High Times Still Hasn’t Paid All Reggae Debts, Covering the Annual Audit Might Rely on a Sound(board) Decision, and More From the Mateel’s Board Meeting

Drone shot of Mateel Community Center [Photo by Garth Epling]

The Mateel Community Center Board of Directors planned for the Halloween Boogie, discussed its challenges with High Times Production with which it has a contract to produce Reggae on the River through 2023, and approached a solution for paying for its annual audit due by mid November at the Mateel’s monthly Board Meeting last Tuesday the 16th of October.

Community Meals for Thanksgiving and Christmas

During public comment, Veterans for Peace member, Brian Ormond, thanked the Board for opening the hall for the Vets for Peace’s annual Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. However, he requested the Mateel not describe these meals as being “for the hungry.”

Ormond explained that the holiday meals are for the entire community and said the people who attend tend to include those with limited family in town, those who do not need or choose to cook an entire meal, and those for whom it will cost too much to buy all the ingredients, as well as those without kitchens.

Ultimately, the Board invited Ormond to write the release the Mateel would use. This satisfied Ormond and he will email the verbiage to the Board. Those holiday meals will happen again this year.

Halloween Boogie 2018

The Halloween Boogie is scheduled this year on Saturday the 27th of October. As usual, it is a co-production between the Mateel and KMUD Radio. An anonymous community member has paid for the entertainment, so the Board expects the two agencies to be successful in their fundraising efforts. The Mateel will take the bar and KMUD will take the kitchen. A volunteer is coming with a food truck to provide for the artists.

The Halloween Boogie headliners will be Anthony B with Warrior King and Lacey Redhead.

Reggae on the River wrap-up

With regard to Reggae on the River, Board Treasurer Eryn Snodgrass explained High Times Production has not paid the school district for its shuttle services nor the Arthur family for use of its land as of yet. The Board was polite but clearly frustrated with the delay. Members also noted that the Mateel has not been reimbursed for its expenses securing the necessary permits because the government agencies do not give invoices and receipts. The Board believes the Mateel will get paid eventually.

Gambles for the Audit

Last month the Board discussed selling its Gamble analog soundboard to pay for its audit. However, Board Member Dusty Hughston noted it would fly in the face of the Mateel’s business plan to take such an action. Since then Loren Miller gave the Mateel two 32-channel analog Gamble soundboards. Board Treasurer Eryn Snodgrass went to Lake Tahoe and picked them up. The Board will have its current soundboard, which is more of a collector’s item because it’s #1 in its production series, assessed. The Board hopes to use the proceeds to pay its $5,000 audit fee.

Membership Meeting

Next month’s Mateel Board meeting is its annual Membership Meeting. The Board will be publicizing that it’s moved the date forward a week to avoid conflicting with Thanksgiving. The Membership Meeting will be on Tuesday, November 13th at the Mateel hall. Board Members hope to have a long list of candidates nominated and are considering who they each might nominate. When asked if that might be interpreted as working to “stack the Board,” they denied that.

Board Secretary Anna Rogers said getting people to consider taking the seat vacated by Marcus Schaible earlier this year was a real challenge. Rogers also said that having a variety of voices and segments of the community represented on the Board benefits the Board and the Mateel Community Center greatly.

additional information:  Sunday October 21 from 4-6pm the Board has set up a Heal the Mateel community gathering.  The Board is sitting in a circle with its membership to hear from people and to encourage healing over this financial crisis as well as painful events from the past including the lawsuit with People’s Production over Reggae on the River a full decade ago.

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33 Comments
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Anon
Guest
Anon
5 years ago

Kym : Mattel’s .. damn auto correct

Kym Kemp
Admin
5 years ago
Reply to  Anon

Fixed. Not Auto correct, my weird brain that twists things sometimes.

groba dude trustafarian osnt
Guest
groba dude trustafarian osnt
5 years ago

I like the comment about the sound-board (it’s a collector’s item) and the statement about “stacking the board”…

Seems like they will continue to bring on board members that the old board members prefer… Just like down at Jerold Phelps Hospital, where nobody on the board is ever elected by the community.

Business as usual, at The Mateel, with the usual obfuscation and last-ditch efforts to clean up and disguise what is really going on…

Webster
Guest
Webster
5 years ago

Obfuscation…great word.

Cove-ite
Guest
Cove-ite
5 years ago

Since you don’t seem to pay attention to details but instead grope around for mud to sling…I will enlighten you, any Mateel member can nominate another current member to run for the board, 3 per year, and if that individual accepts they must be within the top 3 vote getters to win a seat, the votes are cast by balloting the membership in December.
So the board doesn’t choose who joins or succeeds them, only in case of abstentia. Why don’t you run for the board? We’ll see if enough of your peers believe in you to vote for you, whoever you are.

groba dude trustafarian osnt
Guest
groba dude trustafarian osnt
5 years ago
Reply to  Cove-ite

Look, they would never appoint someone who asks where the money went. They would never appoint anyone who wants transparency, or who would insist on honest process..

The Mateel board currently wants nobody to know their secrets, and I believe that the secrets are the same as many public agencies and NPO’s in SoHum: The board and organization are crooked and incompetent.

This is not rocket science. No business will succeed if the proceeds disappear and the bills are not paid and laws are broken. Simple!

You are welcome to believe in and support these agencies. If the Mateel was operated like the Healy Senior Center, it would probably be in better shape…

Kark Verick
Guest
Kark Verick
5 years ago

The Healy has also struggled to find board members. The NPO boards are volunteer, unpaid positions. Most boards would be thrilled to have enough candidates to actually compete for a position. I thank all the civic minded people that help keep the local NPOs going; an often thankless task.

Ella Smith
Guest
Ella Smith
5 years ago

It would be probably best if ROTR instead of ending the event or having unreliable co producers , how about continue on w/ less days & a different venue?

neverlayup
Guest
neverlayup
5 years ago

too many hands in the cookie jar!

farce
Guest
farce
5 years ago

$5000 for the annual audit. Does that audit include the Reggae proceeds that will need to be done every year to insure High Times pays the proper amount? Or is it just an annual operational audit? Or is this one covering multiple years to regain non-profit status? Seems like a lot to pay every year if your bookkeeping is already properly maintained.

dawni
Guest
dawni
5 years ago
Reply to  farce

Farce, I’m not sure what the $5000 audit fee is for, might be the cost for someone to do that audit. If so it is not that expensive. I can tell you both, RRHC and CCUSH pay Much More for their annual (yes, once a year) audits.
AS for all the comments about ‘stacking the board” and cronies getting their friends to be on the board with them, Think Again! ALL the Volunteer Boards in this community are suffering for the younger crowds to come sit as a board member monthly and give fresh input into their organizations. Mateel has one of the younger Board of Director’s around.
Any one posting here negative comments about Board of Directors in So Humb, Step Right Up. Some of the older folks that have served many years on several different boards might like to take time off from doing so but Don’t because leaving positions unfilled can cause different difficulties depending on what organization it is.

Farce
Guest
Farce
5 years ago
Reply to  dawni

Thanks for answering about the audit cost. So..it does not include auditing the Reggae event? Because that will be an interesting audit each year, with High Times inflating costs so they can claim little to no profit and so paying the Mateel zero to little.
I said nothing about “stacking the board” but since you pulled me in….What the Board of directors of The Mateel has allowed to happen with our community property is disgraceful and in my opinion criminal. To state this s not “being negative”. It is being truthful. I was part of this when we did Rock n Reggae. raised the funds, bought the property and then built the hall. I stopped being a working part of Reggae in ’95 as I did not like the egos and where it was going (advertising to urban audiences to increase profits and problems). I remained neutral and frankly shocked in the Reggae War. I was glad to see The Mateel reclaim the event and restart at Benbow- where I again volunteered many hours….But I never expected that ANY Board of Directors could approve of gambling away the Mateel Hall- that we built with our own hands!-on blowing up Reggae back to Arthur’s to feed their weird, twisted egos and with very little business sense. So yes- I do have ZERO RESPECT for those people who did this. I was refraining from saying this but…Thank You for pulling me back in!!! i have already made my personal peace with The Hall and I fully expect it’s loss. I wish you luck but I think you are all dancing around the edge of ashes and the inevitable axe is falling.

Ed Voice
Guest
Ed Voice
5 years ago
Reply to  Farce

Farce, if I may? The short version is:

According to California law, a charitable nonprofit corporation with a gross annual revenue of $2 million dollars or more and currently required to file an annual report and or 990 tax return with the General Attorney must file an audited financial statement, which is to be prepared by an independent CPA.

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&sectionNum=12586.

The MCC needs to file an audit for 2017. And since the MCC has not made their 2017 990 tax return public yet, they must have claimed over $2 Million in revenue, or they wouldn’t need to do an audit. So much for telling everyone they lost money on ROTR 2017.

However, the MCC has stated that their 2014, 2015 and 2016 audits cost $10K each. Wonder why 2017 only cost $5K? Maybe they got a quantity discount…

JD
Guest
JD
5 years ago

My understanding is that High Times has still not paid the workers, at least as a couple of weeks ago.

Johnny Rotten
Guest
Johnny Rotten
5 years ago
Reply to  JD

Well it looks like they’re going to have to find somebody else to put on Reggae on the River maybe they should have the city council put it on their corrupt as hell and they could use some of that money they’ve been stealing from the people and throw it into the dumpster used to a good party used to be a fine County to thanks everybody and happy holidays

I like stars
Guest
I like stars
5 years ago

So an organization that hasn’t been paying its debts isn’t being payed a debt it is owed? Could this be a case of what goes around comes around?

Mobius Dancer
Guest
Mobius Dancer
5 years ago

How long is it appropriate to wait before taking Action against High Times?
We’re not talking about a Non Profit Organization here, we’re talking about an established commercial magazine.
“We’ll be paid eventually” doesn’t pay for the audit. Doesn’t pay the school district, doesn’t pay the Arthur Family… At the time I thought it was a bad deal, but I didn’t expect High Times to emulate the Trump Family.

me
Guest
me
5 years ago

What a bunch of pot heads irresponsible and not paying their bill? Shocking shocking I say. After all watch an old Cheech and Chong movie and it shows what a reliable responsible motivated person smoking pot regularly makes you. If only they could have seen this coming some how……

Pissed off mendo worker
Guest
Pissed off mendo worker
5 years ago

The CEO of High Times… This little steaming pile of monkey sh!t actually told my crew this when we asked about being payed for ROTR…

LuckyPunk
Guest
5 years ago

“High Times Stiffs School District”

Boooooooo

Ed Voice
Guest
Ed Voice
5 years ago
Reply to  LuckyPunk

LuckyPunk, so it was OK when the MCC stiffed their own community School District?

Flatgirl
Guest
Flatgirl
5 years ago

Thank you Briian Ormond for both your clarification and for the wonderful holiday meal offered to the WHOLE community for lo these many years.
The Matteel should be donated to the Veterans who have always made their space a true community center. The current Matteel is just a nightclub.

I like stars too!
Guest
I like stars too!
5 years ago

Hey, High Time’s IPO is coming right up!

Don’t you want to invest in a company run by stoners?

Whole Mateel
Guest
Whole Mateel
5 years ago

Got comments? Feelings? Concerns? Praise? Kudos? Suggestions?……
TODAY, SUNDAY, IS THE 2nd ‘HEAL THE MATEEL’ GATHERING – 4 – 7pm AT THE HALL.
It’s a POTLUCK so bring a side dish.
COME! – Share, interact, CONNECT, with any of the above, and more.
If you LOVE your community (praise &/or constructive criticism welcome) and want to help decide the future of the organization……. Help the Mateel, the community find the BEST way forward!!!

Faro
Guest
Faro
5 years ago

So what happens if high times doesn’t pay anyone. Is the contract null and void and the mateel owns reggae again?

But at this point I can’t imagine a big reggae festival being profitable. Maybe if they changed it to more of an EDM festival. Or moved it back to benbow as a smaller event.

You Probably Already Know
Guest
You Probably Already Know
5 years ago

I can recall Coordinators promising tickets that weren’t delivered for labor, The Mateel budget being used to grease the palms of the friends and family of Board Members, mishandling of Mateel Meal funds in what appeared to be theft by a fiscal sponsor, hostile energy toward those exposing this negative behavior, nepotism amuck, backhanded deals all over the place, the only community oreinted charitable thing they did was canceled FIRST (Mateel Meal)…and to add insult to injury, The Meal was forced to pay 3x the amount any other business would pay for kitchen use after the hall was eliminated to dining for the ‘poor people’…and a general arrogant attitude accompanied by greed. Count me out on supporting The Mateel.

Hard to sympathize with an NPO without sympathy.

Joe Dirt
Guest
Joe Dirt
5 years ago

Time Keeps On Slipping Into the future they say there’s a solution I Believe In The Visionaries who say that something good is coming Papa do right and Mama do right can’t do no wrong well we will see what the future brings people get ready remember GODs law treat each other good

Dong Johnson
Guest
Dong Johnson
5 years ago

the only ones to blame are the board members.
these idiots are the ones that got themselves wrapped up with the failing high times
no one even reads that f@#cking magazine anymore. its been replaced years ago!
the board members are dumb af and are the only ones to blame here
shut it down already
tear it off like a bandaid
i told yall im still ready to buy that place and grow ganja in it
i’ll even hire garth to make sure our software is up to par.
have the transients work for meals n shit. either way its a sinking ship . how long do you want to drag out the inevidable?

Rip
Guest
Rip
5 years ago

I worked security for reggae and still have not been paid. High times can go fuck themselves.

Dead Horse
Guest
Dead Horse
5 years ago

Here is some investment advice from Sept. 18 of this year about the High Times IPO offering.
Found it on the internet when looking up the CEO of High Times:
“High Times (HITM), founded in 1974 as a monthly print cannabis magazine, describe themselves as the “original voice in cannabis.” The company has about 40 employees working from offices in New York and Los Angeles. So while not a cutting edge hi-tech firm out of the Midwest, buying into the High Times IPO very much carries substantial outsized risk. It would be prudent for potential investors to exercise more care.
“The company’s Reg A+ IPO can really only be a success if it garners a huge volume of retail investors who lack the ability to analyze financial statements or at the very least complete due diligence beyond the heavily filtered and pre-packaged High Times crowdfunding pitch. Everything about this company from the method it is trying to go public, its financials and its competitive positioning are toxic.”

Mendocino Mamma
Guest
Mendocino Mamma
5 years ago

Is anyone who is a long time local TRULY surprised at this revelation?
SMH! ❤

Matches
Guest
Matches
5 years ago

The fact is: no one knows the specifics of the contract. Contracts include timeframes for payment, some have 180 days to pay-depends on the verbiage.