yourself and click "Search".)
20
21 That is the NMPRC, you have to do a filing with the Attorney General.
22 Please read the links i am providing!!!!
23
24 "If you are a nonprofit and want to incorporate in the State of New
25 Mexico, you are required to register with the Public Regulation
26 Commission (PRC). You must file biannual reports with the PRC.
27
28 All charitable organizations existing, operating or soliciting
29 contributions in the State of New Mexico must register with the New
30 Mexico Attorney General and must file annual financial reports."
31
32 http://www.tax.newmexico.gov/Businesses/How-Do-I/Pages/Start-Registera-Non-Profit.aspx
33
34 If your paying attention you MUST file biannual reports with the NMPRC
35 and annual reports to the Attorney General. Trust me if things go on as
36 they are, New Mexico will revoke the charter again. They are very slow
37 to catch up, but at some point will do an internal audit.
38
39 Again provide documentation of these filings and I will go away!
40
41 > 2. We have no official status with the IRS, thus there is no
42 > tax-exempt status at this time.
43
44 That is IMPOSSIBLE. You must exist with the feds before you can with the
45 state. Its how you establish a business and Gentoo has a EIN.
46
47 > I explained this earlier, perhaps
48 > insufficiently. Further, the Foundation has not generated sufficient
49 > revenue for to really generate any serious consequences.
50
51 You have no idea what you are talking about. The amount is completely
52 irrelevant. You are required to file with the IRS as I have provided
53 links as well. Again for reference.
54
55 Small tax-exempt organizations whose annual gross receipts are normally
56 $25,000 or less ($50,000 for tax years ending on or after December 31,
57 2010) may be required to electronically submit Form 990-N, also known as
58 the e-Postcard, unless they choose to file a complete Form 990 or Form
59 990-EZ.
60 http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=169250,00.html
61
62 > 3. I have my name on all the Foundation legal documents, therefore I
63 > am a responsible party in this.
64
65 You are NOT the treasurer!
66
67 > 4. William, your assertion that we could just fold up the current
68 > organization and start up a new one under a new charter is completely
69 > wrong, illegal, very dangerous, displays certain arrogance.
70
71 Fool I have done this myself when moving my business from California to
72 Florida. I am about to re-establish here in Florida as well. Will be my
73 third EIN number, second filing with the State of Florida. There are
74 various ways to dissolve an entity and transfers its assets.
75
76 > The reason
77 > this is not possible is directly due to the fact that there is money
78 > involved. After consultation with one of my attorneys regarding this
79 > matter (it was suggested by a former colleague of mine 2 years ago) I
80 > was told that given the specific financial situation of the Gentoo
81 > Foundation, this could be considered money laundering. This would be
82 > penalized with potential jail time. I am not interested in that.
83
84 Again you have no idea what you are talking about clearly!
85
86 > 5. William, you said "Look if things were published as they should be,
87 > then I would believe
88 > otherwise. If these things exist, why have they not been published?
89 > Convince me with proof, make me a believer. Because anytime I look, I
90 > am not seeing anything."
91
92 I will just do regular public records inquiries with the State of New
93 Mexico and IRS. Since you refuse to provide any facts. No links or
94 anything to reference to support your uninformed comments.
95
96 > You have clearly not looked or done any research, nor have you
97 > attended any monthly meetings or participated in any meaningful way
98 > with the Foundation since you quit or were suspended (whichever came
99 > first is of little consequence).
100
101 You need to do research and learn!
102
103 > These things are detailed in every monthly Trustees meeting. Read the
104 > logs and look at the announcements.
105
106 I have and I have not found what I am looking for, obviously!
107
108 > You have made many baseless accusations regarding the current board
109 > that are completely unacceptable. Further your antagonistic tone and
110 > general demeanor is reprehensible. This is something that, if you had
111 > reasonable questions, could have been dealt with in a pleasant way,
112 > directly with the Trustees.
113
114 I have contacted a trustees. Roy was aware of this before I posted on
115 list.
116
117 > However, you blast away on a public
118 > mailing list requiring time and effort form the Trustees and even the
119 > election candidates which could be better spent.
120
121 I am a foundation member, its my right. Do you not understand this!
122
123 > In my personal view,
124 > and given many of the comments and statements you have made recently
125 > and in the more remote past, it is no wonder to me that you were
126 > stopped from doing whatever it was that you had in mind, unilaterally,
127 > to do. You are dangerous to the Gentoo community in my view.
128
129 Ok, I will just take other action since you REFUSE to provide any proof,
130 evidence, or anything for me to reference to support your comments.
131
132 > 6. I have effectively taken over the officer role of Treasurer (pro
133 > tem) at this time, in addition to my existing officer role as
134 > Secretary, and the role of board member. This is a ton of work, which
135 > is why I have recommended to the board that we fund greater support
136 > for the on-going work of tax-status, etc.
137
138 Have you filed that change with New Mexico?
139
140 > 7. My statements are accurate and fully reflect the current reality of
141 > the Foundation. Any assertion that I am misinformed regarding the
142 > Foundation is pure nonsense, I have attended every meeting, except one
143 > or two, since I was made an officer over three years ago. I also
144 > personally handle our attorney-client relationships. I am totally
145 > comfortable in saying that I speak with authority on these issues.
146 > William, you would know this if you had any level of participation in
147 > the Foundation, which you clearly do not. Further, you would recognize
148 > these things if you had done any research/homework before spewing vile
149 > accusations on this list and in other places undoubtedly.
150
151 Again I know what I am talking about, and I will make direct inquiries
152 with the state and feds.
153
154 > 8. I am well appraised of the requirements and stipulations of both
155 > state and federal non-profit organizations. I consult with experts
156 > specialized in this field on a regular basis. I do not need someone to
157 > paste links to irs.gov into emails and then insult my intelligence.
158 > This behavior makes too many assumptions and is just plain ridiculous.
159
160 Clearly you are not!
161
162 > 9. I am not posting official, signed documents to the public. These
163 > documents have my signature on them, and I have been advised by my
164 > attorney that this is not necessary and that it is potentially
165 > dangerous to me personally.
166
167 I was doing the same....
168
169 > 10. Just a personal observation: You link to the distrowatch article
170 > on Gentoo, I find this hilarious. That reflects not on the work of the
171 > Gentoo Foundation, but does reflect the personal opinion of an
172 > individual. There have been many attempts to reason with the
173 > individual that runs distrowatch on the part of several developers,
174 > users, and board members. All were met with no success, however hard
175 > we tried.
176
177 Point was if you read the article as many have, Gentoo has not made much
178 if any progress in years. Most of what someone said in 2007 holds true
179 in 2011. Which includes a tax return as mentioned in that article!
180
181 > 11. Regarding William's comments on "stirring the pot": This is a
182 > colloquialism meant to convey the concept that someone is "causing
183 > trouble" in an unwarranted manner.
184
185 Funny how others do not see it that way ;)
186
187 > The cooking reference is funny. Its
188 > true that the gentoo-nfp list has been quiet for a long time. I
189 > consider this a good thing as the people that want to participate in
190 > the Foundation visit us during meetings or email us their
191 > questions/observations directly.
192
193 No its not a good thing! Go look at the discussions in the past. Most
194 developers care less about the foundation. That will be evident in the
195 voting. However when you start to make some noise stir the pot, others
196 start paying attention and get involved.
197
198 > I tend to prefer the private and
199 > personal attention we are able to give in this respect, especially
200 > when dealing with sensitive items. A private conversation is what I
201 > would have recommended for the issues you have,
202
203 This is a non profit foundation for an open source project. By nature a
204 foundation should operate in public, transparently. However there have
205 been some private conversations on the matter. Which you are not aware
206 of clearly ;)
207
208 The exact reason why things like that should be in public, not private.
209
210 > William, but you seem
211 > to want to engage in what I would term "publicity stunts" that
212 > highlight your perspective and give you more attention. This is
213 > terribly arrogant and lacks any respect for other people or the
214 > contributions people are making. There is no dignity in what you are
215 > doing, seriously where is your sense of honor.
216
217 You might want to self reflect a bit.
218
219 > 12. Mike, thank you for jumping in here and adding some rationality to
220 > the conversation. What you say is correct, as you well know, regarding
221 > the bylaws as well as the perpetual corporate charter.
222
223 Mike clearly did not have a full understanding of the matter and even
224 said so, which I guess you miss read or ignored. Thus I provided link
225 and things to reference to clear up the matter for all.
226
227 > William's
228 > interpretation of what he thinks of as "the law" is suspect to me. I
229 > will consult with an attorney to learn the real facts and report back
230 > as necessary. The main concept here is that while no one is enforcing
231 > the rules we make for ourselves, there are certain elements of the
232 > legal responsibility of a corporation, regardless of tax status, that
233 > must be observed. To the best of my knowledge, we are in compliance
234 > with these various legal obligations.
235
236 You have no idea what you are talking about!
237
238 > 13. Mike, you said "i think all it really comes down to is that people
239 > simply arent [sic] interested." I am certainly interested, and have
240 > been doing a lot of work in support of the Foundation.
241
242 I have done nothing for the foundation ever, good to know ;)
243
244 > This is true of
245 > the other board members as well. I do not have a publicist so I do
246 > not go on public record outside of the board meeting very ofter
247 > regarding what is going on and what I am doing.
248
249 That is horrible, so as a trustee you do not relay back any actions to
250 the members.
251
252 > This is generally
253 > reported on in detail at the monthly board meetings. I actually do
254 > find this sort of work, which I would term "organizational
255 > development" a lot of fun. Although it required huge amounts of time
256 > (over long periods of time) and effort and communication with many
257 > different groups of people it is highly rewarding. Regardless of the
258 > outcome of the current election, it is my pleasure to continue to
259 > serve the board in any reasonable capacity necessary. In terms of
260 > addressing participation in Foundation matters by the more broad
261 > developer community, I think that will come with time as the
262 > Foundation is able to do more for the community it was created to
263 > serve.
264
265 I have been hearing that for to long.
266
267 > 15. William, your distinct efforts to antagonize the current board
268 > simply fall flat with me. All you do is waste my time because I feel
269 > the distinct responsibility to defend the organization I am a part of
270 > from your clear disinformation and misrepresentation of fact. That
271 > said, ad hominem attacks on me, as a "new trustee" or whatever you
272 > said, are of little concern and further indicate your obvious
273 > intentions with these various diatribes. Please, in the case that you
274 > want a well reasoned and thoughtful dialog with representatives of the
275 > Foundation, please maintain a respectful, dispassionate, and
276 > non-agressive demeanor and tone, and we are all more than happy to
277 > entertain any significant contribution to the conversation or work
278 > that you may have!
279
280 No worries, again I will take action and seek the information I am after
281 else where. If that comes back on you all, so be it. I tried to contact
282 you all first. But you are being completely uncooperative!
283
284 > 16. Regarding transparency, we, the board, all know that transparency
285 > is a requirement. We are doing the best we can with the limited time
286 > we all can spare, for we are volunteers too. Its true that we are
287 > missing some of 2011's financial statements. I have not had the time
288 > to do them since our previous Treasurer has resigned. Sorry. I believe
289 > this can be set aright soon, in any event.
290
291 After several statements on private conversations, not publishing things
292 for fear of your signature. Which could easily be blanked out. You are
293 contradicting yourself in the same email....
294
295 > I want to state plainly that I know that I have not done every single
296 > thing I could have possibly done for the Foundation. However, I know
297 > that I, and my colleagues on the board, are doing the best that we can
298 > given the situation that we inherited.
299
300 You inherited a much better situation than I did. Had it not been for my
301 efforts, you would have a much bigger task!
302
303 > I am fully confident that we
304 > will see a brighter day for the Gentoo Foundation, Inc. in the near
305 > future. That is what I am working for, that is one of the things that
306 > makes this work worthwhile. If it be the will of the Foundation board
307 > and membership, that I be allowed the distinct honor of serving my
308 > colleagues in this capacity, I will see this process to its inevitable
309 > and successful conclusion without faltering or falling prey to
310 > demotivational forces in the world.
311
312 Again not a single fact, or link. Just a bunch of comments, accusations,
313 and personal attacks towards me which are quite rude in nature. Which I
314 have done none of the sort towards anyone. I have stuck to pure facts
315 with supporting links.
316
317 Your attitude, stance, and unwillingness to provide any documents,
318 links, facts, or anything to support your baseless comments, that are
319 quite uninformed. It is hardly professional, or how a board member
320 should act towards a foundation member.
321
322 When I am simply enacting my right as a foundation member to question
323 things!
324
325 --
326 William L. Thomson Jr.
327 Obsidian-Studios, Inc.
328 http://www.obsidian-studios.com

Replies

Subject Author
Re: [gentoo-nfp] Tax return and accounting discrepancies "William L. Thomson Jr." <wlt@××××××××××××××××.com>
Re: [gentoo-nfp] Tax return and accounting discrepancies Rich Freeman <rich0@g.o>