Elaine and James latest comments.
Posting the text here in case the links change somehow.
First Elaine, then James comments.
Why was MUFON Colo SD Leslie Varnicle fired? Mystery solved!
Submitted by Elaine Douglass on Sun, 02/27/2011 - 16:00
The information in this communication has been obtained by the Committee to
Reform MUFON (CRM) through interviews with some of the parties involved. The
information is true to the best of CRM's ability to determine.
Why was Colorado State Director Leslie Varnicle fired?
To the Members of Colorado MUFON-
The mystery of why Colorado State Director Leslie Varnicle was
fired has been solved. For starters, it had to do with James Carrion and
whether he was to blame for MUFON losing its contract with Robert Bigelow.
James resigned in January 2010, and after that the view circulated in MUFON
was that James' "mismanagement of the funds" had been the cause for Bigelow
terminating the contract after $334,000 of the promised $672,000 had been
paid.
It was in November 2009 that Bigelow descended on MUFON
demanding an accounting of the money. This threw the MUFON Board of
Directors into a panic and they gave up the books of MUFON, and the books of
the Bigelow project, to Bigelow to audit. It didn't mollify him. He
terminated the arrangement which had been in effect the previous ten
months-the arrangement in which Bigelow paid wages and expenses to MUFON's
Star Team investigators and administrators, and in which Bigelow had
unrestricted real time access to MUFON CMS (computer Case Management
System).
The MUFON Board didn't tell James, the International Director,
what it was doing to try to appease Bigelow, and when James found out, he
resigned. After that, people got the idea James was incompetent or even that
he might have stolen money from the project.
Leslie Varnicle asked too many questions
In an interview, Leslie Varnicle says at first she went along
with the idea it had all been James's fault, but then, "I started looking
and checking and researching," she says, "and talking with James. I have
learned over the years to follow my senses, and initially my senses were
telling me No, it hadn't been James's fault, but I went along with what I
was being fed [by the Board]; I was drinking the Kool-Aide."
She says she started asking Cliff and other Board members questions, such
as: "If James did all these things wrong, why didn't the Board know it?
Didn't you watch him?" she wanted to know. And "Didn't you have an
accountant looking at the books?"
"The idea James had stolen money was implied, but when it come down to the
facts hitting the floor, I found that No, he hadn't. As a matter of fact,
the $30,000 salary James was supposed to get he contributed back to MUFON.
Eventually," Leslie says, "I came to the realization James had been thrown
under the bus."
She didn't believe much of what the Board of Directors said
Leslie Varnicle had become disillusioned with MUFON. And the
scape-goating of James Carrion wasn't the only reason. Leslie didn't like
that "the states are not part of MUFON" and have no say in how MUFON is run.
She pushed to get Colorado MUFON incorporated into International but the
Board of Directors wanted no part of that. Leslie says the Board was eager
to get money from the states but hesitated because that might entitle the
states to a greater say in MUFON's affairs.
She tried to get MUFON to purchase an insurance policy to cover
investigators, but the Board would have none of that. Leslie, who is in the
insurance business, says the policy would have been "inexpensive" to
purchase.
Leslie tried to become a member of the Board of Directors but the Board
wanted no part of her. They claimed she didn't make enough money to pay for
all the travel involved. Her response was to develop Webinar for MUFON use
and she advocated electronic internet teleconferencing to permit the Board
to meet without travel, and that idea went nowhere.
Leslie definitely did not like the marginalizing of the states
after the Star Team came in and the states got only the "lights in the sky"
cases, and she didn't like the secrecy surrounding the Star Team
investigations. She didn't like the "background checks" of MUFON
investigators that began to be required and she didn't like the Star Team
administrators barking out orders and their rudeness. She felt she was a
competent investigator, after 41 years in MUFON, and she believed her
regular team in Colorado was qualified to carry out any investigation in
MUFON.
She didn't like the secrecy and the background checks.
As for the background checks, she felt MUFON did not have
procedures in place to safeguard the information demanded-"date of birth,
social security number, maiden name, military records," she says-from
identity theft. Nor did she care for the "non-disclosure" forms in Star
Team. "That really got my goat," she says. "What do you mean I can never
talk about anything?" she says referring to the terms of the non-disclosure.
"You can never talk, never write about anything you see or do. What? I
thought we were here to keep this stuff open to the public and be a thorn in
the side of those who want to keep UFOs secret. But apparently MUFON wants
to keep secrets too!" she says.
Leslie was suspicious of the confidentiality procedures surrounding the Star
Team and she claims the information in CMS is manipulated. Leslie is adamant
that cases sent to Colorado showed up in her email but were not in CMS when
she went to look for them. She says global searches for the case number did
not produce the case. On inquiry to CMS administrators she was told the
cases had been "deleted for bad language," and she did not believe that.
Leslie also says Colorado ASD Cheryl Gantz reported that Clifford Clift had
told her (Cheryl) not to have any speakers on abductions-"That's not what we
do; that's not what MUFON is about," Cliff is reported to have said-and
Leslie didn't like that. In a hostile interview, Gantz at first told the
Committee: "Cliff never said that" and later Gantz said, "I'm not going to
get into that."
The Feb. 12 Colorado state meeting
Leslie says she is not surprised Clifford Clift did not tell the
truth when he spoke to the Colorado members on Feb. 12th. Leslie was fired,
Cliff told the members, because she "said on a radio program that she
recorded a state directors' meeting and gave the recording to James and he
is going to use it in a defamation suit against MUFON." [An accurate quote,
confirmed with Cliff.]
Actually, Leslie said no such thing on any radio program. James,
however, did. On the Pippin program Feb. 7, James stated he had received the
tape and that Cliff thought he got it from Leslie. Of course, James saying
that on the radio Feb. 7 could not have been the reason Leslie was fired
Jan. 25th.
Two emails to Clifford Cliff from the Committee to Reform MUFON
asking him for the name of the radio program on which Leslie made the remark
he attributed to her went unanswered.
She didn't see any "ethics" in MUFON
So the Committee to Reform MUFON went to Leslie and asked: Did
you give a tape of the 2010 symposium state directors' meeting to James
Carrion? "Yes," she said. When James asked you for the tape, why didn't you
go to Clifford Clift and ask him what to do? "I didn't do that because I
don't see any ethics in MUFON." What do you mean by that? "In my job I have
to abide by codes of ethics for the licenses I have, everything from federal
to state licenses. Every two years I am required to take ethics classes. And
one of the things I don't see in MUFON is ethics. I see no ethics
whatsoever."
Is there was something unethical about the way James was treated? "Yes
there is. I gathered enough information to realize James was not the bad guy
I was led to believe he was. There was no ethical behavior from the Board of
MUFON and there still is none."
In other words, in the period before she was fired Leslie became
disillusioned by what she observed in MUFON, and she expressed it by giving
James a tape to defend himself against libel.
She didn't like the contract with Bigelow and what it brought to
MUFON. She didn't like the marginalization of the states and she didn't like
the secrecy regime. She felt she and her investigators were exposed to
liability and that MUFON didn't care, and she worried that information
provided in "background checks" would not be safeguarded from identity
theft. She didn't like the "self-perpetuating" Board of Directors and how
"the states weren't part of MUFON." She didn't understand why Clifford
Clift said abductions should not be discussed in MUFON, and she couldn't see
why secrecy was enforced on the Star Team when she thought the Mission of
MUFON was to provide all information to the public, and she saw evidence CMS
was manipulated.
She tried to keep faith and hold on to her job
She tried to change MUFON from within, but nothing she tried
worked. She tried to get on the Board of Directors, she tried to get the
Board to adopt electronic communications, and she tried to merge the
Colorado chapter into MUFON. She suggested to the Board they needed better
accounting procedures and she tried to get the Board to insure the field
investigators. In other ways she tried to accommodate to and put up with the
practices within the organization. For example, she tried to believe James
Carrion was incompetent and had caused the loss of the contract with
Bigelow. She tried to keep faith and hold on to her job in the organization
she had worked in for 41 years.
As for the MUFON Board of Directors, we suppose that over time
the Board became aware of Leslie Varnicle's misgivings. They knew she did
not buy into the new, James Carrion-Robert Bigelow era ways of doing things
in MUFON. And she is capable, experienced, and observant. Accordingly, they
fired her and in the process even stripped away Leslie Varnicle's field
investigator status after 41 years in MUFON.
Telling the truth would open the door to too many questions
Seeing this, it becomes clear why the MUFON Board cannot tell
the truth as to why Leslie was fired. It becomes clear why the International
Director cannot tell the truth about the firing even when speaking before
the members of Colorado MUFON. It becomes clear why he cannot speak for
MUFON, but instead resorts to taking words from the mouth of James Carrion,
putting them in the mouth of Leslie Varnicle, and using those words, not
MUFON's words, to "explain" the firing of Leslie Varnicle.
If the story was told truthfully, it would open a window on a host of
embarrassing, controversial and possibly libelous issues. It would lead to a
discussion of the nature of Leslie Varnicle's critique of MUFON and whether
indeed there are any "ethics" in MUFON- and that is not a discussion
Clifford Clift and the MUFON Board intend to have with the members of
Colorado MUFON. So in the end, Leslie herself was scapegoated.
And that, in the view of the Committee to Reform MUFON, is a
good part of the story as to why Leslie Varnicle was fired in January as the
State Director of Colorado.
Submitted by The Committee to Reform MUFON:
Marilyn Carlson
Elaine Douglass
Steve Bass
Marlee Spendlove
Bill McNeff
Dean DeHarpporte
www.ufocasebook.com/2011/sexliesmufon.html Read more:
theedgeofreality.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=otherufo&action=display&thread=355&page=2#ixzz1FP30ADaA "Sex, Lies and Audiotape" The Recent MUFON Meltdown Madness
Published: 2:51 PM 2/17/2011
by James Carrion
Unless you have been hibernating on vacation in the Bahamas, you have probably heard of the current trouble brewing within MUFON between those MUFON members voicing their discontent with changes in MUFON and MUFON's autocratic and bureaucratic leadership.
News spread like wildfire across the Internet recently after four MUFON State Directors were fired within a short timeframe.
There, I used the "F" word [fired], although MUFON International Director Clifford Clift prefers to use the more euphemistic "let go."
"I am letting you go" is what you tell a caller who doesn't get the hint that a phone conversation has dragged on ad nauseam, not when terminating a volunteer.
Poor choice of words aside, what is interesting is not that this purge occurred, but who was excommunicated from the organization.
I was shocked that two long standing State Directors, both very active in UFO circles were on the chopping block.
SEX
Almost immediately the Internet rumor mill began to churn and someone spat out on a message board that it seemed highly suspicious that all four state directors were women.
Was the MUFON Board living up to its "Good Old Boys" image and reasserting its testosterone laden will on gender demographics or was it just pure coincidence?
Clifford Clift correctly pointed out that this batch of firings was just women, but the previous batch was men, so truth be told, the MUFON Board is probably not made up of misogynists.
LIES
Clifford Clift in an e-mail to all State Directors gave his reasoning for both sets of personnel actions:
From the first batch, Ken Cherry was fired as the State Director for Texas because he made derogatory comments about MUFON, members, witnesses, and Ufologists and refused to publicly apologize.
James Clarkson resigned as State Director for the state of Washington due to his dislike of MUFON's bureaucracy.
For some reason Clifford omitted why he fired Richard Lang, State Director for North Carolina and the one time wonder boy of the MUFON Star Team, but more about Richard in a future blog article.
From the second batch, Christine Dickey, by her request, was removed as State Director for Arizona.
Marilyn Carlson, State Director for Oklahoma resigned. Elaine Douglass, State Director for Utah was removed from her position because she wasn't truthful about her Assistant State Director.
Leslie Varnicle was removed as State Director of Colorado due to her management style not being beneficial to MUFON's success.
So seven (7) State Directors, one seventh of the MUFON State Directorship gone within a year, four of them fired and three resigned.
What in the world is going on in MUFON?
Well, as much as the MUFON Board wants to paint this as just business as usual, there is far more than meets the eye here.
Let's start with the charge of untruthfulness as a reason for firing a State Director. Well I don't really know what Elaine Douglass allegedly lied about, but I can tell you that Clifford Clift was less than truthful about why Leslie Varnicle was fired from her position.
The reason Clifford originally gave for Leslie being fired was that her management style was not beneficial to MUFON. Really?
Of all the MUFON State Chapters that I interacted with during my almost four year tenure as MUFON International Director, the Colorado and Minnesota MUFON chapters were always at the TOP of my ratings list for chapter cohesiveness, satisfied members, and efficient management.
All you have to do is examine where the MUFON Annual Symposium was held over the last five years to know that Colorado MUFON under Leslie's leadership was continuously entrusted with running this important event and she did an incredible job.
So what was the real reason behind Leslie being fired?
AUDIOTAPE
A MUFON member made an audio recording of the annual meeting between the MUFON State Directors and the MUFON Board.
That audio recording made its way to me and after listening to the recording, I confronted the MUFON Board about some libelous remarks that were made at the meeting.
I also heard through the rumor mill that it was Leslie who recorded that audio, but since then, I have learned it was someone else.
Evidently, the MUFON Board had heard the same rumors because Clifford Clift in an interview with Angelia Joiner finally 'fessed up to the real reasons Leslie was fired.
Stated reason number one was because Leslie was in the "Ken Cherry" camp and reason number two; because she recorded the State Director's meeting when she was told NOT to.
So, why didn't the MUFON Board just come out and state these reasons to begin with instead of labeling Leslie as an inept leader whose management style was not beneficial?
Well, if you read my previous blog article "MUFON Over Board-Save Our Ship," and how I was equally scapegoated by this same board, it boils down to the new leadership worrying more about MUFON's image and avoiding litigation than doing what is ethically and morally responsible.
GRASSROOTS vs AUTOCRATIC RULE
Let me take you back to 1969 when two disgruntled Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) members who were fed up with the bureaucracy and autocratic rule of APRO leaders, decided to form their own UFO Investigative organization.
This fledgling organization, first known as the Midwest UFO Network subsequently became the Mutual UFO Network.
One of those founding members, John Schuessler is still on the MUFON Board of Directors. In John's own words he described the events of that year:
"At the same time the APRO management reacted to the government's words by reinforcing their centralized management approach. They wanted to direct the work of each investigator in the field from the office in Tucson, Arizona; thereby eliminating the need for mid-level management in the field.
They were not aware that industry was turning to the decentralized management style.
Pleas to the APRO management only made them more determined that the Midwest contingent was a threat rather than a help to APRO."
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
I can imagine how furious Jim and Coral Lorenzen must have been when the "Andrus and Schuessler Camp" left the organization and began to compete for members.
I can imagine the self righteous "good riddances" uttered on the APRO Board and the rallying of the APRO troops that followed as the leadership scrambled to consolidate APRO's image and message.
In the end it was all for naught because APRO had already lost its moral and ethical compass and the organization failed.
When an organization's Board of Directors doesn't listen to its constituents and dabbles only in self talk backed up by quashing voices of dissent through unethical actions; that organization is on a path of self destruction, just like APRO found itself so many years ago.
Hopefully the MUFON Board of Directors and especially founding member John Schuessler can remember MUFON's humble beginnings and reverse the dangerous course of autocratic and unethical rule MUFON has embarked on.
Otherwise, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.