May 2024 Board Notes

Date:

05/28/2024

Attendance:

Board Attended: Alli Cassel, Alyssa Johnson, Christina Kramer, Bruce Levine, Chelsea “Buttons” Lieser, Kristen Loth, and Nick Nelson
Board Absent:
Observers: Brian Gravely, Tori Wink, Battle Bard, La Fisc, Puddnutz, Daysting - Erick Hofer, Eric Olp, Kevin Ehrler, Sky Dunn, Briana Johnson, UNa Cosplayer, von keller - von hillner, Sherilyn Brown, Enrique Robles, Jeannette W, Labantnet, Dan Fitzgerald, Taylor Hewitt, triscuit1, Aura, Michele Jean, Chairman Troy, Jason Patterson, Acchan Aidoru, DJLiquid86, Vex, Michael Nicchetta, Bex Thelen, Fishay, Chase Wirth, and Desypher09

Notes:

Anime Twin Cities Board Meeting Minutes


May
28th, 2024
6:33 PM

Board Present - Alli Cassel, Alyssa Johnson, Christina Kramer, Bruce Levine, Chelsea “Buttons” Lieser, Kristen Loth, and Nick Nelson

Public – Brian Gravely, Tori Wink​​, Battle Bard, La Fisc, Puddnutz​​, Daysting​​ - Erick Hofer, Eric Olp​​, Kevin Ehrler​​, Sky Dunn​​, Briana Johnson, UNa Cosplayer, von keller​​ - von hillner, Sherilyn Brown, Enrique Robles​​, Jeannette W​​, Labantnet​​, Dan Fitzgerald​​, Taylor Hewitt​​, triscuit1, Aura, Michele Jean, Chairman Troy, Jason Patterson​​, Acchan Aidoru​​, DJLiquid86​​, Vex​​, Michael Nicchetta​​, Bex Thelen​​, Fishay​​, Chase Wirth, and Desypher09

*Note that this meeting is not counted towards attendance
Per the bylaws the attendance period is between the annual meetings so the annual meeting itself is not tracked for attendance.
 

Current Month Board Topics

  • Brian Gravely is on the call, and the first item of business was for him to present the results of the investigation, but Kristen asked to speak first to bring to attention some points of order.
     
  • Kristen’s points of order
     
    • 1. A lot of the members of the public are saying that there were concerns with the voting members not being properly provided notice of the annual meeting or being given the right to vote. There are also membership lists for voting rights that were requested by multiple ATC members ahead of the election but were not given the legally required information to allow members with voting rights to identify the other members with the voting rights required by law, per the state law the list of voting members must include full legal names and addresses to allow members with voting rights to communicate regarding the election it is any members right to be able to request that full list of members with voting rights.
       
    • Christina – Okay, our bylaws state that we need to provide a list but it doesn’t have all of those extra pieces of information on it, so we provided the list with the information that was deemed necessary.
       
    • Kristen - Letting it be known that I object to that because MN state law should also supersede that.
       
    • 2. ATC electoral policy requires that members up for election participate in a Q&A session with the membership and multiple members have reported to me through the staff discord and emails coming in to ATC board that the questions there were more questions that were not asked and I wanted to call that to a point of order as well that not all of the public was able to communicate and get their questions asked.
       
    • Christina – Yep, due to the number of candidates that we had we limited the amount of time we allowed for public questions in addition there were many questions that were not pertinent to the elections that were not asked.
       
    • 3. Concerns have been expressed that the board has instituted unequal treatment concerning calculating membership with voting rights allowing one or more members to allow AD branch meetings for attendance but not others all without ATC having a clear policy outlining whose responsibility it is to actually provide the secretary ATC branch meeting attendance or how.
       
    • Christina – The bylaws state that the Anime Detour planning meetings attendance should be sent within one week of the meeting happening unfortunately that did not happen this year, basically we did the best that we could to get as much attendance as possible we listened to all of the board meetings and went through the chat to verify as many peoples attendance as possible for the board meetings as well as the Anime Detour planning meetings.
       
    • Kristen - So proper meeting notice is not an issue that can be waived so I believe that this meeting should properly be postponed in order to provide proper notice given to the members with voting rights and so that all of the questions / answers can be properly identified and answered.
       
    • Christina – This meeting has been on the calendar for over a month which is the proper amount of notice.
       
    • 5. Per ATC electoral policy members not in good standing aren’t eligible to be elected and I would like the board to review the eligibility of all candidates prior to announcing the results as I believe that one or more candidates are ineligible to be elected.
       
    • Christina – Okay, that is definitely something that we can look into between now and 8pm tomorrow when the results are announced.
       
    • Kristen – Sure that is not a problem I just want to make sure that this is going on the record for the integrity of the election because it is something that’s been under such scrutiny. If you aren’t going to review my points of order in this meeting, I’m just making a formal objection to this procedure and the meeting being conducted improperly therefore I have to object to the rest of the procedure, thank you.

 

  • Investigation Results – Brian Gravely
    • I'm Brian Gravely, I'm an attorney at Halverson Legal I have for approximately 45 days conducted an investigation at your direction. Following the 2024 Anime Detour convention the board received complaints regarding Mr. Troy MacDonald. The board decided to solicit feedback from those who worked with Mr. MacDonald and information regarding the complaints of Mr. MacDonald and who shared the complaints was shared with Mr. MacDonald at the next board meeting, Mr. MacDonald posted information about the complaints and who made them in the chat, the board did receive more complaints and was able to verify that Mr. MacDonald had disclosed the information publicly, the board then suspended Mr. MacDonald and requested that I conduct an investigation into the allegations made. An email was setup for me to receive direct communication from individuals. I was given access to all previous complaints filed with the board during the past 45 days numerous individuals have emailed me or called to discuss the allegations and complaints against Mr. MacDonald. The nature of the allegations is serious they involved: workplace harassment, hostile work environment, employment retaliation, and misuse of corporate funds and assets. We brought in a former St. Paul police officer to assist in interviews and help with the investigation. About a month ago the investigator spoke with Mr. MacDonald, the investigator read off approximately 25 different questions that he wanted to ask Mr. MacDonald , Mr. MacDonald responded that he would not cooperate and refused to answer any questions as we prepared to complete our investigation prior to the May 14th board meeting my investigator and I were contacted by an attorney who indicated he now represented Mr. MacDonald and he wanted my investigator to interview Mr. MacDonald as soon as possible. My investigator did in fact interview Mr. MacDonald on Monday May 13th and Tuesday May 14th for hours. Due to the length and timing of these interviews we could not present a report at the board meeting on the night of May 14th, now all interviews have concluded. Members of the board I have completed my investigation. It is my finding that Mr. MacDonald has on four different counts failed in his responsibilities to the corporation and this board. First Mr. MacDonald as an executive officer of this corporation serves at the pleasure of the board. Minnesota law and this corporation’s bylaws make it clear an executive officer can be removed with or without cause by the board. During his most recent interview with my investigator Mr. MacDonald gave an answer, I refused to answer on questions related to hostile work environment, workplace harassment and employment retaliation. As an executive officer Mr. MacDonald was required to participate and fully cooperate and he did not do so. Count 2 are allegations made regarding workplace harassment, hostile work environment and retaliation. My investigator and I found that the allegations made to be credible and that there were many victims of Mr. MacDonald’s actions, furthermore as of last week I was still receiving complaints regarding recent actions of Mr. MacDonald as such I would indicate that this behavior is not in the past but is ongoing. Count 3 is based on an admission made by Mr. MacDonald during his interviews, Mr. MacDonald indicated he was a fiduciary or in control of corporate resources of value like spaces and contracts. Mr. MacDonald indicated to my investigator that he did not document his usage of these financial resources. The board must demand of his executives that when they handle financial resources that they document all their decisions in their decision making. The last count, members of the board is that by his own admission there were conflicts related to his control of financial assets at the convention, but Mr. MacDonald admitted he never during or after the conflicts notified those above him, the board, of disputes that occurred with corporate financial resources. In our investigation it appears that there were credible allegations that some individuals were intentionally financially harmed by Mr. MacDonald during the convention period. Members of the board, I submit these findings of my investigation to you. Madam President, I ask to take your leave and log off to allow the board to now resume its regular business.
       
  • Based off of these findings, I move for a vote of no confidence in Coordinator Troy MacDonald.
    • Can I get a second?
    • Seconded
    • The results are 5/6 in favor and 1/6 against
       
  • In light of the no-confidence vote, I move for a vote to remove Troy MacDonald from the coordinator position.
    • Can I get a second?
    • Seconded
    • The results are 5/6 in favor and 1/6 against
       
  • Additionally, I move for a vote to ban Troy Macdonald from all ATC events for an indefinite period, with a minimum of one year.
    • Can I get a second?
    • Seconded
    • The results are 5/6 in favor and 1/6 against
       
  • Now that we have wrapped up the investigation concerning Troy McDonald with Mr. Gravely's report and issued our resolution I'd like to circle back to the investigation concerning Kristen Loth. For clarification, the Board sent an email to her directly outlining what she was under investigation for at the time. Since both investigations are now resolved and to provide transparency for the membership Ms. Loth was under investigation for sharing confidential information with unauthorized individuals. This information was privy to her since she is a member of the board, and while investigating Mr. McDonald we received confirmation of this information being provided to other individuals who should not have had access to it.
  • As many of you are aware, there has been significant conflict between the Board and the current executive team, the executive team currently includes Brittany Hecker, Kristen Loth, and Morgan Niemeyer. They have overstepped their authority, contributing to the discord affecting our community. I move for a vote of no confidence in the current executive team.
    • Can I get a second?
    • Seconded
    • The results are 4/6 in favor and 1/6 against.1 Abstaining
       
  • Based on the no-confidence vote, I move for a vote to remove the executive team from their positions and demote them to general staff.
    • Can I get a second?
    • Seconded
    • The results are 4/6 in favor and 2/6 abstaining
    • In the interim, Anime Detour department heads can report directly to the Board until a new coordinator is appointed.
       
  • Next, I want to address the staffing bans put forth by the prior executive team. The people affected by these bans are:
    • Hope K.
    • Chelsea L.
    • Bruce L.
    • Hotura V.
    • Samantha C.
    • Andrew J.
    • Nick S.
    • Andrina M.
    • Mike A.
    • Taylor H.
    • These bans were imposed without consulting the Board and without providing sufficient justification. The affected individuals have shared the reasons given for their bans, which the Board finds inadequate. The timing of the majority of these bans, right before elections, is highly suspicious. Therefore, we are rescinding these bans. Anyone else who may have been banned by this executive team who would like their ban reviewed, please reach out to the board with the information provided to them with the reasoning of the ban.
       
  • Additionally, our current social media coordinator has worked to undermine the Board of Directors. I move for a vote of no confidence in Coordinator Brittany Hecker.
    • Can I get a second?
    • Seconded
    • The results are 5/6 in favor and 1 abstaining

 

  • The next item on the agenda is the announcement of the election voting, which will begin at 8 PM this evening. You will receive an email if you have received voting rights this election cycle. The results will be available after 8 PM tomorrow and will be emailed out. Please feel free to review the candidate Q & A’s posted on our YouTube page. Good luck to all of the candidates!
     
  • I will now review the live chat and answer any pertinent questions.
    • We haven’t removed the executive team from staff. We have just demoted them so they are no longer on the executive team, but they are still staff.
    • Christina – one thing I would like to say is we will go ahead and will work on getting the open coordinator position posted out hopefully within the next week, I am sure we would all love to get back to planning for the convention.
    • I have never heard anything about Anime Detour funds going to Nebraskon or Convergence, I don’t know why that would be a thing but if anyone has actual information that they feel they need to share about it they are welcome to email the board so we can investigate it.
       
  • Thank you for joining us for the 2024 annual meeting.

    Motion to adjourn
    Seconded
     

6:55pm meeting adjourned.


Please contact atcboard@animetwincities.org or atc_secretary@animetwincities.org if you would like to be added to the agenda for discussion items.