Date: Mon, 4 Apr 94 03:50:26 EDT
From: greg@bronze.lcs.mit.edu (Greg Rose)
Message-Id: <9404040750.AA24839@bronze.lcs.mit.edu>
To: antir@kwantlen.bc.ca, calontir@unl.edu, carolingia@bloom-beacon.mit.edu,
        e5@uriacc.uri.edu, hablutzelml@attmail.com, nordmark@ludd.luth.se,
        northshield@stolaf.edu, sca-west@ecst.csuchico.edu
Subject: Re:  How to Obtain Corporate Documents

Greetings from Hossein!

Morgan Ceily Cain writes:

>Within the last few weeks, you have received information that a group 
>called "Committee to Save Our Society" has filed a lawsuit against the 
>SCA, Inc., to obtain certain financial and similar documents.
>
>In that same week, a lady named Janet in the West Kingdom called up one 
>of the state agencies in California, and with a bit of communication 
>obtained over 400 pages of corporate and financial documents, some dated 
>as recently as early March of 1994.  She obtained these documents within 
>a week of her initial call, and at a cost of under US$100.00.  This was 
>after I had posted on several 'nets the fact that much of the 
>information which CSOS claimed to seek is available publicly, if anyone 
>cared to call the state agencies; that's why Janet tried.

With all due respect, Morgan's claim is untrue.  What Janet has obtained
through the California State Registry of Charitable Trusts is by no means
what CSOS and other plaintiffs have sought through the mandamus action.

What Janet has obtained is the corporation's articles of incorporation and
amendments thereto, the corporation's by-laws and amendments thereto 
(although apparently not all by-laws amendments have been filed as required
by state statute), the IRS Form 900s, the California Domestic Statement of
Nonprofits (a state form which lists officers and the designated agent
for receipt of process), and the CT-2s (the California equivalent of the
IRS Form 990s).

The IRS Form 990s are only one small part of what the mandamus action seeks.
More importantly the mandamus action seeks inspection of the books of account
and budgets -- which only SCA, Inc., not the California State Registry of
Charitable Trusts, hold -- and it seeks enforcement of the rights of the
advisory membership under By-Laws Article X and California statutes to
inspect the books of account and budgets.

All Janet's material is, is part of what SCA, Inc. showed the government.
That is valuable to know.  However, without inspection of the books of
account and budgets we have no idea whether what SCA, Inc. reported to the
government is accurate or not.  Furthermore, the level of detail provided
by the government reports filed by SCA, Inc. is not nearly great enough
to determine whether any wrong-doing or lack of fiduciary care for the
corporation is present.  Furthermore, without enforcement of the membership's
_permanent_ right to this information, we are at the mercy of the Board to
be told only what the Board wants us to know.  We have seen where that has
gotten us.

Morgan Ceily Cain is misrepresenting the mandamus action.  We applaud any
action which provides more financial information to the membership, but
it does not serve the cause of reform to misrepresent the only legal action
currently underway to guarantee the right of members to inspect the real
books.

In Service to the Society, and for the Committee to Save Our Society,

Hossein Ali Qomi
Baron, Lion of Ansteorra
Chairman, CSOS
(Gregory Rose)