Maybe just a short post to point out that we are heading into a second year of overspending because we have a GM who doesn't know how to manage a budget or follow the set priorities of the organization. She will not allow the Budget Committee to even discuss those priorities without going off, screaming at the one person who is doing her job by putting together the facts of the spending and financial ill health of our organization. That's right, if you speak the truth to her, she will have a tantrum to shut you up.
Is this the kind of unprofessional behavior that should be supported? All of the people so adamant about supporting staff are accepting the ultimatums and gaslighting and control techniques that she uses on the volunteers who are trying to keep our organization afloat. It is not that hard to identify control tactics! Google it.
Historically, although it is not ideal, we have had to make cuts to stay solvent, whether those be in advertising, entertainment, security, or staffing. It has to happen. No one wants to lose trained staff, to make them go on unemployment for a couple of months, to make some of them find second jobs to cover their expenses when we simply do not have the income to support the expenditures. However, there are lots of young, smart managers out there, with event management training, nonprofit experience, and the energy and intelligence to make our organization thrive again.
By the conclusion of this year, if we keep going as she wants to, we will have spent 60% of our equity to cover the overspending. Since we don't have much in actual assets, this means we will have spent 2/3 of the savings we accumulated over the past 3 decades, in two short years. It's about $200,000.
We started trying to save in the late 80s after we had a budget crisis when we found out we were $25,000 in the red. We held fundraising efforts for two years to make that up, get us back on track, and we hired people who could actually manage money. That was our priority, to be solvent. Yes it was hard work, but that is why we have a market today.
Homeowners...would you spend your equity down to foreclosure? Anyone, would you spend your savings to make fancy hand-drawn personal maps for 600 members to fix something that was not broken? Would you keep pouring money into a website rebuild when it is not even functional enough to support our current Holiday Market event that all of us depend on to get through the winter months?
Are you ready to begin the next season with even higher fees and lower sales? Misspelled and grammatically embarrassing promotions tell the world we have staff that doesn't know how to proofread or write coherent sentences. Everything is either amazing or unique. I had to apologize to our former employee who always did such a perfect job for us. We agreed it is cringe to be represented as an organization that is hardly even literate. We're not even listed in the Weekly calendar, which takes a few minutes to make happen.
I know our volunteers think everything is all right and don't want to see what the world is seeing. Members are seeing it but those with the power to do anything about it want to kill the messengers, so people are afraid to speak up and become targets. Many people have walked away to do other events where they are welcomed, treated with respect, and supported. We have gone from an org that supports our members to one that supports only top staff, only one person who lies and manipulates and when exposed, gets violent. And her family members, and her friends.
Ask yourself who is the source of what you think you know about our situation. It took me a long time to realize the carefully crafted false narratives put out piece by piece to create division (we have never been a membership that fights with itself) and demonize anyone who asks hard questions or has a different opinion. People might be simply repeating something less than true that came from the liar in charge.
Say goodbye to the Market because until all of our money is gone, this won't stop. It's a nightmare. That $25 downtown activity permit looks better and better.
