IGLTA Foundation: Cover-up?

IGLTA World Headquarters has issued a statement on the IGLTA Foundation situation in the form of a Q&A. The Foundation Board was dismissed in mid-November over an apparent funding dispute.

IGLTA World Headquarters has issued a statement on the IGLTA Foundation situation in the form of a Q&A. The Foundation Board was dismissed in mid-November over an apparent funding dispute. The statement contains some useful updates, and also exhibits attempt to manipulate the documented narrative of what occurred late last year.

To begin, it states that funds have been returned to the Kevin J. Mossier Foundation. Whether the entire disputed $250,000 was refunded, and the date of this repayment, are not provided. But it is likely to have occurred within the past few weeks. A confidential source has confirmed the recent transfer, but further details wonโ€™t be released until later this month.

The reason for the repayment reads: โ€œThe remaining funds were returned to the Mossier Foundation once the individual who secured that funding was no longer involved with the Foundation.โ€ While the โ€˜individualโ€™ being gone is obviously true – they would be among the dismissed Foundation Board – the grant was from one foundation to another and should not have been tied to a single individualโ€™s involvement. In reality, the Foundation Board denied an IGLTA funding request which was deemed contrary to the Foundationโ€™s mandate, and recovery of the Mossier Foundation funds looks to have been an effort to protect them from IGLTA misappropriation.

The rational for the Foundation Boardโ€™s dismissal appears similarly contrived: โ€œThe former Foundation board wanted to have autonomy, which conflicted with the bylaws and our organization.โ€ The Foundation Board did have autonomy; after all, it was a different governing body representing the โ€œproperty, affairs, and businessโ€ of a separate charitable organization. That they โ€œconflicted with… our organizationโ€ is closer to the truth.

While IGLTA does have control over the appointment and dismissal of the Foundation Board (this is not in dispute), nowhere in the Foundation Bylaws does it read that the Foundation is beholden to the will and demands of the IGLTA. The insinuation that the Foundation Board had โ€œgone rogueโ€ is disreputable and damaging to those Board members, four of whom are past recipients of IGLTA awards and accolades.

In a transparent effort to avoid a similarly โ€œautonomousโ€ replacement Foundation Board, the statement also announced there is now โ€œnew criteria in place for Foundation board candidates.โ€ These controls are not contained within the current Foundation Bylaws, although this could soon change, so the new Board may instead have been required to sign some binding agreement upon appointment.

In a seeming effort to rewrite history, the Q&A statement is dated โ€œDecember, 2014โ€. However, the Word document properties indicate it was only produced on April 13, 2015. Content has been written as if the statement was created some months back, but sloppy sentence structure and references to recent events indicate itโ€™s not more than a week old. This is suggestive of a hastily concocted response to the South Florida Gay News article of April 8, 2015.

This entire effort is intended to spin the IGLTA Foundation conflict to appear the fault of the Foundation Board, that IGLTA has been even-handed throughout, and to make it seem as if the matter has been public knowledge for some months, none of which can be substantiated.

The author of the Word document is also contained within the properties: Media Relations Director LoAnn Halden (or at least at her computer) and edited by President/CEO John Tanzella.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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