{"id":124,"date":"2008-06-09T01:00:27","date_gmt":"2008-06-09T08:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/?p=124"},"modified":"2008-06-09T01:00:27","modified_gmt":"2008-06-09T08:00:27","slug":"resendingnew-blogallen-strange-passeseventstriviacomments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/?p=124","title":{"rendered":"RESENDING\/NEW BLOG\/ALLEN STRANGE PASSES\/EVENTS\/TRIVIA\/COMMENTS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>RESENDING<\/p>\n<p>I. COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES NEW BLOG<br \/>\nII. ALLEN STRANGE PASSES<br \/>\nIII. EVENTS<br \/>\nIV. TRIVIA \u2013 WATER MUSIC<br \/>\nV. COMMENTS<\/p>\n<p>COLLEAGUES,<\/p>\n<p>With new servers sometimes come transition problems. We had a slight problem with our new server, but the issues have been resolved. If you received the first version of this mailing we apologize for the repeat, though there is some new info contained herein.<\/p>\n<p>THE COMMITTEE<\/p>\n<p>I.      COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES NEW BLOG<\/p>\n<p>There used to be four AFM related blogs. Two allowed<br \/>\nanonymous comments, two did not. Over the last year,<br \/>\nthe two that allowed anonymous comments have disappeared. <\/p>\n<p>We couldn\u2019t have that! <\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re proud to announce our new blog, www.responsible47.com.<br \/>\nHere you can read previous mailings, ALL OF THEM (Or at least<br \/>\nthe ones we could find). Our archives go all the way back to<br \/>\nJanuary, 2005! You can also search for key words in the mailings,<br \/>\nleave comments, join or remove yourself from the list, or use our<br \/>\nlinks to go to a variety of websites, including the other AFM<br \/>\nrelated blogs.<\/p>\n<p>As we send out our mailings, we\u2019ll also post them on the site.<br \/>\nWell also take comments from the site and include them in mailings.<\/p>\n<p>While we will allow all comers to post, we will of course reserve<br \/>\nthe right to edit profanity or inappropriate language.<\/p>\n<p>Please sign on and ENJOY!<\/p>\n<p>THE COMMITTEE<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p> ==============<\/p>\n<p>II. AVANT GARDE MUSIC GIANT PASSES<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve just been told of the passing of ALLAN STRANGE on February 20th, 2008.<\/p>\n<p>American composer and performer Allen Strange studied composition with Michalsky at State University, Fullerton (BA, MA 1967) and later with Erickson, Partch, Gaburo and Oliveros (composition and electronic media) at the University of California, San Diego (1967&#8211;8, 1970&#8211;71).<\/p>\n<p>In 1970, Strange became a professor of music and the director of the electronic music studios at San Jose State University. <\/p>\n<p>He was the first to produce a comprehensive work on analog music synthesis, called Electronic Music: Systems, Techniques and Control. Published in 1972, it is considered a classic reference work. He went on to write Programming and Meta-Programming the Electro-Organism and also co-wrote The Contemporary Violin: Extended Performance Techniques with his wife, Patricia.<br \/>\nStrange composed for live electronic instrumental ensembles, for live and taped electronics with voices and acoustic instruments, and for the theater; most of his works for acoustic instruments require extended performance techniques. His groups included the performing groups &#8220;Biome&#8221; and &#8220;The Electric Weasel Ensemble&#8221;. Live (real time) performing of electronic or computer music (which in the past was by necessity pre-prepared on tape) was a big part of his esthetic.<\/p>\n<p>One of his most recent works is on a CD called The Composer in the Computer Age. It&#8217;s an anthology of the work of five different composers besides Allen. Most of the labels his work is on are an anthology from different composers. He is the author of perhaps 200 compositions. &#8220;Go to Amazon [.com],&#8221; he suggests, when asked to name some representative CDs.<br \/>\n&#8220;My music isn&#8217;t for everyone,&#8221; he readily conceded. &#8220;Composers compose for themselves, not for others, unless it&#8217;s a commercial piece for advertising or movies. When people listen to new music if they don&#8217;t know what they&#8217;re listening for (such as music traveling around a room), they&#8217;ll miss the point.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Strange retired from academia in 2002 and moved to Bainbridge Island, Washington to pursue a full-time career composing, concertizing with his wife, and working with his jazz trio, Cuv\u00e9e.<\/p>\n<p>The Stranges&#8217; wry take on life is exemplified in their license plate, which reads, &#8220;Real Musicians Have a Day Job.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>III. EVENTS<\/p>\n<p>\u2022\u2022JUNE 9TH\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n<p>CROWN CITY BRASS\/LA CHAMBER BRASS JOIN FOR JUNE 9th<br \/>\nCONCERT<\/p>\n<p>Message originally from Jim Self.<\/p>\n<p>The Crown City Brass Quintet and the LA  Chamber Brass<br \/>\nannounce that they will once again join for a concert,<br \/>\ncreating the ensemble known as The Big City Brass. On<br \/>\nMonday night June 9, 7:30pm, The Big City Brass<br \/>\nwill be at:<\/p>\n<p>First United Methodist Church of Pasadena<br \/>\n(500 East Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91101)<br \/>\nfor a concert featuring music of composers Jim Self, Nick<br \/>\nLane, Giovanni Gabrieli and Georges Delerue.<\/p>\n<p>LA Philharmonic tuba player Norm Pearson will perform<br \/>\nSelf&#8217;s_ Winks &#8216;n Jinks_ for solo tuba and 4 trombones as a<br \/>\npreview of the performance to be given June 27th at the<br \/>\nInternational Tuba Conference in Cincinnati, OH.<\/p>\n<p>A freewill offering will be collected. All proceeds benefit<br \/>\nthe Hearts of Music Fund.  Hearts of Music is a non-profit<br \/>\nfund established to assist musicians with emergency medical<br \/>\nneeds. Many musicians, although working, do not have nor<br \/>\nqualify for medical insurance and, as we all know, illness<br \/>\nand accidents don&#8217;t check for insurance coverage before<br \/>\nstriking. Hearts of Music is a fund founded by Bill<br \/>\nReichenbach to help those in need.<\/p>\n<p>Musicians involved:<br \/>\n   The LA Chamber Brass:<br \/>\nJon Lewis &#038; Larry Hall, trumpets,<br \/>\nBrad Warnaar, horn,<br \/>\nAlex Iles, trombone,<br \/>\nBill Reichenbach, bass trombone<\/p>\n<p>The Crown City Brass Quintet:<br \/>\nRob Frear &#038; Marty FentonFrear, trumpets,<br \/>\nBen Jaber, horn,<br \/>\nAndrew Malloy, trombone,<br \/>\nNorm Pearson, tuba.<\/p>\n<p>More information can be found at:<br \/>\ncrowncitybrassquintet.com<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p>\u2022\u2022JUNE 10\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n<p>GENE  POKORNY RECITAL<\/p>\n<p>Chicago Symphony Orchestra Principal Tuba Gene Pokorny will be<br \/>\ngiving a recital at the University of Redlands.<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday, June 10th, 2008<br \/>\nMemorial Chapel<br \/>\nUniversity of Redlands<br \/>\n7 pm<\/p>\n<p>You can read more here:<br \/>\nhttp:\/\/myredlandsapps.redlands.edu\/calendar\/schoolofmusic.asp<br \/>\nUniversity of Redlands School of Music \u2013 (909)748-8700<\/p>\n<p>\u2022\u2022JUNE 15\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n<p>Dear Friends &#038; Colleagues:<\/p>\n<p>OLYMPIA YOUTH ORCHESTRA<br \/>\nSunday, June 15, 2008 at 3PM.<br \/>\nThe  orchestra will be performing at the historic<br \/>\nSAN GABRIEL MISSION PLAYHOUSE<br \/>\n320 S Mission Drive, San Gabriel, CA 91776.<\/p>\n<p>This concert is admission FREE and will feature contrabass<br \/>\nsoloist Amaila Bandy. Amalia is a graduating senior from<br \/>\nthe Los Angeles<br \/>\nCounty High School for the Arts and will be continuing<br \/>\nher musical  studies at Rice University in the Fall after<br \/>\nturning down offers from  the Juilliard School. She will<br \/>\nbe performing the Koussevitzky Bass Concerto in f# minor.<\/p>\n<p>The Virtuoso Flute Ensemble from Fremont, Northern<br \/>\nCalifornia will  also be our guest performance group for<br \/>\nthis concert. They will be  led by Ms. Judy Lam in selections<br \/>\nand arrangements for flute ensemble.<\/p>\n<p>The orchestra will also perform the Donna Diana<br \/>\nOverture by Reznicek and the Symphony in C Major<br \/>\nby Bizet.<\/p>\n<p>Please bring your family and friends and join us in an<br \/>\nafternoon of  good music, and of course, it&#8217;s fun as<br \/>\nwell.<\/p>\n<p>On a second subject, one of our flutists, Priscella Chan<br \/>\n(an  excellent pianist herself) will be giving a fund raising<br \/>\nrecital  benefiting the Children&#8217;s Hospital of Los Angeles<br \/>\non Tuesday, June  17, 2008 at the Arcadia Presbyterian<br \/>\nChurch, 121 Alice Street,  Arcadia, CA 91006.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>\u2022\u2022JUNE 15th\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n<p>The Montgomery Arts House for Music and Architecture<br \/>\n(MAHMA)<\/p>\n<p>2007-2008 Season Finale<\/p>\n<p>MAHMA\u2019S MAD TALES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD<br \/>\nScott Hosfeld and the Malibu Coast Chamber Orchestra\u2026<br \/>\nSunday Afternoon,<br \/>\nJune 15, 2008 at 4:00 pm<\/p>\n<p>Wines and Cheeses at 3:30<\/p>\n<p>Works by Elgar, Handel, Newman and<br \/>\nPachelbel,<\/p>\n<p>Canon\u2026 Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)\u2028<br \/>\n\u2028Introduction and Allegro, for string quartet and orchestra\u2026<br \/>\nSir Edward Elgar (1857-1934)\u2028    I.  Largo\u2028    II.  Allegro<br \/>\n\u2028Concerto Grosso &#8220;Alexander\u2019s Feast,&#8221; HWV 318\u2026<br \/>\nG. F. Handel (1685-1759)\u2028<br \/>\nI.  Allegro\u2028    II.  Largo\u2028    III.  Allegro\u2028    IV.  Andante ma non presto<br \/>\n\u2028Concerto Grosso\u2026Maria Newman (c. 1996)\u2028<br \/>\nI.  Allegro\u2028    II.  Lontano\u2028    III.  Presto<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p>\u2022\u2022June 15\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n<p>Memorial Tribute to the Great BOB FLORENCE<br \/>\n12 noon, Sunday, June 15th at<br \/>\nCATALINA JAZZ CLUB<br \/>\n6725 West Sunset Boulevard<br \/>\nHollywood, CA 90028<br \/>\n(323)466-2210<\/p>\n<p>The Tribute will feature<br \/>\nTHE BOB FLORENCE<br \/>\nLIMITED EDITION<br \/>\nand<br \/>\nThe Phil Norman Tentet and Vicki Carr<\/p>\n<p>No Cover-No Host Bar<br \/>\nReservations Recommended<br \/>\nTribute Donations Welcome<\/p>\n<p>============<\/p>\n<p>IV. TRIVIA \u2013 WATER MUSIC<br \/>\nMost toilets flush in E flat.<\/p>\n<p>============<\/p>\n<p>V. COMMENTS<br \/>\nThe comments below represent the uncensored views \u2028of the<br \/>\nreaders and not necessarily those of the COMMITTEE.\u2028 In the<br \/>\nfaith that freedom of expression allows for the\u2028birth and<br \/>\nascendancy of the most beneficial ideas, all sentiments expressed<br \/>\nare welcome, subject to the\u2028 bounds of good taste and decorum.<br \/>\nIf you disagree \u2028with an opinion expressed by any contributor,<br \/>\nwe\u2028 en courage you to rebut it here.<br \/>\n\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/p>\n<p>Dear Comm Resp 47,<br \/>\n       I know will be accused of taking these quotes out<br \/>\nof context. This is from an interview with Matt Plummer<br \/>\nin 2007.  No matter what was said before or after these<br \/>\nquotes, the meaning is not lost.  It is clear to me Mr.<br \/>\nEspinosas&#8217; allegiance is not with the union. I have included<br \/>\na bit of Federal labor Law, in case any one cares.<\/p>\n<p>        1.   Our President of Local 47, Hal Espinosa said:<br \/>\n&#8220;The PMG is no worse than Seattle when it broke away<br \/>\nfrom the AFM to form a guild.&#8221;<br \/>\n        2..  Our President of Local 47, Hal Espinosa said:<br \/>\n&#8220;I\u2019m telling members not to join the Guild (PMG) and<br \/>\nnot to quit the union to join New Era of Scoring,&#8221;<br \/>\n       3.   Our President of Local 47, Hal Espinosa  said:<br \/>\n&#8220;I\u2019m going to have members in Los Angeles either quit<br \/>\nthe union or decertify.&#8221; (which is what the PMG has also<br \/>\nthreatened to do)<br \/>\n        4.    Our President of Local 47 Hal Espinosa said:<br \/>\n&#8220;Every musician that\u2019s not in the AFM is our competition<br \/>\n and we don\u2019t need any more competition.&#8221;              <\/p>\n<p>             Federal law says:  &#8220;For purposes of its duty of fair representation, union&#8217;s conduct can be classified as &#8220;arbitrary&#8221;<br \/>\nonly when it is irrational; when it is without a rational basis or explanation.&#8221; National Labor Relations Act, \u00a7 9(a), as amended,<br \/>\n29 U.S.C.A. \u00a7 159(a). Marquez v. Screen Actors Guild, Inc.,<br \/>\n119 S. Ct. 292 (U.S. 1998).<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p>time to start real pressure on AFM to stop listening to RMA elite &#8211; and start listening to all members of AFM.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>How do I list a concert in the Concerts section?<\/p>\n<p>[Editor\u2019s Note: Simply send us your information in a reply to our mailings. Always try to give us some lead time, since the mailings are not sent out on a regular basis, further, you will never be charged by us to advertise your concert.]<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>How come management (contractors) get to sit in on elections?<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>COLLEAGUES,<br \/>\nLocal 47\u2019s Secretary Leslie Lashinsky has written to us<br \/>\nconcerning a hearing that happened recently at the Local.<br \/>\nWe\u2019re more than happy to oblige, and are also happy she<br \/>\nfelt she could trust us to print her correspondence in total.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>May 30, 2008<\/p>\n<p>(Please include the following in its entirety in your next<br \/>\nemail, Thanks.)<\/p>\n<p>Dear Committee;<\/p>\n<p>Included in your email of Sunday May 4, 2008 was a letter<br \/>\nfrom Charles Fernandez &#8220;to the committee&#8221; referencing the<br \/>\nhearing he was to attend at Local 47 on the following day,<br \/>\nMonday, May 5th. In that email he states that he was &#8220;forced<br \/>\nto file charges&#8221;, &#8220;It is a matter of principle&#8221; etc, in essence<br \/>\nattempting to try his case before committee email readers<br \/>\nbefore the scheduled hearing. He closed his email with the<br \/>\nfollowing sentence: &#8220;I will forward the results to the committee<br \/>\nso they can inform you if they like&#8221;. It seems (as of today May<br \/>\n20, 2008) that he\/they didn&#8217;t\/couldn&#8217;t\/wouldn&#8217;t, so I will&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>On Monday May 5, 2008, six (of the seven) duly elected members<br \/>\nof the Local 47 Hearing Board heard his case as scheduled.<br \/>\nHere is a summation of their decision (which as the charged<br \/>\nparty, I am allowed to share). In its decision, based upon the<br \/>\nevidence and arguments submitted at the time of the hearing,<br \/>\nthe Hearing Board unanimously concluded that the charging<br \/>\nparty, Charles Fernandez, failed to prove that I, as the charged<br \/>\nparty, violated Article XIII,  Section 2, of the Local&#8217;s Bylaws by<br \/>\nrefusing to provide him, in my capacity as the Local&#8217;s Secretary<br \/>\n\/Treasurer, with a copy of the Castillo letter. The Hearing Board,<br \/>\nthrough a unanimous vote of the members present at the May<br \/>\n5th hearing, dismissed in its entirety Charles Fernandez&#8217; charge<br \/>\nagainst me. In addition, in their written decision the Hearing Board<br \/>\nadmonished member Fernandez for offering contradictory testimony,<br \/>\nclearly misleading the Hearing Board, offering intentional misrepresentations<br \/>\nand non-credible statements, failing to truthfully testify, and shirking<br \/>\nhis duty to testify in a truthful manner.<\/p>\n<p>I am pleased with the Hearing Board decision. As a Union<br \/>\nmember, I&#8217;m entitled to express my views. I truly believe<br \/>\nthat many of Charles Fernandez&#8217; pursuits (including the<br \/>\ncostly Hearing Board proceeding) are misguided, indeed<br \/>\nfrivolous.<\/p>\n<p>Note: I originally submitted this email to you (the Committee)<br \/>\non May 20, 2008. You responded that since I was a Local 47<br \/>\nofficer, you needed &#8220;to take extra precautions&#8221; that it was I who<br \/>\nsent the letter and not someone using my email or work computer.<br \/>\nSuch due diligence seems unusual for a Committee which claims to<br \/>\n&#8220;act as a forum for members to express their opinions&#8221; easily. As far<br \/>\nas I can tell, you exercise no scrutiny concerning the AFM or Local<br \/>\n47 membership status of your contributors, whether they comment<br \/>\nanonymously or put their name(s) to their submission(s). One of<br \/>\nyour most regular contributors, Rick Blanc, who, to his credit, signs<br \/>\nhis emails, is a resigned member of not only Local 47 but also Locals<br \/>\n72-14, 802 and 661-7. He is currently expelled from Local 342.<br \/>\nThe Committee for a More Responsible Local 47 can express and<br \/>\npromote as it sees fit (within legal limits), but should not claim to<br \/>\nbe a forum only for members. You continue to provide a nice nest<br \/>\nfor anti-union and  union-busting individuals and organizations. <\/p>\n<p>Sincerely,<\/p>\n<p>Leslie Lashinsky<br \/>\nMember<br \/>\nLocals 47 (since 1975),<br \/>\n353 (since 1980),<br \/>\n7 (since 1991), 308 (since 2006)<br \/>\nCurrent Secretary\/Treasurer Local 47<\/p>\n<p>[Editor\u2019s note: What would you call more anti-union:<br \/>\nParticipating in a forum where all can speak freely?, or<br \/>\ntrying to prevent members from getting information from<br \/>\ntheir Local?; or, for that matter, or, for that matter, tolerating<br \/>\nan illegal organization (PMG) whose stated purpose is to<br \/>\n undermine our AFM\u2026. your choice]<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>To be fair and complete, we forwarded her letter to Charles<br \/>\nFernandez and asked if he would like to respond. This is what<br \/>\nhe sent.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>Letter from Charles Fernandez<\/p>\n<p>Colleagues,<\/p>\n<p>The committee was kind enough to forward me Leslie\u2019s letter<br \/>\nand ask me if I wanted to respond. I was going to let it go,<br \/>\nbut since Secretary Lashinsky has seen fit to keep it going,<br \/>\nso be it. Be careful what you wish for. <\/p>\n<p>She is correct. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the<br \/>\nhearing board found unanimously for her.<\/p>\n<p>BTW, in my view, the members\u2019 right of information is<br \/>\nNEVER frivolous. <\/p>\n<p>The hearing took place because I had repeatedly requested,<br \/>\nunder Article XIII, Section 2 (Right to information), starting<br \/>\nin Sept. 07, a letter written by Local 47 member Paul Castillo<br \/>\nand read at the 8\/15\/06 open board meeting. <\/p>\n<p>The letter itself contained a missive written by Mr. Castillo<br \/>\ncastigating Vice President Vincent Trombetta in the strongest<br \/>\npossible terms for his conduct at the general meeting the<br \/>\nprevious month. <\/p>\n<p>As was made clear in the hearing, I already had the letter<br \/>\nfrom another source, but after seven months it had<br \/>\nbecome about the principal of officers following the<br \/>\nbylaws. In my view (and as common sense would<br \/>\ndictate) anything read in an open board session and<br \/>\nheard by anyone attending the meeting, should be<br \/>\navailable to the membership, just as the minutes are.<br \/>\n(The text of the letter was not included in the actual<br \/>\nminutes). <\/p>\n<p>I suggested to the hearing board that if someone wants<br \/>\nto keep what is said to the board secret, it should be said<br \/>\nin executive session. (even though executive session should  only be for advice of counsel, individual personnel matters, etc-. No member should be able to have executive sessions just because they want  something &#8220;kept secret&#8221; unless it&#8217;s about a personnel matter.  Further, if  counsel represents the board (rather than the entire membership), attorney client privilege is lost if a non-board member is present  (unless the  non-board member&#8217;s input is needed, and requested, on a legal  matter)).<\/p>\n<p>The hearing board\u2019s choice was simple:<\/p>\n<p>1) Define the bylaw as broadly as possible, to the<br \/>\nadvantage of the membership, transparency and<br \/>\nact as a limit on the power of the officers to keep<br \/>\ninformation from the members; or <\/p>\n<p>2)   Define it as narrowly as possible, to the disadvantage<br \/>\nof the membership, and allowing a more secretive Local<br \/>\nto the detriment of openness and transparency.  <\/p>\n<p>One of the arguments made in the decision was that because<br \/>\nI did not present Mr. Castillo\u2019s letter they could not determine<br \/>\nits contents and therefore could not determine whether its<br \/>\nrelease was appropriate or not. <\/p>\n<p>This argument is flawed on its face. If neither myself nor the<br \/>\nSecretary had the Castillo letter (A fact she revealed at the<br \/>\nhearing, not before), there was no way for them to \u201cassess\u201d the<br \/>\nletter in any case. The content of the letter itself was irrelevant.<br \/>\nWhat was at issue was the Secretary\u2019s failure to follow a<br \/>\nlegitimate information request by a member. <\/p>\n<p>The writer of the letter, Paul Castillo, was representing<br \/>\nSecretary Lashinsky in the hearing, yet it never occurred<br \/>\nto Secretary Lashinsky to turn her head to the left and<br \/>\nask Mr. Castillo for a copy of the letter to complete the<br \/>\nofficial record of the meeting.<\/p>\n<p>During the hearing Secretary Lashinsky intimated that I<br \/>\nshould be made to pay for the cost of the hearing, since<br \/>\nit had unduly cost time and money (she said it had taken<br \/>\n\u201chundreds\u201d of hours in preparation.) in the seven months<br \/>\nI\u2019d been requesting the letter.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022Secretary Lashinsky then admitted that Mr. Castillo\u2019s letter<br \/>\nwas not in the Local\u2019s records. She didn\u2019t have it! It was either<br \/>\nnever put into the record or was physically removed by<br \/>\nsomeone after the meeting.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022Sometime in the last seven months she learned that the letter<br \/>\nwas gone, yet said nothing and then tried to intimate I should<br \/>\npay for the costs for the entire seven months, knowing full<br \/>\nwell she could not honor my request even if she wanted<br \/>\nto. This I consider her acting in bad faith.<\/p>\n<p>When did she realize it was gone? After one month,\u2026 two? <\/p>\n<p>Odder still. the disappearance of the letter that was the<br \/>\nvery subject of the hearing didn\u2019t seem to raise any<br \/>\nquestions, or even an eyebrow, from the hearing board. <\/p>\n<p>She also said that when she had read the email in which I<br \/>\ninformed her I  had the letter, she decided she saw no reason<br \/>\nto honor the request and \u2018washed her hands of it\u2019. Somehow I<br \/>\ndon\u2019t think the bylaws allow her to only fulfill the requests<br \/>\nshe wants to.<\/p>\n<p>Why did Secretary Lashinsky wait all that time, seven months,<br \/>\nuntil the hearing, to reveal she didn\u2019t have the Castillo letter?<br \/>\nCould she have known there was something untoward<br \/>\nabout it disappearing?  From everything I\u2019ve read, there<br \/>\nis no option for letters being removed from the official<br \/>\nboard record once read into it. The minutes of the<br \/>\n5\/15\/06 meeting make clear that a letter by Paul Castillo<br \/>\nwas read in open session concerning comments made by<br \/>\nVP Trombetta at the July, 05 meeting. You can request the<br \/>\nminutes yourself.<\/p>\n<p>She also makes a statement about my conduct in the<br \/>\nhearing. I had decided on a tactic to use in the hearing,<br \/>\nbut after two questions along that path, I decided that<br \/>\nmy integrity and reputation meant far more to me than<br \/>\nscoring political points. That would put me on a dishonest<br \/>\nlevel, and that I would not allow. I therefore changed my<br \/>\nanswers to those two previously answered questions.<br \/>\nThere\u2019s quite enough questionable logic coming from the<br \/>\nupper echelons of our Local as it is, thank you very much.<br \/>\nThis part of the meeting lasted perhaps 2 minutes, yet Ms.<br \/>\nLashinsky and the Hearing board decision spent a great<br \/>\ndeal of time on this aspect of the 3-hour hearing.<\/p>\n<p>Two final points: When I received the decision, the<br \/>\naccompanying letter, written by hearing board secretary<br \/>\nGary Lasley mentioned the Secretary\u2019s options to appeal<br \/>\nthe decision, but none of mine, options I know I have<br \/>\nthrough AFM Bylaws.<\/p>\n<p>Further, the hearing decision states that a letter from<br \/>\nMr. Castillo was \u201capparently\u201d read in the meeting.<br \/>\nThis is nonsense. The statement should read \u201caccording<br \/>\nto the official minutes\u201d the letter was read. Both of the above<br \/>\nactions seem to willingly attempt to cloud the issue.<br \/>\nUntrustworthy conduct indeed.<\/p>\n<p>Feel free to request a copy of the recording of the hearing<br \/>\nif you should you like to hear it for yourself.<\/p>\n<p>In the end it is about the principle of accountability, honesty<br \/>\nand open information for our members. <\/p>\n<p>Fraternally,<br \/>\nCharles Fernandez<br \/>\nLocal 47 member since 1983<br \/>\nLocal 174-496 (New Orleans) for many years before that<br \/>\nLoyola University<br \/>\nUCLA<br \/>\nRoyal College of Music, London<br \/>\nFormer Boy Scout<br \/>\n(See how silly it gets?)<\/p>\n<p>=============<\/p>\n<p>UNTIL NEXT TIME!,<\/p>\n<p>THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47<br \/>\nwww.responsible47.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RESENDING I. COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES NEW BLOG II. ALLEN STRANGE PASSES III. EVENTS IV. TRIVIA \u2013 WATER MUSIC V. COMMENTS COLLEAGUES, With new servers sometimes come transition problems. We had a slight problem with our new server, but the issues have been resolved. If you received the first version of this mailing we apologize for the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-committee-newsletters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}