I. FOOL ME ONCE\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
II. BOSTON CONVICTIONS<\/p>\n\n\n\n
III. COMMENT<\/p>\n\n\n\n
…Absolutely guaranteed anonymity – Former Musician’s Union officer<\/p>\n\n\n\n
…The one voice\nof reason in a sea of insanity – Nashville ‘first call’\u2028scoring musician<\/p>\n\n\n\n
…Allows us to\nspeak our minds without fear of reprisal – L.A. Symphonic musician<\/p>\n\n\n\n
…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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I. FOOL ME ONCE<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Message\nfrom a current Local 47 member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Local\n47 officials moved heaven and earth to sell our former historic home and\npurchase a new soulless box that they said would solve so many problems and\nsecure our financial future. That action has done exactly the opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One\nof the past elected officers was right. \nLocal 47 does not have a good track record when it comes to managing projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After\nnearly two years without a quorum, Local 47 finally achieved the minimum of 50\nto hold a formal General Membership Meeting, July 22, 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nLocal 47 officers gave their reports. The financial team of Blackrock and Merrill\nLynch gave the membership their approach to managing the Musicians\u2019 Club\nassets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\nis very clear that \u201cPhase Two\u201d (the promised \u201cMulti-Purpose Room\u201d) will\nprobably not be built under present financial conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fact:\n\u201cThe Time is Now\u201d campaign projected that there would be a 9-11 million dollars\nin endowment left after the sale of Vine Street. After the purchase and\nrenovation of the new location, this turned out not to be true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fact:\nThere is a little over 4 Million dollars being invested and every cent will be\nneeded to pay the triple expenses of the property taxes and whatever else on\nthe Winona property. The Board did not even want to spend the money to properly\nrepair the multiple leaks from the big rains of the current season. Instead,\nopting to have their plumbing company contract to patch the roof areas with a two-year\nwarranty. The cost of a proper repair would have likely taken the Club\ninvestment balance below the 4-Million-dollar mark. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fact:\nLocal 47 moved its headquarters out of the center of Hollywood into a\nnon-descript building surrounded by an industrial park, two New York blocks\nfrom a major airport landing strip. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This\nlast week the Union sent an email to the membership to take a Member Survey. One of the questions reads as follows: At\nour former Hollywood headquarters we had an Auditorium. Would you like to see\nour current Burbank headquarters have a similar multi-purpose facility? Why or\nwhy not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The writing is on the wall. The membership is\nbeing manipulated once again. It appears the game plan is to point to the\nsurvey and say well, the membership response (notorious for low participation)\nwill not justify moving forward with \u201cPhase Two\u201d. The real reason is that the\nreality of adding more square footage will only increase the property taxes and\noverall expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nBoard has endeavored to try and get a big company and\/or a high profile industry\nname to give several million for naming rights to \u201cPhase Two\u201d. Vice-President\nBaptist has opined that \u201cwe need an angel\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many\nCBA orchestras which are non-profit entities and other possible renters have\nbeen displaced from Local 47 rehearsal spaces. How many CBA orchestras have been possibly compromised\nbecause of the reduction of supportive resources? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One\nother issue that came up was the new software program that Local 47 is creating\nwith hopes of generating a revenue stream by making it accessible to other\nlocals. No cost was discussed. Rumor has it that the cost is around $200K. How\nmuch money will this software program generate?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nLocal lost tenants in the move and there is not a lot of extra space to rent.\nThe question is whether this software \u201cEnsemble 2\u201d program will give Local 47 access\nto other locals\u2019 membership and work data? Just asking?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At\nany rate, Pres. John Acosta, VP, Rick Baptist, Sec.- Treas. Gary Lasley, and\nthe Executive Board, are spending more time, energy and money on the politics\nof going after government subsidies. It\nwould be nice if the subsidies benefited more than just a small fraction of the\n6200 dues paying members. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Local 47 Member, In Good Standing<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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II. BOSTON CONVICTIONS<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Two Boston City Hall Aides Convicted\nof Conspiring to Extort Music Festival Production Company<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n BOSTON\n\u2013 The City of Boston\u2019s Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, Timothy Sullivan,\nand Kenneth Brissette, the Director of the City\u2019s Office of Tourism, Sports and\nEntertainment were convicted today by a federal jury in Boston in connection\nwith extorting a music festival production company operating on City Hall\nPlaza. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Brissette\nand Sullivan both were convicted of Hobbs Act conspiracy, and Brissette was\nalso convicted of Hobbs Act extortion. The Court has not yet scheduled\nsentencing dates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis\nafternoon, a federal jury convicted Kenneth Brissette and Timothy Sullivan of\nextorting a private business to hire union labor that they did not want or\nneed,\u201d said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. \u201cPrivate companies that\nwant to do business in Boston have the right to hire anyone they want \u2013 union\nor not \u2013 without fear of being threatened with economic disaster by government\nofficials. That is the law. This was a hard fought victory, and one that\nreaffirms our commitment to take on cases that are in the public interest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe\nFBI thanks the jury for their service and thoughtful deliberations,\u201d said\nJoseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of\nInvestigation, Boston Field Division. \u201cToday\u2019s verdicts show that public\nofficials cannot use their positions to extort those who choose to use\nnon-union labor. The FBI will not stand idly by while hard-working individuals\nare bullied and strong-armed by public servants. Everyone deserves access to a\nlevel playing field, and the excuse of \u201cbusiness as usual\u201d isn\u2019t good enough to\nearnest citizens who rely on their own local governments to do right by\nthem and their families. Let this case be a warning to municipal workers\neverywhere, it is the taxpayers they serve and answer to at the end of the\nday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cToday\u2019s\nconvictions affirm the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General\u2019s\ncommitment to protecting the American workers from extortion and unlawful\ninfluence. The defendants used threats of financial harm to obtain wages from a\ntelevision production company for services that were not needed or required. We\nwill continue working with our law enforcement partners to combat this type of\ncriminal activity,\u201d said Michael C. Mikulka, Special Agent-in-Charge, New York\nRegion, U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Between\nJune and September 2014, while a music festival production company was awaiting\nthe issuance of certain permits and approvals required for its event, and\nseeking an agreement from the City of Boston to use City Hall Plaza for events\nbeyond 2017, Brissette and Sullivan repeatedly advised the company that it\nwould need to hire members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage\nEmployees (IATSE) Local 11 to work the event. Local 11 had attempted to obtain\nwork from the production company since March 2013. The production company told\nBrissette and Sullivan that it had already entered into a contract with a\nnon-union company and hired all of its labor. Nevertheless, on Sept. 2, 2014,\nthree days before the music festival was scheduled to begin, Brissette and\nSullivan insisted that half of the production company\u2019s labor force consist of\nunion members. The production company agreed to hire nine members of Local 11 and\nentered into a contract with the union because they feared the company would be\nfinancially ruined if they did not accede to the these City officials\u2019 demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ncharge of extortion provides a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three\nyears of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of conspiracy to\nextort provides a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of\nsupervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal\ndistrict court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other\nstatutory factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n U.S.\nAttorney Lelling, FBI SAC Joseph R. Bonavolonta, and DOL OIG SAC Mikulka made\nthe announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laura J. Kaplan and Kristina\nE. Barclay of Lelling\u2019s Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n August\n7th<\/sup>, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n