Hello Makers,
It pains me to have to write this but there is something the membership needs to understand about our recent history. Many of the newer members may not be aware of this, but Blue Tape is part of the rally cry of the principal people that have been expelled from the makerspace and reported to the police for financial crimes.
When the current board was seated in 2019 we were in bad financial shape, we were bleeding money. We began an effort to tighten our belts and put us on sound financial footing to complete expansion. This included cutting back on needless expenses such as red solo cups and blue painters tape. It may not sound like a big deal but we were spending a lot of money on them. This simple act of belt tightening became a public point for Kris Anderson and Stan Simmons to attack the board with. Their claim was we were not supporting the community.
What we didn’t know at the time is that they were trying to distract us from their bigger crimes. In Stan’s case he was issuing himself gift cards by bypassing the bank and creating them directly in our billing system. He would then used these gift cards to pay his membership. This is wire fraud.
In Kris’s case she was using the DMS credit card to rent Uhauls for personal use. She did this to the tune of several thousand dollars. When she was on the board it was noticed and the treasurer and members of the finance committee tried to investigate. She then retaliated by banning them.
All of the evidence is publicly posted for the membership to review.
It bears remembering what we had when we had More Blue Tape the first time:
- Rampant alcohol and substance abuse at the space
- Drug addicts threatening violence against members
- A homeless encampment behind the space in violation of our lease’
- Theft from the organization by the leadership of the organization
- Intimidation and bullying from the leadership of the organization
- Assaults on members that went unaddressed by the leadership
It truly breaks my heart that I have to post this. The vast majority of our membership is amazing people. I don’t believe the blue tape candidates represent the overall membership, but I do believe based on their own campaign website and Mark Havens recent gaslighting video that they do intend to take advantage of the low voter turnout due to Covid-19 and the new members that didn’t know Kris to try and return to the old days.
I hope I am not alone in wanting to avoid a return to those days.
Thank you, James