I. MEMBER COMMENT
II. COVERUP? – MEMBER COMMENTARY
III. WHO FINDS THESE PEOPLE?… AND WHY….
IV. NASHVILLE VIDEO GAME RECORDING
V. LAS VEGAS LOCAL PLACED IN TRUSTEESHIP BY THE AFM (PRES GAMBLES AND LOSES)
VI. COMMENTS
VII. EVENTS
…Absolutely guaranteed anonymity – Former Musician’s Union officer
…The one voice of reason in a sea of insanity – Nashville ‘first call’
scoring musician
…Allows us to speak our minds without fear of reprisal – L.A. Symphonic musician
…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician
Name Withheld
===================================
I. MEMBER COMMENT
Hey Committee,
After speaking with an employee at the musicians union
local 47, I learn that John Acosta has asked this
employee to cold call their union member friends
in a phone tree manner. He told this person to chat
for a minute then urge them to vote “yes” on the
sale.
During business hours from the union by the way.
He is their boss telling them to do this.
Tough position to be in as an employee.
This all looks very unethical to me.
Name withheld
===================================
II. COVERUP? – MEMBER COMMENTARY
What is L47 covering up by not being transparent?
Is the Union a separate entity and members are not provided
with all the information on how unions function independently
to membership?
Once officials are elected does that change there status, still
working on behalf of the musicians except they are now
“THE UNION” working for the union first before the musicians?
Are we not being presented with the facts and are lead to
believe the union is something that is not?
Are we rallying around this entity expecting that are dues are
really representing us while the union independently does
what is wants provided counsel is part of the equation?
Would the L47 president like to address this issue so the
remaining 7000 members know where we all stand?
All as union dues paying members have placed are profession
on the expectation of what we are being lead to believe that
the local may not represent what they have lead us to believe?
Come out of the shadows and set the membership straight
or maybe we should all think about the real value of L47?
We have been mislead for so many years only to be
confronted with this seemingly short notice that the
union building is doomed by the incapacity for the
board to do its job. They have no problem spending
money and receiving salaries in the past 20 years but
failed to maintain a cash flow to sustain the union.
They saw the work slow down. What did they do to
create new income in addition to work dues?
They have kept most of the 7000 in the Dark and
barely informed to offer suggestions to sustain the local.
The ones who were given the inside information had
planned almost 20 years ago to sell the union. This
event is no surprise. This have given them the impetus
to do so.
Special interests want their hands on the balance of
the money after the sale. Voting yes allows them to
access it. Then, just say BYE BYE folks!
Who are they kidding?
[EC: There has been much talk from members demanding
that the money from the sale, if it happens, will be
overseen and controlled, not allowing it to be squandered
or spirited away. With the scrutiny the Local is experiencing,
We’d be surprised if someone tried it.]
======================================
III. WHO FINDS THESE PEOPLE?… AND WHY….
FROM A MEMBER
The Local recently hired BRIDGESTREET INC., a consulting company in LA,
to help them with the campaign to sell the property. They paid $5,000
to the firm, owned by Martin Ludlow.
I am forwarding a bit of info about Ludlow in two emails that were sent
me. Bridgestreet Inc has a rather small footprint on the web, so I dug up
some stuff on Ludlow, a former city councilman.
Also a certain violinistperforming at the Greek with “The Symphony in the
Glen” told me the contractor announced that three 47 board members
were there and would stay till the break so they could speak about the
“Time is Now” campaign to members of the orch.
I guess Acosta is mobilizing the troops.
The hiring of Ludlow is pretty questionable once you read the
article below, especially the part where he throws the union
person under the bus to avoid jail time.
—–
THE ARTICLE APPEARS BELOW
Ex-Councilman Gets 5 Years’ Probation
June 06, 2006|Patrick McGreevy | Times Staff Writer
A federal judge sentenced former Los Angeles City Councilman
Martin Ludlow on Monday to five years’ probation and 2,000
hours of community service, and ordered him to return $36,400
diverted from a school employees union to his 2003 election campaign.
The sentence by U.S. District Judge Manuel Real followed Ludlow’s
recent guilty plea to a charge of conspiring to embezzle union funds.
In hopes of avoiding jail, Ludlow agreed to cooperate with authorities
in the federal prosecution of Janett Humphries, the former head of
Service Employees International Union Local 99, who is accused
of working with Ludlow to divert the funds.
The sentence also bars Ludlow from serving in a leadership position
with a union for 13 years.
Ludlow, who resigned from the council last summer to serve as executive
secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor,
has been cooperative in an ongoing investigation of union finances,
said Assistant U.S. Atty. Craig H. Missakian.
“I think it’s a fair sentence given the fact that Mr. Ludlow stepped
up early and did the right thing and took complete responsibility,”
Missakian said.
In addition to the federal sentence, Ludlow previously was fined
$105,000 by the Los Angeles Ethics Commission for violating city
campaign finance laws. He recently also was sentenced to three years’
probation and ordered to pay $45,000 in fines and penalties by a state
court for violating state laws in the scheme.
Outside the courthouse, the former councilman said he was putting
his life back on track.
“I’m looking very much forward to getting this behind me and my
family, and continuing to be a positive person in the community
and a contributing member of society,” Ludlow said.
[EC: This certainly won’t help to dissuade the suspicions many
members have of the whole “sell the building” deal and who stands
to profit.
If members of the board are going around to sell orchestras on the
sale, it’s more important than ever that members send the link
for the committee to every member they know. Please help spread
the word. The members need to know the Pros AND Cons.]
===================================
IV. NASHVILLE’S MUSIC ROW taps into the Force of video game scores
Oct 26, 2015, 2:41pm CDT
Eleanor Kennedy Staff Reporter Nashville Business Journal
Bizspace Spotlight
Sponsor Listing
Property Spotlight: Fifth Third Center
See All Bizspace Properties
You know what they say: There’s more to Nashville than just country.
That’s definitely true when it comes to the scores being recorded at
Ocean Way Nashville Recording Studios and other local spots,
providing the backing for EA Games’ titles like “Dragon Age:
Inquisition,” “Madden 16,” “FIFA 16” and more.
“I left Nashville very reluctantly in 2000 to move to Los Angeles,”
said Steve Schnur, president of music with EA Games and a proponent
of the move to Nashville game scoring. “I was the last guy who
needed any convincing about the musicianship” in Nashville.
In recent years, the video game industry has earned notice about
its high-quality visuals and narratives. But while industry leaders
were bragging about being “bigger than the film industry,”
Schnur said, games still sounded “like the toy industry.”
So EA started using live orchestras on many of its games and,
about two years ago, as other groups headed out of the country
for Eastern European musical ensembles, Schnur turned to Nashville.
“Everything that we have recorded with a live orchestra over the last
two years, with one exception … was recorded here,” Schnur said.
That one exception is a pretty big one: Music for the upcoming
“Star Wars Battlefront” game was recorded in London, in keeping
with the franchise’s storied musical history. But you can still hear
Nashville musicians on the trailer for the game, debuting in
November, Schnur said.
And it’s not just Schnur and EA making use of Nashville’s musician
base. Scores for “The Last Witch Hunter” (the new Vin Diesel movie
released this weekend) and “Call of Duty: Black Ops 3” (another
video game) and many more have been recorded along Nashville’s
famed Music Row. ( You can see more local credits here.)
Schnur, who has since returned to living in Nashville, said he sees
local scoring as a growing boon for Nashville’s economy, as it brings
a portion of the multi-billion dollar video game industry here.
Plus, he added, “I also believe that it’s going to put the musician
middle class back to work.”
===========================================
V. LAS VEGAS LOCAL PLACED IN TRUSTEESHIP BY THE AFM
SEPTEMBER 19 NOMINATIONS ARE NULL AND VOID
New NOMINATIONS FOR OFFICE ON NOVEMBER 7TH.
As of October 19, 2015, Local 369 has been placed under
temporary trusteeship by the International Executive Board
of the American Federation of Musicians (IEB). The primary
objective of the trusteeship is to correct the defective election
process currently underway in the Local.
During a trusteeship, the functions of all the Local’s elected
officers are terminated and pass to the Trustee. AFM
International President Raymond Hair has appointed AFM
Presidential Assistant Ken Shirk to serve as Trustee until new
elections are completed and the newly-elected officers are
sworn into office. The principal officers and executive board
members have been relieved of their posts.
The Trustee’s first official action entailed voiding the current
election process and calling for new nominations for officers
for the 2016-2017 term. This action was necessary to correct
a serious procedural error wherein the Local 369 Election
Committee improperly certified former President Frank Leone’s
eligibility as a candidate for re-election as Local 369 President.
In accordance with Local 369’s bylaws, specifically Article IV.
Sections B and C, and Article VII, Section G, Leone was not
eligible to be a candidate for office for the coming term as a
result of having been found guilty by the AFM International
Executive Board in July, 2015 of violating four AFM and Local
369 bylaws by failing to obtain member ratification of the
current Circus Circus contract prior to signing it.
Under Local 369 Bylaws, a member found guilty of violating Local
or AFM bylaws is not eligible to run for or hold office for two years.
Knowing in advance that the election was defective and subject to
a challenge with a rerun election as the certain remedy, the IEB
determined that a trusteeship with an immediate reboot of the
election process was in the best interests and welfare of the
membership, rather than subjecting it to an entire rerun election
process after the fact.
Trustee Shirk has appointed Keith Nelson to serve as Assistant
Trustee to handle the day to day administrative affairs of Local 369.
Diane Ecker remains as Administrative Assistant and Dawn McCoy
remains as Accountant.
=================================
VI. COMMENTS
Comment sent to the board of Local 47:
Attention Executive Board(s) of The Musicians Club of Los
Angeles and Local 47 AFM,
At the October 5th meeting the membership was informed
by an Election Board member about the ballot process. After
the meeting several members engaged Election Board member
Stephen Green in a conversation regarding the issue of the sale
of the building. His advice was verbatim, “If your not for the
sale of the building, don’t send your ballot back.” This stunned
those present because in the meeting, the Election Board r
epresentative from the podium announced that a phone tree
would be established to “gently” urge members to return their
ballots.
This highlights the suspicion that whether you vote yes or no,
it still authorizes the Musician’s Club officers to sell the building.
The ballots will not even need to be opened. This troubling
matter needs to be clarified by the Local. Are we being intentionally
mislead?
As the current wording stands, the ballot language could be
interpreted to only be authorizing the THRESHOLD AMOUNTS for
the sale and not the actual permission to sell.
Please reply and clarify the issue. Please print it in the Overture as well.
Member Local 47/Club 47
Cc. To all eligible voters. Overture.
—————————————-
I got a call from someone at the local, not only reminding me
to vote but telling me to vote yes. Reminding us to vote is fine,
but if the opposition is not allowed to make the same calls,
they should not be telling you how to vote.
——————————-
Dear Committee:
I suggest that a motion be made by the membership
where as all elected officials (The Executive Board and
the Titled Officers) have their pay cut by 50% if the
sale of this building goes through. Ah heck, even if
it doesn’t. If we need money, they need to take the
cut before we take the real estate cut through
Club 47.
——————————-
Among Other Issues, It Is An Incomplete Ballot:
Club 47 doesn’t even have all the union address’s listed
on this ballot to begin with. If they follow through with
their clear verbal intent sell the other parcels in
addition to this one, they do not have anyone’s vote
on that.
In the absence of our vote on any remaining parcels
beyond the only mentioned one on the ballot, Club
47 does not have the memberships consent. It will
be contested should they sell other lots not
mentioned on the ballot. Club 47 has sold off parcels
in the past. Club 47 is not allowed to sell parcels
we have not even voted on. There is only one parcel
mentioned on this ballot.
“Implied or verbal” is not written language.
Unwritten language certainly is not able to
be voted on by the membership.
******************************************
HAS THIS BALLOT ON THE SALE OF THE BUILDING
GOT ANYONE THINKING ABOUT THE NEXT ELECTION?
It has me thinking! It is time to have members form a
slate and, as an entire slate (including titled officer
replacements) run against this current administration.
After the show we have seen to date, a new administration
should not be difficult to achieve at the next election.
There will be a hell of a clean-up from a different and
new administration taking over this one, a clean up
which I would wish on absolutely no one.
But this administration brought us here. They have
brought us here through ignoring us every time
they get the chance. They seem willing to take us
down even further. This observation is based on how
many times they just turn on members, force or
manipulate members hands to their own will, or
give them a patronizing ear to make the FEEL heard
– but just roll their eyes behind our backs.
Actions speak louder than words.
I would not wish the Local 47 clean-up on anyone new
coming in as a new elected official. Three-year-olds
usually don’t clean up their own messes. The adults
usually have to go in and do that for them. When one
or two people run at an election, they can’t make a difference.
They get sucked into the vortex and never come out the
same. There must be a cool-aid they drink that causes
them to hear rhetoric of standing by the administration
instead of standing by their fellow musicians.
It will take an entire slate running as a team against this
administration at the next election. Adults need to come
in there and start cleaning house. Hasn’t this monkey
business gone on long enough?
Their dark hour of how low they have shown they
will stoop is now.
Never forget this ballot. It sums it up, everything
you have felt over the past months.
——————————-
Dear Committee,
Please tell us more about this RMA lawsuit. Did I miss something?
This inference sounded important because it suddenly sounded
as if there is a bigger picture to this story and another
unspoken possibility why the building needs so urgently
to be sold.
If there is even a hint of this possibility that a lawsuit is part
of the reasoning, then that could mean that the Executive
Board is using their “dual hats” of Club 47 to get by with
something they never could otherwise in order to take care
of Executive Board business.
Something seems wrong with that picture. I can’t quite put
my finger on it. Is that legal for an executive board to say,
“We need more money. Lets put on our Club 47 hats, and
use union time and funds to get money from a sale of the
building. When we have the money, we go back to being
the Executive Board and spend the money as we wish,
because that is our job.”
What is wrong with that picture that popped into my
brain when I read that RMA lawsuit inference??
Please, if someone can, kindly recap for me what I
may have missed on a RMA lawsuit implied in your
most recent blog.
———————————————-
Observation
As I recall BYLAWS are limited to the bylaws on the books when it
comes to L47 union matters.
Anything that falls outside the bylaws the local attorney, at his
legal supervision and assisting the board in those matters, can
change and approve
Just about anything that isn’t contained in the bylaws as long
as he has the legal capacity for them to change or add anything
that does not directly affect the standing bylaws.
The language to this vote on the sale may have very well been
intentional as long as the counsel is tied to this you can expect
anything.
This would be to his favor anyway.
Something else to consider could there be a conflict of interest
between the counsel approving language or for that matter
anything to do with the sale because he is representing the AFM
(RMALA) in a legal case and what he receives in addition to the
legal firm in Washington DC is money due him whether or not
they win he still gets paid.
Where is that money coming from??? And how long will that
case last and who will spring for those dollars.
=================================
VII. EVENTS
DEAN AND RICHARD
DEAN AND RICHARD are now playing every third Friday
at Culver City Elks 7:30pm-10;30pm,
11160 Washington Pl.
Culver City, 90232
310-839-8891
————————————-
LA WINDS JAZZ KATS 584
NO COVER, NO MINIMUM.
Every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at Viva Cantina
7:30-10:00.
900 Riverside Drive, Burbank.
Free parking across the street at Pickwick Bowl.
Come hear your favorite charts played the way they
should be.
We are in the back room called the Trailside Room.
Come on down. Guaranteed to swing.
———————————————–
11/18/15
ASMAC Luncheon with Roger Kellaway
@ Catalina’s Jazz Club
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015 @ 11:30am
RSVP Now !!!
Roger Kellaway’s discography runs to more than two hundred and fifty albums. He’s worked with everyone from Elvis to Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie to Yo-Yo Ma, Joni Mitchell to Mancini and Quincy Jones to Michael Tilson Thomas.
Kellaway is not only a major pianist, he is a composer of protean ability, writing in the music fields of jazz, classical and “pop”, also scoring for films and television. His acclaimed “Cello Quartet”albums are described by some as “crossover”, “chamber jazz” and by others as the beginning of “New Age” music. They were the first in an eclectic array of projects beginning in the 1960’s. Roger’s commissions include a ballet for George Balanchine and the New York City Ballet, orchestral pieces for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the National Symphony, the New American Orchestra and a concerto, “Songs of Ascent,” commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, Zubin Mehta, conductor. He wrote a variety of chamber works for Carnegie Hall performances and served as musical director for Stephane Grappelli’s 80th Birthday Tribute, which included Yo-Yo Ma’s first entry into Jazz. Later, Stephane, Yo-Yo and Roger traveled to Paris together. Kellaway played on and wrote all the arrangements for their album, “Anything Goes”.
He became musical director for Bobby Darin and in 1968 arranged (and conducted) Darin’s album of songs from the film “Dr. Doolittle”. Writing songs and arrangements is a passion that sometimes expands into producing, as was the case for the Carmen McRae album, “I Am Music”. The relationship had started with Roger’s song “I Have The Feeling I’ve Been Here Before”, written especially for her, with a lyric by the legendary team Alan & Marilyn Bergman. Kellaway’s most prized television credit is, “Remembering You”, the closing theme for the ground-breaking, “All in the Family”. Composed in 1970, it is still being heard on TV around the world. In 1988, Kellaway was honored with a Grammy Award for his music on the album “Memos From Paradise” for Eddie Daniels. He has written (and conducted) twenty-nine film scores including Barbara Streisand’s “A Star is Born”, for which he received an Academy Award nomination.
The “Eclectic Maestro” continues recording and performing concerts across the U.S. and Europe, also writing for film, theatrical productions and commissioned works. He resides in Ojai, California with his wife (of 49 years) Jorjana.
Join us on November 18th…. and bring your questions!
Catalina’s Jazz Club
6725 Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Wed, Nov. 18th – 11:30am – 2:00pm
Members/Students – $30.00
Non-Member/Guests – $40.00
Program Only
(Check-In at 12:30) – $10.00
Valet Parking: $4.00
Enter on McCadden behind Catalina’s
SAVE THE DATE
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6TH – ASMAC/LAJS HOLIDAY BRUNCH @ CATALINA’S JAZZ CLUB
——————————————–
11/18/15
GLENDALE NOON CONCERTS
On Wednesday, NOVEMBER 18, 2015 at 12:10-12:40 pm
the Free Admission Glendale Noon Concerts
will feature Glendale pianist Harout Senekeremian
performing an all-Scriabin program
at the Sanctuary of
Glendale City Church,
610 E. California Ave. (at Isabel), Glendale, CA 91206.
For more information, email [email protected]
or call (818) 244-7241.
http://www.haroutsenekeremian.com
================================
You can read all previous offerings at:http://www.responsible47.com
UNTIL NEXT TIME,
THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47