Was it Good For You?
On Valentine’s Day of 2013, the soon to be wedded “lovers” at the IAFF and MDA, Harold Schaitberger and Steve Derks, respectively, signed their pre-nuptial agreement whereby the MDA would fork over a hefty fee so that the IAFF would continue to rake in the cash for them.
At least one source has reported that Schaitberger made it clear to Derks that the IAFF had their own charitable foundation and that the “vig” would have to be upped substantially if the IAFF was to continue a mutually pleasurable arrangement.
Derks was apparently more than willing to comply.
The letter detailing the lover’s arrangements is “the terms of our agreement” to “cover expenses.”
Who knew that getting laid was so costly?
Unfortunately for the newlyweds, the exact details of their tawdry agreement has leaked out like the contents of a rotting and bloated carcass and the stench is staggering.
The first year of the contract stipulated a $1,000,000 payment to the IAFF, the second year, $1,200,000 and the third, $1,400,000.
The first and most obvious question is how can terms covering expenses be not only an automatic number but one that is also increasing at the rate of 20% a year?
Don’t you have to first submit expenses to have them covered?
The answer?
It’s not about expenses, it a fee for service, plain and simple.
But, let’s engage in some lover’s foreplay for a minute and assume it really is about expenses.
The sleuths from Local 452, Vancouver, WA, went through the IAFF budget fine print and determined that the actual expenses were in the range of $180,000 in 2015 even though the IAFF received $1,400,000 from MDA.
It gets better, or worse, depending on your view.
Local 452 determined that even if you signed off on the IAFF’s bullshit accounting of their massively inflated numbers, that total was still just $700,000, 50% of what MDA forked over.
What happened to the other $700,000?
That’s a good question which apparently members of the Resolutions Committee (Dominic Marino, Tony Kelley, Matthew Reddy, Ralph Sicuro, Michael Wandzicka, Mike Carter, David Van Son, Mark Sanders, Rocky Hanes, Lou Paulson, John Riddle, Charles Taylor, Jr., Alex Forrest, Barbara Sellers, Doug Cadigan and Gregory Russell) could not bring themselves to ask the Exalted One.
Schaitberger’s IAFF took in so much tainted cash from MDA that they couldn’t even bother to hide it all.
Rips off sick kids and can’t hide it all.
If you can’t figure out whether to laugh or cry right now, try laughing at the fact that Alex Forrest, an IAFF Trustee, who has a special and dedicated requirement to ensure proper financial operations, was one of the bobble-heads on the committee.
But, of course, Ouellette and Mejia are just as guilty as Forrest in their collective and complete failure to guard the cash drawer under Our Dear Leader.
The Upshot?
If it’s about actual expenses, and that’s what is spelled out in the contract letter, than the IAFF is committing massive fraud and MDA now knows it.
Since a huge portion of MDA funds are collected by on-duty firefighters or firefighters using public assets, fire chiefs and other local government officials are now complicit in the fraud, as well.
Schaitberger and his many willing accomplices have created a scam of epic proportions.
Among Our Dear Leader’s happy henchman are all the convention delegates who voted to support Schaitberger as he killed Resolution 33.
That will be a nice story to tell your kids when you get home.
Let’s just hope they don’t suffer from muscular dystrophy.
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