The following letter was written to the Boston Teachers Union regarding a potential fundraising event by Paul Carnes and Sidney Sherrel, who were both unanimously voted to be disavowed from all Occupy Boston financial activities. The letter was written by the Financial Accountability Working Group and addressed to publicly listed members of the Boston Teachers Union. It is being reposted here for transparency.
On behalf of Occupy Boston, we wanted to reach out thanking for your
support for our movement. However, it has come to our attention that
you all may be the target of a potential fundraising scam. Recently,
the Finance Accountability Working Group of Occupy Boston has passed a
resolution disavowing Paul Carnes and Sidney Sherrel from any
financial activities on behalf of Occupy Boston. We’ve included the
text to the resolution that we passed below, as well as a link to the
Press Release that was posted on our official website. The reason for
their disavowal was embezzlement of Occupy Boston funds and a lack of
transparency and accountability in all actions. They have specifically
been stripped of any privilege to raise funds on behalf of Occupy
Boston.
We were informed they may be trying to throw a fundrasier in
conjunction with the Boston Teachers Union, so we felt it incumbent on
ourselves to let you all know the actions we’ve taken on the matter.
Given their corruption, we strongly recommend against giving them any
funds for any reason whatsoever.
We regret that our first point of contact with you had to come with
such a negative tone. We cherish your support and look forward to
working with you in the future.
5 Responses to “Letter to Boston Teachers Union”
I completely respect the transparency, and respect that Occupy Boston is quickly coming to terms with ways to deal with a breach of trust. Still, I wish that the website could have a “top story” related to positive goals of the Occupy movement, and a smaller feed related to taking care of internal business like this. Kudos for quick action and transparency.
I second Sage’s post. The Home page should have CALLS TO ACTION at the forefront (like the Student Marches for example or Online Campaigns for signing petitions for example where virtual supporters can join in).
There could be a link next to Home called “News” where the latest internal news or visits by various supporters including religious groups, artists etc…that are very relevant but don’t detract attention from the main purpose of the movement, which is to rally support for the various grievances of the 99%
In agree, and have an additional request.
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I think we can all agree that socialism and communism have been vilified for far too long. This site, and other occupation sites, should have an information section that lists the very basics of each system.
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The Cold War was decades ago.
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Time to reevaluate our long held, and mostly incorrect, beliefs.
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Now is the time for communism.
what is the process for making sure the new people arent doing the same thing?
That’s a good point. People in responsible positions should be vetted.
Occupy Boston might also want to review the ‘all-inclusive’, ‘all-issues-welcome’ philosophy of the Dewey Square camp. Some of the problems in Oakland were caused by people who were not dedicated to the movement at its core, but whose motives centered around confrontation. (At least that’s the impression I get from reading all the different accounts, interviews with protesters, etc.)
In Atlanta, some moron was hanging around their camp carrying an AK-47. (Which, in fact, is legal there, but it doesn’t really speak “Peaceful Protest”, does it?) What did their group do about it? Let it be known that guns weren’t welcome and that’s not the kind of message they wanted to send? No. They seem to have welcomed him, and they even sent him with one of their spokespeople to a Mayor’s press conference! And that’s what broke the back of that demonstration.
My point is that I would hate to see it happen here. I, and most of my friends, support Occupy Boston because the purpose of it has been to create constructive debate and raise awareness. How do we fix the broken ‘coporatocracy’ we’re living in? But the whole thing could be easily derailed by one idiot anarchist with violence on his mind.
Maybe the masthead on the web page should include a statement like, “Occupy Boston is a peaceful movement dedicated to raising awareness of, and finding solutions to, the vast inequalities that exist in this country. Occupy Boston does not condone violence of any kind and hereby condemns any act of violence done in our name by any outside group.”