Official Statement of TarValon.Net Regarding Riley Robinson

[Vivianna L'antreau]

Our legal counsel Hammar doesn't have initial thread posting privileges here in Site Announcements, so please see his information below.

 

[Hammar O'Justice]

For those of you who do not know who I am, I serve as counsel to TarValon.net, Inc. This post represents the official statement of TarValon.net regarding the recent controversy surrounding its ex-treasurer, B. Riley Robinson. This controversy has stirred many emotions, created some confusion, and necessitated discussion and introspection. This post is divided into sections as follows:

I. Issues Surrounding Riley Robinson
II. Issues Surrounding Fall Ball and Other Imminent or Pending Activities
III. Issues Surrounding Future Governance

The purpose of this post is to communicate to the members of the TarValon.net community and the public in general some information as to how things stand and where the Board expects the future to lead.

I. Issues Surrounding Riley Robinson

Mr. Robinson has resigned from his position as a member of the Board of Directors and from his role as Treasurer of TarValon.net, Inc. He has done so following the discovery, by other officers, that funds were and are missing from the TarValon.net operating account. He no longer has access to any TarValon.net forum accounts or any other TarValon.net-provided communication channels.

It is important to understand that the operating account from which Mr. Robinson misappropriated funds does not now, and did not then, and will not ever, contain funds collected for charitable organizations. Funds relevant to specific charitable initiatives were never entered into the operating account and instead went directly to the intended beneficiaries. TarValon.net leadership is, on current facts, convinced that activities conducted for charitable purposes remain completely unaffected by Mr. Robinson’s actions.

This should be repeated: TarValon.net is not aware that any charitable entity has been adversely affected by these events.

On the other hand, TarValon.net has itself been impacted by Mr. Robinson’s actions. For this reason the following should be understood by all community members and persons in the general public: TarValon.net, Inc. is reviewing and considering any and all options available under the law. In an abundance of caution, leadership has, on advice of counsel, agreed to no longer discuss the dispute between TarValon.net, Inc. and Mr. Robinson publicly or privately, on or off the record, until further notice.

Let me repeat that: Board members and Officers will not discuss Mr. Robinson’s actions, character, consequences, or options with any member of the community membership or the public. Please don’t ask them. This is not because the Leadership wishes to keep community members in the dark. This is because discussion of sensitive matters can derail investigations, short-circuit beneficial conflict resolutions, or otherwise cause harm that nobody here wants. Please don’t harass the Leadership for this information; the situation is stressful enough already.

Therefore, until the Board is ready to declare otherwise, all future Leadership discussion about Riley Robinson will be two words: No Comment.

II. Issues Surrounding Fall Ball and Other Imminent or Pending Activities

It is a fact that Mr. Robinson’s actions adversely affected TarValon.net’s financial strength and directly imperiled the ability to meet obligations for Fall Ball and other imminent expenditures.

However, thanks to extraordinary support from one or more individuals who will not be named here, Fall Ball no longer faces financial risk. Anyone who planned to attend should do so, assuming damage from Hurricane Sandy is sufficiently repaired. Any vendor, supplier, or other anticipated recipient of funds will be paid as though the recent controversy never happened.

Expenditures expected after Fall Ball remain subject to review. As matters develop, more communication will come out as necessary on this issue.

III. Issues Surrounding Future Governance

In light of recent events, the Board of Directors has resolved to re-examine and, where appropriate, adjust its practices to prevent this from reoccurring. The Board has tasked Jennifer Halbman, TarValon.net’s Secretary, with a top-to-bottom review of company financial procedures and safeguards. Ms. Halbmann will submit a report to the Board in two weeks’ time identifying any and all weaknesses, oversights, failures, and other negative issues arising from current practices. She will then have 30 days to present alternative best practices for the Board to adopt.

In parallel, TarValon.net, Inc. will conduct a search for a new Treasurer as well as a Board member to take Mr. Robinson’s place. Those two positions can be, but do not have to be, filled by the same individual. In the meantime, Mr. Robinson’s Treasurer duties will be performed by CEO Kristen Bowersox.



Leadership will obviously monitor this thread. So will I, and where appropriate I will comment. Some topics, as indicated, will not be up for discussion by Leadership but the public and membership are as always invited to opine.

 

[Onis O'Leia]

Thank you for handling this so well, and thank you for getting the information out to us so quickly.

 

[Vivianna L'antreau]

First, thank you Hammar for your counsel in this matter and for coming to speak to everyone directly.

Also a huge thank you to everyone who has shared their feelings, thoughts, ideas, and support through this time. I am immensely gratified to see us pulling together as a Community in an incredibly difficult time and I know we'll be the stronger for it. The Tower truly remains Unbroken. :grouphug

Going forward as Hammar said, while we can't speak further about the specifics of the situation at hand, we can talk about where we go from here. At the board meeting this evening, Eleyan Sedai was elected the Chairman of the Board to finish out the one year term and I will be in regular contact with she and the rest of the Board of Directors over the next months as we get our finances back in line. In addition, since I am currently the only signatory on the checking account, Caerwyn Gaidin will serve as a representative of the Board and will review all financial transactions for the next 90 days so that there is a second set of eyes at all times. Serenla Sedai will also be working to examine our financial practices as Hammar spoke about above and will get us started on the path to ensuring that this *cannot* ever happen again.

I have been stunned at the outpouring of offers of assistance I've gotten from so many people. I am humbled at how quickly people want to buckle down and get us back in shape both financially and emotionally which is also hugely important at this stage. I appreciate all of your notes, emails and PMs so very much. For now, we're going to hold off on holding any kind of fundraiser until we have all of our ducks in a row and know exactly what we need to have in order to operate going into 2013 and what we need for the next couple months. I'm sure that you all understand that we want to be very careful in how we proceed over the next few weeks and months. Thanks to Caerwyn we're good to go for Fall Ball which means we have the time to make sure our house is in order before we proceed further.

If you have questions or ideas (and we've been taking note of things people put in the other thread as well!) please post them here or as always email them to me at amyrlin@tarvalon.net

The Tower Still Stands thanks to all of you.

 

[Kassina Tendar]

Thank you for taking the time to let us know what was going on. It's definitely appreciated.

 

[Shaerlyn Storna]

Thank you, Hammar, for this statement, and thank you, leadership, for your tireless efforts over the last few days. Your jobs cannot be easy at the best of times, and I wish you some deep breaths and downtime in the coming weeks as this issue continues to get sorted.

The transparency thus far is immensely appreciated, and I understand why leadership now needs to stop communicating about it. Because you've been so open so far, I trust you to let us know what you can when you can.

Tai'shar Tar Valon!

 

[Lyara Tieran]

Very much appreciated! Thank you for getting on top of this so quickly!

And I, for one, am especially glad that none of the charitable foundations were injured by this.

 

[Emerald ní Róhan]

Yes, thank you for letting us know that charitable efforts were not affected by this situation. Thank you for letting us know the state of things. I'm very glad and proud to be part of this community.

 

[Ilissa al'Nari]

Thank you for letting us know how things stand, and especially for the good news that no charitable efforts were directly harmed as a result of this. I also appreciate the transparency with which admin team has and will treat this with.

 

[Winterdawn Lightheart]

Thank you!

 

[Natalya Laragan]

This is well appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Catt Heckathorne]

Thank you for this, Hammar & Mother. It is wonderful to be part of this community and to know that we still stand.

 

[Taika Vinh]

Thank you.

 

[Kitan Tataru]

Thank you, Hammar, Mother, and all of our leadership.

 

[Nymala Ingasy]

Much appreciated, Hammar, thank you. Mother, my offer still stands.

 

[Vendri al'Varrak]

Tai'shar Tar Valon! Thanks to all!

 

[Laralelle Susandrea]

Thank you! You all are awesome for handling this so fantastically. Mother, get some sleep.

 

[Ty al'Djinn]

Thank you for the update. Let us know if there is anything we can do.

 

[Alaria Celentari]

Thank you all for your hard work on this and good to see you have a plan in place to move forward

 

[Malein Basolaine]

Thank you so much for the update!