Message From Concerned ASHA Members
On December 22, 2010, the President of the ASHA, Judith Werner, distributed her
message about the lawsuit the ASHA filed against a few of its Members. Her message is
not accurate, and it conflicts with the law governing non-profit organizations in
Kentucky. In short, the ASHA refuses to allow its Members to inspect corporate records
relating to expenses ranging from a few hundred dollars to several hundred thousand
dollars. On December 2, 2010, a Court ruled that the ASHA’s decision to withhold those
corporate records from its Members violates the law. Nonetheless, the ASHA has still
not produced those records and is considering spending more money and time by asking
yet another Court to interpret the same, clearly worded law.
Ms. Werner contends that the Members have refused to articulate their concerns and
reasons for asking to see the corporate records. That is simply not true, and it is troubling that Ms. Werner is misleading ASHA members on this issue. The Members described their concerns in detail in their initial letter requesting to inspect specific corporate records relating to large corporate expenses. That letter, dated April 20, 2009, is available for review on www.saddlebredcentral.com (along with other documents containing the arguments made by both sides and the Court’s ruling in favor of the Members). Furthermore, in February of 2009, an auditor identified “significant deficiencies” in the ASHA’s financial policies. Since the ASHA has an annual budget of approximately $2 Million, it should be no surprise that its Members would expect the organization to have appropriate financial oversight.
Shamefully, Ms. Werner argues that the ASHA has limited resources and the requests
made by the Members have strained the ASHA. To be clear, it is the ASHA who could
have simply opened its doors and allowed the Members to review the corporate records
they requested (and have a right to inspect under the law). That would have been the
most efficient and appropriate response. Instead, the ASHA opted to file a lawsuit
requiring the ASHA and the Members to expend time and resources litigating the
interpretation of a clearly worded law.
Please go to www.saddlebredcentral.com to review court records and related documents in detail. As you will see, the Court agreed that the law is clear that non-profit
organizations must operate with transparency by allowing members to inspect the
corporate records to ensure that all of its revenues and assets are used appropriately. If
you agree that the ASHA should stop hiding corporate records from its members, please
contact the ASHA Board and let them know that you do not approve of any further
attempts to avoid complying with the law.
Concerned Members
Edward “Hoppy” Bennett
Tom Ferrebee
Carl Fischer, Jr.
Dr. Simon Fredricks
Kris Knight
Lynn Via
Message From ASHA Members (14.4 KiB, 888 hits)