As a preliminary follow-up to the previous post on the matter indicating that the missing funds from Denver’s 2007 CSTS event suddenly had been repaid, the global CSTS website has published a statement from the head of the Mile High Browncoats. It is reprinted here in full, with a comment or two after it.
I am pleased to report that all missing funds from Denver CSTS 2007 have been paid to Equality Now by Jeremy Vinding. Amanda Sullivan of Equality Now has received a confirmation of a payment in the amount of $2500 as of this morning. This includes funds for our original estimate of $1900 plus an additional $600 funded by Jeremy personally. Please know that the additional funds were given voluntarily and were not demanded or even expected.
Over the past year Jeremy Vinding has had several health problems and these struggles impeded the immediate payment of the EN funds as well as his ability to communicate with the necessary parties. At no point were the funds used by Jeremy to pay any bills or debt; they have been secured in his account this entire time. Representatives from both EN and CSTS Global have been working tirelessly with me over the past several months to find a way to get in touch with Jeremy to determine the status of the funds. While it can be easy to assume the worst, we wanted to find proof of what happened to the funds, and retrieve them as soon as possible. Family assistance over almost that entire span of the investigation had alluded to medical issues, yet nothing was verifiable until now. Issues of this severity - missing funds and failing health - each hold an intense sensitivity that require the utmost care in their handling and demand both ethical and professional considerations that could not be forced forward. We desperately wanted to avoid speculation, because the repercussions of posting conjecture can bring on worse than legal trouble. It can wrongly accuse someone that is innocent of the “suggested” crimes.
We are grateful for the hard work of those involved in bringing this matter to a favorable resolution and thank you for your patience and understanding of the delicate information regarding this case.
While I’m not beyond believing such a scenario, this still fails to meet the basic level of information required in a matter such as this, where funds were raised and went missing for a full year without most people’s knowledge.
If the above is true, then it is possible for it to be verified. There is, somewhere, a paper trail both of the actual funds raised in 2007, and of the purported situation. In other words, a statement doesn’t satisfy — evidence is what satisfies.
The reality is that CSTS needs to be an organization of rules, not of people. “Trust us, this is what we found” isn’t sufficient for the purposes of credibility.
As it stands, we have (on the one hand) a chain of circumstantial evidence that we can actually examine which presents peculiar coincidences of timing when it comes to the movement of money and the comings and goings of people. And then we have (on the other hand) a “trust us, this is what we found” statement that doesn’t provide any evidence, circumstantial or otherwise.
Should that evidence exist, in some form, and it is produced, and it demonstrates that indeed $1,900 had been sitting around “secured” for an entire year in an account untouched during a prolonged medical issue, then I will post here what, at that point, will be the necessary and responsible thing for me to post.
In other words, if the balance of evidence proves that my suspicions in fact were wrong, I will say so, publicly and directly.
But for CSTS to be a valid and credible organization (or, if you will, network of local organizations), people’s word isn’t enough. Words need to be backed up with proof, else the next time there’s a controversy that results from an actual problem, no one will have any basis to do anything other than just accept people at their word.
Organizations do not run on people’s word. They run on verifiability. If this is verifiable, you’ll see me back here the moment that happens.
Addendum: As usual, most of the public discussion is taking place over on WHEDONesque.
