NWLL baseball scandal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Uh, right. that's some parsing. Moral of the story -- don't get your legal advice from Mike Klisch on DC Urban Moms. cannot be trusted.

Methinks you have never been on a non-profit board.

Not the PP, but I have served on many non-profit boards, including a youth sports organization. Every single one of them had a rule that voting board members could not receive any compensation for anything. The sports organization had a policy that if board members wanted to referee -- several did -- they had to do it on a volunteer basis.

It's just completely unfair to those who volunteer their time for some of their peers to be paid. If you want to be paid, resign from the board. It's not complicated.

[Anonymous]

I read the report and the person you are speaking about who gets paid to do field maintenance is not a voting board member.

He participates in the Board as ex-officio providing input based on his job. He is their paid contractor first and then volunteers as non-voting second. It is not an elected position or a voting position.

[Anonymous]

Here's the problem. The LLI template constitution says no board member can be paid, voting or non-voting. The board never discussed the payments to the groundskeeper, or any payments to board members. Board never got competing bids. Board still hasn't distributed "invoices." If you read the August letter, it's says the groundskeeper told people behind the scenes that Ricky cheated but annihilated Sweeney at board meetings. Why? Because he knew Ricky was a cheater but also buttered his bread buttered. So even though he was a non-voting board member, he was on the board and motivated to defend Ricky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's the problem. The LLI template constitution says no board member can be paid, voting or non-voting.

Was NWLL's constitution always different than the LLI template on this point? Did the Board specifically choose to carve out its ability to pay "non voting" board members, and is that the only difference between the model Constitution and ours?

Regardless of whether it's been carved out for our league, it is unseemly at best, and especially so in the context of what appears to be the Board's casual approach to keeping everyone informed on its activity (in close to real-time, anyhow).

[Anonymous]

Ricky sent out an email today saying, "I recognize, as recommended in the Special Committee report, that we need to have better processes in place as a board. As the leader, I take responsibility for that."

But apparently "taking responsibility" just means saying those words. He clearly doesn't see stepping down as the way to "take responsibility."

Overall, my paraphrase of the email is "we're hard-working volunteers so no one should criticize our competence or questionable decisions, and we should go forward with more of the same."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ricky sent out an email today saying, "I recognize, as recommended in the Special Committee report, that we need to have better processes in place as a board. As the leader, I take responsibility for that."

But apparently "taking responsibility" just means saying those words. He clearly doesn't see stepping down as the way to "take responsibility."

Overall, my paraphrase of the email is "we're hard-working volunteers so no one should criticize our competence or questionable decisions, and we should go forward with more of the same."

Except if you're taking money, you're not a volunteer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ricky sent out an email today saying, "I recognize, as recommended in the Special Committee report, that we need to have better processes in place as a board. As the leader, I take responsibility for that."

But apparently "taking responsibility" just means saying those words. He clearly doesn't see stepping down as the way to "take responsibility."

Overall, my paraphrase of the email is "we're hard-working volunteers so no one should criticize our competence or questionable decisions, and we should go forward with more of the same."

Good grief. The email is really something. 8 paragraphs. Zero contrition. Ricky is the victim of meddling outsiders, but he likes being President, so he's going to shovel out praise to his supporters.

Here we go, "tldr" as the kids say:

1. Intro para. Hi, I wasn't ducking you, I waited for the Special Committee report before I answered the "one-sided" accusations.

2. Thank you to the Special Committee. We all love baseball. I love being President.

3. Brief distraction: Cap City and Cap Hill caused all of this fuss, and btw, they "have been recently sanctioned for violations."

4. Election misdirection. Other DC LLs are interfering in our elections. At this point, let me insinuate that they have race issues and we don't because that kind of vile, vague, and unfounded allegation will distract from the substance of what I've been actually been doing, or the fact that our election had to be delayed.

5. Now for substance? Nothing to see here. Only a handful of complaints. Loudest voices are a few individuals, including outsiders. Need "better processes", and I take responsibility for that. Special Committee found nothing, but still recommended a long list of significant improvements necessary for oversight, communication, and internal procedures. I work hard and am proud of the kids.

6. Time to shore up my support. Lengthy thank you to the board members--naming them--who aren't accusing me of wrongdoing. "They care about our community and our kids, as I do." They really care about it.

7. Once again, nothing to see here. Special Committee was assisted pro-bono by a leading (read: EXPENSIVE) law firm as one heck of a favor, may or may not have been inspired to look out for the particular happiness of one of its partners' children (who was on one of the teams at issue), doesn't help to rehash issues. Happy to talk one-on-one.

8. Effusive thank you to the families in the league, YOU mean a lot to me. Vote on December 10. Have your pets spayed or neutered.

RD
P,NWLL

[Anonymous]

That was quite the email!

Mistakes were made. I take “responsibility” as president, but few NWLL parents are actually unhappy. It’s really those sneaky other leagues who both cheat and stir up trouble for NWLL.

Good grief.

[Anonymous]

I couldn’t believe he was dragging other leagues into this. And then when I got to the part where he accused cap hill of racism I just needed to stop reading.

[Anonymous]

POST the email.

CHLL parent with popcorn waiting

[Anonymous]

Dear NWLL Community,

I hope this email finds everyone well. I waited for the Special Committee to complete their report before speaking out, even though this has meant that many accusations have been one-sided or uncontested for too long. Now that the report has been issued, I wanted to share some thoughts with you directly.

First, I would like to thank the Special Committee for taking so much of their time to conduct interviews and collect information about the allegations made against our league’s Board Members, including myself, and for their report. Everyone on the board works very hard to ensure that all of the NWLL community has a positive and enjoyable experience in the league, and that our kids find joy in the game we all love. Unfortunately, throughout this year, the board has been met with challenges from within that have made it almost impossible to get league business done, but we have found a way to help the kids in our league thrive. It has been my honor to mentor and coach so many of your kids in our league over many years.

Second, it seems that some of the voices complaining the loudest are from outside of our community, specifically from other rival little leagues like Cap City and Cap Hill. It’s also worth noting that none of us is perfect -- both of these LLs have been recently sanctioned for violations in the summer tournament.

But, we respect the right of other DC LLs to decide what works best for them and have not injected ourselves into their governance or elections. We wish that they would give us that same respect, and not interfere in our upcoming board elections. While I don’t think that it’s appropriate to get into a back and forth with individual board members from other leagues, I will note that our league welcomed a Black player and his family back to NWLL from another little league where his family felt they faced disparate treatment, as reflected in the report. The player thrived after he came and worked with coaches, like Coach Pete and myself, who mentored and supported him. This is something that we should be proud of. NWLL has also supported other leagues in the city, helping them both financially and logistically when they first started out. That is the true character of the NWLL community and I’ve been proud to be a part of it.

The board has been told for months that there have been “hundreds” of NWLL community members outraged about many different issues. And yet, we have received no more than a handful of complaints, despite asking for them on numerous occasions. Consistently, the loudest voices seem to be a few individuals, including voices outside of our community. I recognize, as recommended in the Special Committee report, that we need to have better processes in place as a board. As the leader, I take responsibility for that. We have had a very good working relationship as a board for years, but we also have much that we can improve on. The Special Committee found there has been no fraud, financial impropriety, or wrongdoing, but made constructive recommendations. We made mistakes and we will put the necessary policies and procedures in place to improve on our oversight, communication and internal procedures. Know that I along with the other board members and volunteers work hard every day for your kids, and again I am so proud of the kids that we have mentored through NWLL.

Third, I want to thank the individuals on the board that have put so much of themselves into the success of this league, especially Scott, Molly and Neha, who have taken the brunt of the unwarranted abuse. I also want to give my sincere apologies to the other board members such as Paul, Katherine, John, and Emily, and non-voting members like Redmond and Coach Pete, who have been wrongly accused in this process. They have done nothing to deserve the abuse they have taken for the past year, and in fact, it is quite the opposite. These individuals care about NWLL. Really care about it. They care about our community and our kids, as do I, and have dedicated years to building our league.

I do not think it helps the community to rehash more issues here, especially given the work of the Special Committee, which was assisted by one of the leading law firms in the country, but I am happy to talk with any of you one-on-one if you want to discuss these matters.

Lastly, I want to thank all of the families, coaches and volunteers in our league who have been making efforts these past few months to help us heal and move forward. Your words of support to me and others on the board have meant a lot. Please join us at the league’s Annual Membership Meeting this Sunday, December 10th @ 8pm at Stoddert Recreation Center. We hope to see you there. And remember to request your absentee ballot if you can’t make it. We want our community to express their voice through their vote, no matter who you choose to support. If you have questions please feel free to reach out to me. I am committed to moving NWLL forward, and focusing on an amazing baseball experience for the kids and our community.

I could be reached directly at [e-mail] and the Board can be reached at [e-mail].

Thank you,

Ricky Davenport

President, NWLL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree 100%. And yes, it matters. Mike Klisch hand-picked the Fresh Slate group and is sending messages on their behalf. He is asking people to vote for them. The question is, are they aligned with his conduct? Are they willing to stand up to him? Will they put him in a position of authority representing the league? Hard to say. Would like to hear from them. So far, only Mike, who is not trustworthy.

I am considering some of the Fresh Slate candidates. These seem like valid questions. Can someone please ask them to be addressed?

Mike Klisch sweats summer ball so hard and just wants to coach the summer team. Guarantee he has a deal with the “Fresh Slate” to make him Summer Coach if they’re elected. That’s all this is about. That’s ALL this has ever been about. What a tool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree 100%. And yes, it matters. Mike Klisch hand-picked the Fresh Slate group and is sending messages on their behalf. He is asking people to vote for them. The question is, are they aligned with his conduct? Are they willing to stand up to him? Will they put him in a position of authority representing the league? Hard to say. Would like to hear from them. So far, only Mike, who is not trustworthy.

I am considering some of the Fresh Slate candidates. These seem like valid questions. Can someone please ask them to be addressed?

Mike Klisch sweats summer ball so hard and just wants to coach the summer team. Guarantee he has a deal with the “Fresh Slate” to make him Summer Coach if they’re elected. That’s all this is about. That’s ALL this has ever been about. What a tool.

How the heck did Klisch manage to get Ricky to falsify waivers and Rossi to cut checks to all Ricky’s cronies?

If he pulled THAT off, he’s EXACTLY the MF’r we need to take down CCLL and CHLL!

How about we be serious here…

[Anonymous]

Corruption 101 playbook:

Elect a crook President. Crook gifts you things. Crook puts your kids on his cheating teams. Crook submits fake waivers. Pay the crook and his friends lots of money. Crook gets caught. Cabal circles wagons because they are in on it. Attack whistleblowers. Find a 12u parent working at top law firm to fake an investigation. Create nominating committee with crook and friends on it. Create special committee with crook loyalists. Issue report painting crook and cabal as incompetent (but nothing intentional). Create 2024 board without whistleblowers but load it with old and new crook loyalists. Stop anyone from running against the crooked slate.

Write propaganda piece for crook where he declares himself incompetent (but a victor), play the BS race card with no details and claim you're the victim of abuse.

Go into 2024 ready to do it again...

[Anonymous]

Folks, no innocent person would remain on the Board. If Ricky was clean, he would apologize for the NWLL chaos and resign.

Only guilty people fight like this, because once they lose the protections of the league, they know that far worse will come out and they are sunk.

It becomes more obvious with every email the guy writes. Blaming other LLs? That’s a new low.