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<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4><FONT size=3>Dan, et al,<BR><BR>If you
asked me if I know how much uncommitted funds I have in my checking<BR>account,
I could tell you (if it was your business) quite quickly by checking my<BR>check
register. It may not be accurate to the penny because of
possible<BR>recording errors but it certainly would be within 1%. Most of
the time I could<BR>tell you quite closely without looking at the
register. Good management<BR>practice, financial responsibility, let alone
fiduciary duties compel any public<BR>supported organization to be accurately
knowledgeable about their current<BR>financial status.<BR><BR>Certainly almost
any well managed business would know the amount of uncommitted<BR>funds in their
various accounts closer than a 25% margin of error!<BR><BR>If those being
interviewed by the LMT did not have access to a current check<BR>register (you
would think the president and executive director would have and<BR>would examine
it frequently as part of their duties) , they should have said so<BR>and then
say we estimate that we have about $X in the account. Actually,
they<BR>should have said, "let me check and call you right back" instead of
providing an<BR>answer that makes them look ill-informed and
incompetent.<BR><BR>I do not know all the details, but one of the alleged
problems of the chamber<BR>finances is that the real status of many of the
accounts is highly questionable.<BR>It is also alleged that the check register
is not accurate -- an inexcusable<BR>problem which, if so, reflects very poorly
on the executive director and the<BR>chamber board.<BR><BR>Since I am supporting
the chamber through the dues and other contributions paid<BR>by entities that
collect taxes from me, I resent being told to butt out and<BR>being told that
the fiscal and other problems are none of my business. If you<BR>went to
the county commissioners with questions about their operations and were<BR>told
that it is none of your business, how would you react?<BR><BR>Wayne<BR><BR>Art
Deco (Wayne Fox)<BR></FONT><A href="mailto:deco@moscow.com"><FONT
size=3>deco@moscow.com</FONT></A><BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>