The King's Men

A number of people have asked for an evaluation of Hoofer leaders and instructors, but there are official Hoofer mechanisms for that (defective as they may be).

Nevertheless, it can be stated that most Hoofer leaders are good people—at least until they become Hoofer leaders. Then, like dogs accepted into the pack, they are compelled to become what they are associated with. The real problem is an environment that facilitates abuse as well as actual violations of law.

For instance, the person who oversees all of Hoofers, Hoofer Coordinator Jim Rogers, made false statements under oath in Dane County Circuit Court in 2006 in order to get a Hoofer member convicted of trespassing in the lower office. Perjury (violation of Wis. Stat 946.31) is a felony—a far more serious crime than any conceivable form of trespassing. Then Jim lied in court again to obtain a wrongful restraining order against someone. That order was eventually nullified by the Wis. Court of Appeals who ruled that it had been granted erroneously. Jim also likes to make false police reports about people he doesn't like.

More recently, Brian Borkovec, the sailing Head of Instruction (HOI), may have committed a felony when he argued and then voted in favor of his own salary and pay raise at the annual budget meeting in February of this year. From Wisconsin Statutes:

946.13 Private interest in public contract prohibited.
(1) Any public officer or public employee who does any of the
following is guilty of a Class I felony:
(a) In the officer’s or employee’s private capacity, negotiates
or bids for or enters into a contract in which the officer or
employee has a private pecuniary interest, direct or indirect, if at
the same time the officer or employee is authorized or required by
law to participate in the officer’s or employee’s capacity as such
officer or employee in the making of that contract or to perform
in regard to that contract some official function requiring the exercise
of discretion on the officer’s or employee’s part; or
(b) In the officer’s or employee’s capacity as such officer or
employee, participates in the making of a contract in which the
officer or employee has a private pecuniary interest, direct or indirect,
or performs in regard to that contract some function requiring
the exercise of discretion on the officer’s or employee’s part.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to any of the following:
(a) Contracts in which any single public officer or employee
is privately interested that do not involve receipts and disbursements
by the state or its political subdivision aggregating more
than $15,000 in any year.

According to our information, Brian makes much more than $15,000 annually. NOTE: according to the 2007 redbook, Brian's enticement was $26,256 per annum.

Former Commodore Mike Larsen also committed crimes. Among other things, he libeled a club member in an attempt to get the individual kicked out of Hoofers. Based on Larsen's distorted lies, the BOC voted to suspend the individual's membership—the only time that has happened to any club member in at least the past five years. Larsen also misused his position as Commodore to coerce people into paying money they didn't owe. Defamation and coercion are both crimes under Wis. statutes. At best, Larsen's actions amounted to criminal negligence.

The Hoofer Coordinator. The Head of Instruction. The Commodore. These are the three most important positions in Hoofer sailing Club. What does their behaviour say about the current leadership of Hoofers? It says be careful.

Incredibly, neither Rogers, Borko, nor Larsen were convicted of any crimes (yet) because they are State employees, friends of the police and the court. The King's men, as it were. Welcome to the 18th Century in Wisconsin.

More on crooked instructor hiring

In a recent post (Apr 27), we reported on corruption in the sailing instructor hiring process, including the hiring of several individuals who had failed the written exam. They were hired anyway because they're fun guys (though lacking in basic sailing knowledge—how'd ya like to find yourself paying to take "lessons" from one of them..?). And of course, they were interviewed by—you guessed it—their buddies, who happen to comprise the "hiring committee".

Some folks asked that actual names be provided, but unfortunately those are subject to the FERPA law that protects some student and job applications. However, if you still doubt that this actually happened—and that it happens every year at Hoofers—check out this recent news story about corruption in the New Haven, CT fire department. That sort of thing is typical nationwide, in many lines of work. Why would Hoofer Sailing be an exception?

It is noteworthy that there isn't one single African-American on the instruction staff at Hoofers, nor was there one single black instructor among the approx. 84 sailing instructors last year.

But wait, you cry. No blacks applied to teach sailing!

Maybe that's because a lot of people don't feel comfortable around the very white and overtly discriminatory Hoofer-controlled lakefront.

The Hydra

At right is the new Hoofer internal political flowchart. It is similar to the ratings flowchart, only this one shows how club politics operate (in a general sense).

There have been some good comments on some of the previous posts, so an evaluation of current (and former) sailing club staff is in prep. [5/29 Update: evaluating some 120 Hoofer Sailing leaders and instructors isn't really within the scope of this blog, but we'll try to post evaluations of individuals who warrant it.]

Thought Control

Aach, ideas are such insidious things. If not properly controlled, they can lead to real problems for those in authority. Hence the restrictions on the club's new official forum, initiated recently by Commodore Matt Duerst. Not only are posts restricted to happy, friendly ones (at the risk of being banned) but certain club members are banned from the outset, according to our sources. A happy, friendly club ought to be free of criticisms—especially ones that potential club members might see.

Nor did certain club hacks like the complaints that were surfacing regularly on the long-time keelboat list (keelboat@cs.wisc.edu), a holdover from better days. Some 150 club members, including most keelboat instructors and club leaders, were subscribed to that list. So, in late April, a couple of club officers started sending obnoxious, slanderous messages to the list, causing it to be shut down.

Of course, that was their intent. A new, privately controlled, non-UW-sponsored list was all ready to take its place. On the same day that the old keelboat list was terminated by UW-Madison staff, a new list appeared (groups.google.com/group/keelboat), controlled by none other than Jonathan Gapen, an ex-commodore. NOTE: the Sailing Club commodore is an employee of the State of Wisconsin.

[5/17 UPDATE: Yeah, maybe there were really only 100 subscribers after pseudonyms, and no, it's not hard to set up a google group. But there were also eleventh-hour messages to the old list from club leaders encouraging people to try the club's impotent new "forum". Two plus two still adds up to three in Hoofers.]

Toasted buns

Well, April is almost over with and we're starting to see some familiar faces around the lakefront--mostly returning instructors. New applicants are also being given token interviews, and some are appealing their not being hired. One or two have even filed lawsuits against Hoofers. It looks to be another great season on tap! (at least for people whose party buddies happened to be on the hiring committee.)

New Forum (for approved thoughts only)

At last, the club's official website has reinstated the online "forum" which was abruptly shut down in 2006 by former ex-commodore Mike Larsen because too many people were posting criticisms of the club. Of course, the club still doesn't like criticism, so all postings in the new "forum" will have to be made under your own name. Although the First Amendment guarantees anonymous publishing, that apparently doesn't apply in The H o o f e r Zone.

In addition, the new official club "forum" is only for current club members and other people who are approved by club leaders. Read that last sentence again. Yup, they plan to limit which non-club-members can post comments. Is that even legal? Doesn't sound like it, but even if it is, what does that say about club leaders..? What kind of leaders don't allow/cannot tolerate criticism, or only allow it under a person's real name? (Answer: Ones who want to be able to retaliate against individuals who criticize them.)

But never fear! This unofficial forum will be available for more open discussion.