Impeachment 12 February 2010

IMPEACMENT 6:00 pm 251 Solheim Place, 9th floor, 251 Union Street, Vancouver, B.C.
(Union is beteen Gore and Main next to Georgia viaduct Hastings side) 12 February 2010 Friday If you are a resident of the DTES, please attend.

Directors of DERA/DERAH: Sister Elizabeth Kelliher, Susan Neeves, Julie Rogers, Pat McSherry, Chris Slater, Jill Chelliar, Elvis Houle, Peter Golletz, Alex Burnip, Audrey Laferriere

For those of you who are questioning why I am even bothering with DERA is because of the proposed new Society Act. The new proposed Act ensures that Boards can continue to be dysfunctional and be composed of those with past and present histories of addiction, criminal conviction, mental illness and psycopathic behavior and these are the people funders listen to. And the funders are you the taxpayers. No one is outthere lobbying for a radical analysis of the proposed new Society Act. The BCLI that wrote a draft of the law have recommended that Societies be put on par with corporations which is stupid. A society's bottom line is not profit.

I was summoned to a hastily called extraordinary meeting of DERA yesteday evening and was advised that I was going to be impeached on February 12 2010. I told the Board that the process was illegal and I wanted to see the written process and was told that they did not have to show it to me. I cannot believe the viciousness of each of the directors that were at the meeting. It was as if I was a Salem witch and I have to be burned at the stake for daring to expose the Board as dysfunctional.

I find it incredulous. The only thing they complained was that I had talked to the funders which I did when I asked for information because Kim and the Board would not give me access to any financial information and I wanted the funders to give me the information they had so I could try to piece together whatever is going on at DERA. What did the Board expect me to do. Legally as a director I have to know what is going on and I must do everything possible to secure information from whatever means possible. However I was never given any formal documentation so I do not know what my crime is.

The best I can tell the Board is going to illegally impeach me and I will have to go to court to have it overturned. And they know that I do not have the money to do this. Years ago the Board impeached a woman and when she went to the next directors meeting saying that the impeachment was illegal the bullies of DERA physically forced her out of the meeting. After that she said to hell with DERA and walked.

At my inquisition yesterday I was asked why did I want to remain a director of DERA as obviously the Board does not want me on it. I told them it had nothing to do with the Board as the Board did not elect me. I was elected by the members and I am responsible to the members.

I have never accused anyone of fraud. What I have done is accuse DERA of corruption. Corruption means not doing things properly.

So if you live in the DTES go to DERA get a membership or renew your membership and attend the impeachment 12 February 2010 and vote against the impeachment. If you have some problem with getting a membership let me know.

Remember nothing is going to change at DERA unless the membership gets involved. The Law Foundation and BC Housing is not going to get involved with the day-to-day operations of DERA. Their function is only to give monies and hopefully the money is spent the way it should. Neither of them do forsenic auditing; they only do cursory overviews and depend on DERA's longtime auditor who was part of DERA years ago when DERA had problems, she just deals directly with Kim and her real job is to make sure that DERA looks good as she neglects to mention things in the financial statements which I think are relevant, then the funders talk to the E/D and Sister Elizabeth, Kim Kerr says everything is fine and it is left at that. I was told that the funders won't do anything until after the fact and when it is too late. So the taxpayer pays for gross mismanagement and needless suffering of employees and the 500 tenants DERA oversees in its social housing towers which social rentals towers would cost $60 million to replace.

Copy of email sent to Sister Elizabeth yesterday.

I was again reading the constitution. It is so fucked up there is no clear distinction of what an ordinary resolution and a special resolution is. In any event, the Board cannot instigate an impeachment. It has to be done by the members by a written requisition. Then and only then can you call a meeting to consider an impeachment. So the meeting you are calling on Thursday January 28 2010 is illegal.

In any event, whatever you are trying to do will not stand up in court as I have to have a list of all the members because for me not to have a membership list puts me at a disadvantage which means you will fail when I contest this in court. Since the Board and the E/D has refused me the membership list you are dead in the water.

Like I said before just give me all the information I need to satisfy myself that DERA/DERAH is being best managed and I will be the first to apologize for thinking DERA/DERAH and everyone associated with them are corrupt. Corruption does not have to be inferred as illegal; it also infers moral corruption.

Every time I think about what David and Jill got away with for so many years -- stealing money from the poor by not paying their fair rent angers me -- especially when I know people out there who are totally disabled are paying 80% of their income to rent on a $1,000 disability and both these young people have paid a pittance and they still owe back rent. Are they being billed for their deception or is the Board just never going to discuss it and it will be forgotten. This extra rental money should be used for additional housing not for buying a SUV.

I will never forget the betrayal of both Jill and Dave who professed that they were the Anti-Proverty Committee. Are they going to be held accountable for their dishonesty and to think that Jill is a director of DERA/DERAH and they still are not declaring their real incomes. Both of them should be in jail. Earning $100,000 in one year (Jill was earning $35.00 per hour and Dave was working at $18.00 per hour) and paying $300 a month rent living in a three bedroom subsidized DERAH apartment is "criminal" and the Board is allowing them to continue their dishonesty because this isn't their job it is the job of the E/D. The E/D does not enforce the 1/3 gross rental policy to establish a monthly rent. And to top it off Jill/Dave are currently behind in their rent payments. When both Jill and Dave were in combination earn ing say $100,000 one-third of the rent being "fair rent" would have been $2,761 per month. The point is Jill is a director of DERA and has been for some years. Apparently, it seems directors get special consideration for keeping Kim in power. Kim knows how to twist the BC Housing rules and then he get the Board to sanction whatever he wants done with some illogical justification if word gets out but mostly word never gets out.

Another email sent to all the directors of DERA yesterday

Please be advised that I have reread the Society Act and there is no such thing as an extraordinary meeting. So where did this creation come from. If you attempt this process of impeachment again I will appeal it.

For your information a non-profit can't just write new bylaws and say they are legal as the bylaws are not checked over by the Society Act to determine whether or not they are written correctly. This is called deregulation which means it is up to the public/members/directors to sue DERA if the bylaws are not according to what the Society Act expects. Rather than wasting time why doesn't the Board go to a lawyer as what the Board is actually doing is very unproductive and will be very expensive. Legal costs will eventually come out of DERA's monies.

Rather than impeaching me, why don't you just give me the information I need to determine if DERA/DERAH are being managed in a correct manager. I know that DERAH is in breach of contractual obligations with BC Housing. There are questions of fiscal mismanagement like overpaying for work done. The fact that DERAH has lost its charitable status with Revenue Canada and the Board is not one bit concerned blows my mind. Blaming employees for bad management decisions of the E/D is totally unconscionable. And above all the way the Board has treated employees and tenants is inexcusable. Each Board member should be ashamed of their corruptive behaviour to date. I do not like the concept of the poor stealing from the poor which is what each one of you are guilty of allowing.

I have no respect for anyone of you. I thought there was some hope with Pat but then after she miswrote the minutes for December I changed my mind. And where is the invoice for $6,000 which Kim said he was going to pay as it was his personal debt and now he wants DERA to pay for. He sure has it good, he just says I need $6,000 for court costs without any explanation or invoice and the Board just rubberstamps it. Who is the $6,000 to be paid to?