Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Setting the record straight

A message from a reader caught my attention this morning. He wrote:

"Wow! Gus you are being flamed on Beth's FB website for sabotaging the Fund Raiser last week by Sheryl Ginger in the discussion section "true or untrue". What gives? Are these people so caught up in that website that they can't think logically anymore??? How can they possibly attack the one person who's out there trying to keep Beth's disappearance in the news??? I don't think the moderators of Beth's FB page are helping in the least! Please don't let their actions discourage you in trying to find the truth about what happen to Beth."

So, maybe it's time to set the record straight.

Buried in a long rant by Sheryl on Tuesday was this: "The fund raiser was taken to task by another member and after he sent in his five dollars he wanted a accounting for ever penny spent and where it was spent at.......he purposely tried to sabotage the whole benefit."

So let's take this apart, just in case she is talking about me.

First, I didn't take any fundraiser to task. So what does she mean by that?
I did make a small initial contribution in person at CHASE Bank. It was a cash deposit. I did not identify myself. It was a test, and the bank almost failed, because the teller had a very hard time finding the account. Gee, I didn't even complain when the teller gave me the deposit receipt (which should have been mailed to the accountholder and not given to me).

I did not ask for an accounting.
I did not ask where the money was "spent at"
I did not try to sabotage the fundraiser. (On the other hand, if asking them to obey Woodstock's laws about raffles is sabotage, then I'm guilty.)

What I had done, right after the fundraiser was announced, was post a question on Facebook about the need for a raffle permit. I already knew that Woodstock had a raffle ordinance. You can't just run off willy-nilly and hold a raffle and a 50/50. I also knew that the fundraiser wasn't going to qualify for a raffle permit, since it was not a non-profit organization. But I figured they could find that out for themselves with one phone call to City Hall.

The next week it was posted that the committee was well aware of raffles, permits, etc. And yet they continued to promote the raffles.

On the Wednesday before the fundraiser I inquired of City Hall what department of the City would enforce raffle violations. It was an inquiry. It was a question. Of course, the City's employees would have been reading the promotions of the fundraiser.

And so the City, on its own, communicated with the police department, and an officer contacted someone on the fundraiser committee. The City has assured me that the police officer did not divulge my name. I realize it wouldn't have taken a rocket scientist to put 2 & 2 together; no problem with that.

I even heard from a lawyer-friend of the Bentley crowd who is all bent out of shape over this. He accused me of calling the police, which I did not. He apparently doesn't see much wrong with the friends putting together an illegal raffle. I mean, after all, it's for a good purpose. So what if it's illegal? Why didn't he tell them the risks of running an illegal raffle in a bar?

So a cop contacted the fundraiser group, and a cop showed up Friday night to be sure, I guess, that there were no illegal raffles in a Woodstock bar.

If four lawyers had been present Friday night while illegal raffles were taking place, could they have ended up with some expensive headaches in front of the ARDC?

Would the owner of Gus's Roadhouse had a really, really big headache, if he had gotten summoned before the Woodstock Liquor Commission to defend his liquor license? I suspect he might have been clobbered with $1,000-1,500 in fines and costs, plus legal fees, plus a loss of business if his liquor license had been suspended for 7-30 days.

5 comments:

Karen30036 said...

I removed myself from the Facebook group, Help find Beth Bentley for a few reasons, one of them is the "flaming" that does go on there.
Sadly, it's only a couple of people (administrators) that are ruining what should be an informative exchange of ideas.
Much hypocracy with the two people that are actually doing the "flaming".
If you read the posts, you will clearly see these two offering their opinions, (very strongly I might add) and then flaming anyone that doesn't agree, or asks the "wrong" questions. If something is said or asked that differs from their OPINION, you are told ... the family reads this, don't hamper the investigation, this page is for finding Beth (duh). YET, these two continue to post their opinions and condescendingly shut down everyone else, unless it's kissing their behinds and saying all the "right" things. Keep in mind, the family reads their posts too. Also, in this country, people are innocent until proven guilty. It's up to a judge or jury to decide guilt of innocence. When a jury deliberates, they discuss the facts of the case and their unique perspective of those facts. If a couple of jurors disagree with the majority, they aren't told to shut up, we don't want to hear it.
Also, I've yet to see one single posting ANYWHERE discussing the "big pink elephant in the middle of the room"
The deceptions, the partying, the lifestyle.
If Beth Bentley left willingly, she will have to live with the ramifications.
If Beth met with foul play, I hope whoever is responsible is brought to justice, locked up for good and the key thrown away.
Either way, her children never deserved this and she needs to be found. NOW.

yagottabekidding said...

Sounds like 'Down by the river' hit the nail on the head.On the other hand sounds like you managed to get a little sand in the vaseline.

Karen30036 said...

Wow, I stand corrected. There is a SINGLE post that talks about the "big pink elephant in the room".


DBTR:
"Now on to Beth Bently. First off, I do hope she’s OK, regardless of what’s going on. No one deserves to be treated inhumanely, or God forbid, forfeit their life for some creep. However….

1) Regurgitating what lady friends of mine who are on Facebook all say – when one digs into all of Beth’s supporters’ pages, it appears to them that all these ladies are inappropriately-dressed bar flies seemingly more concerned with the personal attention generated by their stated concern for Beth. The predominant photos of this group are all at nightspots with them in their somewhat repulsive fleshy glory. That’s what I’m told – this is what women are saying.

2) The seeming unconcern or lack of progress on her case by the PD or reportage by various news outlets could possibly be communicating that they aren’t entirely sure what the reason is for her disappearance. It would seem that they might know or suspect things we don’t.

3) Gus, if it’s stated that there’s a “trust” account, and all one has to do is ask for the documentation from Beth’s posse, who are all-concerned for her well-being in between rounds at the local pub, along with all their breathless Facebook accounts about her fate, and as especially considering you appear the only one who is keeping her story alive – and you still can’t get that information that might help save her – well, that tells me it’s all BS, frankly. If her “friends” were more concerned with helping you get the word out rather than focus on their own twisted celebrity and the romance of a disappearance, perhaps you’d have the info by now.

4) You are correct in that the “trust” document is important. If this is a legitimate ploy, and her “friends” are concerned for her, and concerned that they raise the funds to help find her, they should be passing those suckers out on The Square and at the supermarkets on weekends! And it’s likely that some good soul would print them for free. We should be drowning in such an attempt, yet all there appears to be is an endless, empty desert and the sounds of crickets chirping.

5) You forgot to mention any such “trust” is only as good as the Trustee(s). Who might they be? Do they have failing businesses and personal finances, or expensive tastes and habits? Oh, and was it true that Beth’s friend and companion on this weekend was all about hanging with her boyfriend, an ex-con?

Really, I hope she’s OK. Just doesn’t seem to be much of a concerted, legitimate effort to do anything productive in finding her and solving the mystery. If I’m wrong ladies, get your asses in gear and represent, for God’s sake".

FatParalegal said...

Let me be clear, I'm no fan of yours. I've mentioned before that you've said things in this blog about me that were not only hurtful and painful, but also not entirely accurate.

But I give you props for looking into this fundraiser. You did the right thing.

Gus said...

Whitmore2, thanks for your comment.

I have absolutely no idea who you are. I stand ready at any time to correct anything that I say, or have said, about anyone or anything that is not correct, and I invite you to contact me directly so that we can talk things out, if you would like to do that.