Well, some of our sleuths have been sleuthing to find out ANY info that they can about the sale for $5 million of the NCRA headquarters building in 2014!!!
Found were just a couple of brief paragraphs in the minutes.
Most notable is this note from page 5 of the November 8, 2014, minutes:
“Update of NCRA’s Headquarters Building Sale
“Mr. Stewart reported on the sale of the headquarters building. He noted that the building has been sold and closing is scheduled in the next few weeks. The Board was advised that NCRA will occupy its current space while we move forward with locating space and negotiating a lease. Our relators (sic) have developed a timeline of the various components of the move, noting that the current building must be vacated no later than August 31, 2015. It was suggested that a list of talking points regarding the sale of the building and the move to a new location be sent to the Board to share with members as questions arise.”
By the time those minutes were published, that building had long been sold. The meeting was on November 8th and the minutes wouldn’t have been approved until the March 2015 meeting, at the earliest. AND those minutes provided ZERO details about the sale of our most treasured asset.
So … all of us here at WUNCRA, and we are very sure membership in general, have some questions:
Why was the building sold? Which board members voted in favor and against the sale of the building? What was the listing price of the building? What was the sales price of the building? How much was owed on the building? Why was a mortgage taken against the fully-paid-for building? How was the realtor selected? How much was the realtor paid? Why was the realtor selected? Was it a-friend-of-a-friend situation? You know, dinners out, golfing, yacht fishing, front-row seats to the best shows in town … those sorts of things.
We don’t know about you, but when we see a note that “a list of ‘talking points’ be sent to the Board to share with members as questions arise,”* it throws up a big, fat red flag. For some reason, somebodies on that board felt the need to all tell the same story about the sale of the building.
How about digging out those “talking points” and sharing some of that information? That’s a good place to start answering the many questions that membership has regarding the sale. It’s time for management and the Board to come clean on this very dirty situation.
Also, please be aware, that three people form a majority on the Executive Committee with the power to make major decisions for NCRA – including spending vast amounts of membership dollars! Now that there’s a big pot of money sitting around from the sale of the building, in our opinions, asking for $100,000 or $200,000 for a steno project now doesn’t sound like a whole lot when we’ve heard that $500,000 was the initial request. Three people on that Executive Committee can make the decision to turn those funds over. Just something for membership — and the Board — to realize.
Wake Up, NCRA!
Frank N. Sense
* Note to the NCRA Board: Questions are arising!
P.S. Now that the Board has not renewed the contract for the lobbyist, are there freed-up funds for that steno project that three Executive Committee members can approve?
P.P.S. Some of us here at WUNCRA are recalling a similar “steno project” during the golden era where a bunch of folks were vetted with psychological questions, given tons of support, and a free ride to learn reporting. And with all that “freeness,” the rumor is that only ONE outta the bunch was successful. Anybody else recalling this?
P.P.P.S. Another thought we are having: With the advent of blogs and listservs and all kinds of social media, it’s time that the board come COMPLETELY clean on how they are running NCRA. Stream the meetings; have a reporter produce verbatim transcripts; have detailed minutes! Simple, common-sense stuff.