Hoofers run by crooks

ABSTRACT: Hoofer leaders are misrepresenting the deposit everyone (except them) must pay to join the club. Their intent is to make the price of membership seem lower than it really is. During the season, they deliberately avoid creating enough work hour projects, and as a result, only about 10% of paying club members can ever get their "deposit" back. The defrauded money goes directly into the pockets of those same Hoofer leaders. It is a criminal scheme that should lead to felony charges against several HSC employees.

Last year in 2009 and, we believe, again this year, HSC leaders, i.e. the Board of Captains (BOC) plus some members of the paid instruction corps, have deliberately misrepresented the $65 "deposit" each person must pay to join the club.

Club leaders advertise membership at a certain price, and they state explicitly that the price includes a $65 "deposit" that will be refunded after you do eight work hours. This makes the cost of membership appear to be significantly lower--assuming you can actually get that deposit back. This is where the fraud comes in. Hoofer leaders actively plan how to avoid having to refund that money.

There are approx. 800 general club members in a given year (varies from year to year), which means a total of around 6400 work hours. Yet, the work hour postings are a lot of menial junk, typically 1-2 hour projects, maybe 10-20 of them listed at any given time. The projects include things like "Assist with Friday social 3 hrs" or "Enter data into computer 1-2 hrs". You can see by simple inspection that there are nowhere near enough work hours for 800 people to do eight hours of work each in the course of a season. And, no surprise, only a handful of general club members ever get their "deposit" back. In 2009, it was about 10%.

That this is a deliberate plan by club leaders is evidenced by meeting minutes which show them actively discussing the "deposits" as a major source of annual income. Eight hundred people provide a total of $52,000 in "deposits"—no small sum. At a February 7, 2009 budget meeting, the BOC discussed this fact, and some BOC members pointed out that "advertising more work hours" would negatively impact income (i.e. their spending money). That money goes directly to pay instructors and to provide free memberships for all those BOC members and their buddies, as well as to provide "refreshments" for the weekly instructor parties (which are not open to general club members) and for other "staff"-only events. In other words, those defrauded deposits GO DIRECTLY INTO THEIR POCKETS. Looked at differently, every deposit that has to be refunded is money straight out of their pockets. That's called motive to commit a crime.

The fact that it is a deliberate plan, i.e. that the "deposits" are never really intended to be refunded, makes it criminal. The scheme appears to be a violation of Wis. Stat. § 100.18 (misrepresentation) and Wis. Stat. § 943.20 (theft). Moreover, when you have a bunch of people sitting in a room figuring out how to defraud some other people (in this case, as many general club members as possible), then it is felony conspiracy. The distinction between Hoofer "leaders" and general club members is important because the 100 or so "leaders" DON'T HAVE TO PAY A DEPOSIT OR A MEMBERSHIP FEE, yet they're the ones deciding how to spend all that money paid by general club members. For theft of property worth over $10,000 and conspiracy to commit that theft, the penalty is up to 10 years in prison. As noted above, the security deposits of 800 club members amount to some $52,000. If you prefer, the fraud can be viewed as some 700 counts of misdemeanor theft.

There is no doubt that club leaders know what they're doing is wrong. This is evidenced by complaints against people who take unofficial minutes at BOC meetings. If you're up to no good, you sure don't want anyone taking notes! Hoofers' ongoing efforts to classify their meetings as private, i.e. not subject to Wis. Open Meeting law, are presumably related. When the "official" minutes for the Feb-7-09 budget meeting finally appeared months later on the club's website, they contained gaps where malfeasance such as the "deposit" fraud had been discussed—further evidence that the participants knew it was wrong.

It is worth noting that Hoofer Coordinator Jim Rogers, a full-time UW employee, was present at the 7-Feb-2009 budget meeting where the massive deposit fraud was discussed, and he did not object. Coincidentally, 90% (the amount not refunded) of $52,000 is $46,000, which just happens to be Rogers' current annual salary.

To summarize, Hoofer Sailing Club's practice is to:
(1) Advertize that a substantial portion of the membership price is a "deposit" that will be refunded;
(2) Discuss in secret meetings how to avoid actually having to refund that money.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when at first we join the HSC.....