MeckPAC

Did you know it's FREE ADMISSION the Mecklenburg Oktoberfest and Charlotte Knights Pumpkin Patch?

Saturday, October 7th at Truist Field. Gates open at 11:00 a.m.

Food, fall drinks, shopping, pumpkins, music, and more.

See you there: https://bit.ly/3PrZ1bN

Hello,

I know you all have been waiting for an update and we are excited to finally have something to share. When the Transitional Board of MeckPAC took over last fall, the organization had $2000 of penalties that were assessed as unpaid by the North Carolina Board of Elections (BOE). The BOE meets several times a year and we attempted to have all of the fees waived at the February meeting; however, our request wasn’t taken up until the June meeting.

During the June call, which was attended by the Transitional Treasurer, we were advised that our requests for waiver were being denied due to numerous prior non-compliance with late filings and non-payment of fees. To give context, the organization was left with only approximately $900 in the bank so this would have made the organization insolvent. BOE advised we would receive written notification of their decision.

That letter was received recently and the board met to discuss. The written response advised that $1000 of the previous penalties had recently expired under state statute on time limits leaving us with $1000 remaining in fees. Their response also stated that if we paid $500 for the latest and most recent assessment that resulted in our termination that we will be reinstated and brought back into active status.

The Transitional Board voted to pay the $500 fee which was mailed off today. We are currently awaiting confirmation that it has been received and for active status to be reinstated. Once this has been completed, we will advise of the next steps to form a new board for MeckPac.

Thank you for your continued patience as we work through this process.

-William Loftin
Transitional Board Chair

The MeckPAC Financial Review and Reporting Committee of the transitional Board met in 2020 and we're looking for additional volunteers to join the committee in 2021 to complete the transition to a permanent board. General updates from the committee...
- All campaign finance reports due through 2020 have been filed and are available online at the Board of Elections website.
- The transitional Treasurer has attended the required training session from the Board of Elections regarding campaign reporting.
- The Organization remains in terminated status. While all filings have been completed and submitted, the outstanding fines and penalties that were assessed against the organization as a result of prior boards’ failure to comply, late filings, etc. have not yet been resolved. Based on our review of all filings to date, the total amount of outstanding fines and penalties assessed still remains unclear. While prior penalty waivers appear to have been submitted there is no online documentation that any previous waiver requests have been approved and current organizational records do not contain any such approval documentation. We have contacted the BOE to review the file and on two occasions of such review via phone, total fine and penalty amounts still remains unclear. We have submitted an additional request for account review so that we can determine total penalties for which we hope to seek waiver of. We know that the minimum amount that would be required to reinstate the status of the organization is $500 but the true number could be several thousand dollars.
- Once we have final accounting of all outstanding fines and penalties we’ll submit a formal request for penalty waiver and abatement to the Board of Elections.

While we await the penalty waiver and abatement process we would like to hold another a Financial Review and Reporting Committee meeting for those interested in serving with the organization. If interested please contact Richard Grimstad at [email protected].

The more you know...

Today is the regular voter registration deadline! If you miss the deadline, you may register to vote and cast a ballot during the in-person early voting period, Oct. 15-31.

Learn more: https://www.ncsbe.gov/registering

The Transitional Board of MeckPAC has received notification confirming that all outstanding reports have been submitted to the Board of Elections (BOE) and the former Treasurer has signed those BOE reports. Furthermore, we have requested copies of all signed BOE filings and are awaiting the BOE processing of the reports and their determination.

As stated in prior meetings and posts, we will begin the process of working to get community members involved. We will do this in phases. For those of you who are interested in working with Richard Grimstad on the Financial Review and Reporting Committee, please email him directly at [email protected].

Please note: there will be updates from the Transitional Board as we receive information from the NC BOE as well as copies of all of the filings that have been made to being the organization current.

Politically yours,

William Samuel Loftin
Transitional Board Chair, MeckPAC

Please check out the latest edition of QNotes where Interim Chair William Loftin gives an update to the community on the current status of MeckPac.

Interim Board Tries to Move MeckPAC Forward MeckPAC has had a difficult time maintaining board members over the past few years. The organization was founded in 1998 in a unified effort to fight anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policies in the Queen City, but our investigation into its recent mismanagement and suspicious spending by the organization’...

For all that joined in on the Zoom call this afternoon and especially those who have put their names in to help as we work to determine if MeckPAC, as an organization, can rebuild community trust through teamwork and transparency we thank you.

In the spirit of transparency, we have yet to receive access to all pertinent accounts, files, logins, digital assets, etc. We are diligently working to recover those items from the prior board members. As soon as we have access to those documents, we will work to determine the best method for sharing those items with those who have expressed interest in moving MeckPAC forward.

In addition to digital assets, we still have not received access to the financial accounts. The only way for us to gain access is through coordination with one of the former board members and this access is contingent upon this former member’s schedule and availability. We do have commitment from this member to ensure an easy transition and hope to have full access to the accounts by the end of next week. Once we have access to the accounts, we will be able to pull all relevant bank statements to ensure that all SBE reporting is complete and accurate.

Once the above items are completed, we plan to schedule additional meeting(s) to review and discuss with those involved.

On a professional note, we feel as if this meeting was not as productive as we had hoped initially. The three of us were tasked with reviving an organization mired in controversy by its former board members. We share in your frustration that those former board members were not on today’s call to answer your questions; however, we understand that they are done and their final task is to transition all documents and access to the transitional board that they appointed. From the beginning of the call, there seemed to be individuals whose intentions came off as counterproductive and the call ended up being very toxic and we feel that the intent of those individuals was merely to dissolve the organization. We know that our tone may have come across as overly defensive at times and for that we apologize; however, we were each individually asked to step in and to assist in this task and we take our commitment to that seriously. In that spirit, we look forward to working with those of you who truly want to do the work as we transition this to a fully working board again and hand the reigns to a full time board when the time comes.

On a personal note, thank you to a certain member of the community who reached out to Nate and myself to apologize for his part in the conversation. It was greatly appreciated.

Respectfully,

William Loftin
Transitional Chair

Friends of MeckPAC,

We are excited to invite you to a community meeting open to all who are interested in either supporting or being a part of MeckPAC’s future! Please find relevant details below.

What are the details for this meeting?

Date: 15 August 2020
Time: 2:00 PM
Link: https://zoom.us/j/94685531538

Who is currently on the Board of MeckPAC?

In accordance with the bylaws of the organization, a transitional executive Board has been appointed to oversee the immediate Board transition, re-engage with the community, appoint additional Board members as well as, with additional Board members, work on a strategic plan for MeckPAC’s future. These individuals are as follows:

William Loftin, Interim Chair
Nate Turner, Interim Vice (Co-) Chair
Richard Grimstad, Interim Treasurer

How do I join the Board or learn about volunteer opportunities?

In accordance with the organization’s bylaws,

At a minimum, officers for MeckPAC should consist of Chair, Vice Chair and Treasurer. Other officers can be defined as needed and as responsibilities for the organization expand. Any non-officer member of the Committee will be considered an “At Large” member... MeckPAC officers shall be elected by majority vote of the existing Committee members.

At the end of the call on Saturday, there will be time for attendees to introduce themselves as well as voice interest in Board membership. We are excited about connecting with all interested individuals to find ways to collaboratively move forward.

Who will lead this meeting on Saturday?

A coalition of both former and now-current Board members will be presenting at and facilitating the flow of the community interest meeting on Saturday.

Who do I reach out to with questions?

If you have any questions about the above, please send an email to [email protected]. We look forward to seeing and hearing from you on Saturday!

The MeckPAC Team

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In order to promote transparency from our transitional board here are the by-laws that were presented to us today.

As we have not been in our current roles more than twenty four hours have patience with our board as the transaction takes place.

An Update from MeckPAC:
MeckPAC is ready to submit our current filings with the State Board of Elections. Consistent with our prior statements, those filings will be submitted this week, at such time MeckPAC’s remaining two board members will also be resigning. This course of action will leave no remaining board members, which will necessitate the closure of the committee. However, if there are community members who would like to step up into board leadership roles, please contact [email protected] no later than August 15, 2020. If there are no individuals interested in taking on leadership roles, the organization will file a certification of closure.

Dear Charlotte and Mecklenburg Community,

Two weeks ago, we committed to new and regular updates as we continue to put MeckPAC on a positive trajectory toward reinstating our status with the NC Board of Elections. We have great news to share today.

Over the past two weeks, we have had several conversations with the State Board and have taken action to complete and file all necessary reports with them. Those reports will be filed this week, at which point they will be available for your review via the State Board’s website.

In the reports filed this week you will discover that in 2018, there were some charges drafted from our account made by mistake. Immediately upon discovery by the cardholder, myself, the other Board members were notified, the charges immediately reimbursed, and a CPA consulted to ensure they were accounted for appropriately. However, reports for this and following periods were not filed, an inaction that was both inexcusable and regrettable.

MeckPAC’s remaining board members have always been and still are fully devoted to our mission and importance of MeckPAC in the local community. We are similarly fully devoted to ensuring this organization moves forward in full transparency. All of the above will be fully disclosed within the reports filed this week.

Again, we apologize for the delay in report filing. We will continue to keep you updated on our progress, including our efforts to secure new Board members that are willing to take the baton in our fight for local equality.

Matt Comer
Chair, MeckPAC