Ocean Park Community Organization must answer to judge
A neighborhood organization’s finances are still being kept a secret despite a formal complaint filed in Superior Court more than seven months ago demanding documents be produced.
Ocean Park Community Organization’s chairman, Rick Laudati, hasn’t fulfilled requests from members for the past three years of financial records and it appears he will continue to ignore court proceedings against the organization.
A suit filed in Superior Court in September by OPCO member Tom Fuller remains unanswered. OPCO missed its deadline to respond in court to Fuller’s complaint, which has complicated its legal landscape. OPCO had 30 days to respond to the Sept. 17 complaint. The lack of response put OPCO in a technical default, which means it couldn’t defend itself in court.
But because of some legal technicalities, Fuller and his attorney, Gary Clouse, were asked by Superior Court Judge Allan J. Goodman to amend the complaint. The court has required that Laudati be served again, which is proving to be difficult.
“We have been for a couple of months now trying to serve Rick Laudati,” Clouse said. “We can’t find the guy.”
Fuller, a former OPCO board member, has hired a private detective in an effort to serve Laudati, who lives in the Ocean Park neighborhood. But so far, Laudati has remained elusive and unserved.
Fuller said he has tried to make contact with Laudati at OPCO meetings, scheduled for the third Thursday of every month, but the meetings have been canceled at the last minute or have not been regularly scheduled.
He also said he’s called and e-mailed Laudati and other board members in an effort to contact someone from the organization, but his requests have been ignored.
“At this point, I don’t know who the officers are anymore,” Fuller said. “It appears that OPCO has basically died.”
“It appears that OPCO has basically died.” — — TOM FULLER OPCO member
Laudati, as well as other board members, have repeatedly declined comment on where OPCO’s money is. Laudati did-n’t return phone calls seeking comment.
The lack of action has raised questions throughout the community.
“It’s just getting weirder and weirder,” Clouse said. “I don’t know what he’s hiding. It’s frustrating and the more obstacles they throw in your path the more persistent we become.”
OPCO was formed as a non-profit corporation in 1978 to serve as a community organization for the Ocean Park neighborhood. Under California law, it’s required to provide its membership with financial records, according to the complaint.
One of OPCO’s functions is to review development projects and then recommend to the Planning Commission and City Council that they be approved or denied. Some OPCO board members who have recently resigned said they fear a lack of protection from liability should the organization’s legality be questioned.
“It’s like the bully. Rick’s method of operation is to either wear people down or bully them. But at some point, someone has to say, ‘No’ and I’m saying, ‘No.’” — — TOM FULLER OPCO member
City Hall spokeswoman Judy Rambeau said OPCO has requested funding from the city in the past, but not for the past three years. If City Hall contributes to neighborhood organizations, the organization is required to provide financial records and a list of its membership.
As far as liability concerns from some former board members, Rambeau said the Santa Monica City Council listens to individuals as well as community organizations when approving or denying development projects.
She said the council is savvy enough to realize that if one person speaks on behalf of a neighborhood organization, it doesn’t mean its entire membership agrees with its position on a development proposal, Rambeau said.
REVOLVING BOARD SEATS At least nine board members have resigned over OPCO’s inaction in the past several months. Board members Audrea Golding Bitler, Ted Winterer and Elan Glasser attempted to work out a resolution with the board to get the finances released last fall.
But they resigned in November out of frustration that no progress had been made. In early 2002, Bob Loftus, Joe Pipersky and Bill Sunblad resigned over the financial questions.
When Fuller got involved in OPCO in early 2001, he asked to review the accounting books and finances, as well as a list of the organization’s current membership.
In his written request to Laudati in June 2001, Fuller said he was concerned about an apparent discrepancy between the number of reported members compared to the small amount of membership fees collected.
Fuller attended the OPCO meeting in December to introduce himself to four new board members who had been recently appointed after others quit over the secrecy issue.
Fuller, who has spent $12,000 of his own money on the issue, plans to proceed with the complaint that formally asks that the 2000 and 2001 financial records be released. He also requested the 2002 documents be given to him on a monthly basis, which has not been done.
“The original hope was that he would have provided the records to see what the hell is going on in OPCO,” he said. “It certainly raises one’s suspicions from his behavior.”
It’s unclear how much money OPCO has collected from its members, how many members there are, and the composition of the dues structure. Some estimates put the organization’s membership between 150 and 500.
Fuller acknowledged that his relationship with Laudati has become adversarial in the past year, but he said he won’t give up until his questions are answered.
“It’s like the bully,” Fuller said. “Rick’s method of operation is to either wear people down or bully them. But at some point, someone has to say, ‘No’ and I’m saying, ‘No.’”
Asked whether he would consider filing criminal charges against OPCO, Fuller said he wouldn’t rule it out if his requests continue to go unanswered.
“These things take on a life of their own. But we have a disagreement and I think a judge will decide who’s right,” Fuller said. “(Laudati’s) actions in the past few months certainly heighten my suspicions that something is wrong.”
OPCO board member Mario Fonda- Bonardi wouldn’t comment on the issue and deferred all questions to Laudati because he is the chairman of the board. But Fonda-Bonardi told the Daily Press last week — just as he did in December — that OPCO is a volunteer-based organization and it takes time to get paperwork together because its board members have time constraints.
“Tom is perfectly in his right to ask for the financial records,” he said. “Rick is working on this stuff.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 23, 2003. Read the original PDF.