Menlo Park Kingdom Hall 3 (page 3)

rebel8

Why can't you get to court records? FOIL.

Sorry I missed your question. I can't can't get to all of the court records because I don't live in the area, although I travel there frequently. Some of the court documents are posted online on Justia, but not all. The local reporter has been helpful by getting PDF copies of the court documents and sending them to me. If you read the article "Fear and Loathing in Menlo Park" on Ex-JW.com, you will see at the end of the article I have posted copies of all the court documents that were available at that time.

Police reports are a different situation. Reporters can often see the police reports, but most are not readily available to the general public. Some other legal documents are also restricted unless you have official status or are a reporter for a local newspaper.

There are a lot of documents that I've seen in connection with this case, but not allowed to publish or make copies. Some of my contacts will tell me what a document says, but will not or can not provide me with a copy. So I must be careful to not overreach and make statements that can not be supported by clear evidence.

There is much more to this story. I have feelers out all over the country to find out the facts about other KH situations where the Kingdom Hall was snatched, taken over, or sold out from under the existing congregation. There is plenty of evidence that these things are going on, but it would be better to have names, dates and places to support the articles I write. For someone like me, who has no official status or credentials - as well as branded as an apostate, getting documented facts can be very difficult.

JV

Mad Sweeney

This needs to be bumped.

What has gone on since Bonham, TX, and has accelerated since the turn of the century, is a systematic modus operandi takeover of Kingdom Halls across the USA by the Watchtower Society. Circuit Overseers have convinced elders to amend their local congregation bylaws or articles of incorporation to include a paragraph that states:

“ Upon the winding up and dissolution of this Corporation, after paying or adequately providing for debts and obligations of the Corporation, the remaining assets shall be distributed to Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.” And then it goes on to explain that if there if there is no more Watchtower Society of New York at the time, then the assets go to, “any organization designated by the ecclesiastical Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

I searched dozens of states' Secretary of State or Corporation Commission websites and found dozens of recorded amendments to congregation bylaws done over the past decade. EVERY set of amended bylaws/articles of incorporation has THE EXACT SAME WORDING in the amendment. The local elders file the paperwork, but it is obvious they aren't coming up with the idea or the wording on their own.

What happens when a body of elders refuses to amend their bylaws? Sometimes nothing? Maybe. I found a few congregations that hadn't changed theirs and it might be because their CO hadn't asked them to yet or it may be that they just didn't do it when asked and the CO let it stand. Or, it could have been that those particular congregations don't even own their Kingdom Hall so there would be no need for that article in their legal documentation. Now that I think about it, the latter is most likely. MANY congregations now share Kingdom Halls but usually the property officially belongs to one of them and the others sort of just pay rent.

So again, what happens when a body of elders refuses to amend their bylaws? What happened in Menlo Park is that the entire body of elders was removed, a neighboring congregation was merged with theirs with their elders taking over the corporation (which is probably illegal and is the thrust of the removed elders' court case against the CO et al.), and the bylaws/articles subsequently changed anyway by these more cooperative yes-men.

I have had some good discussions recently with JuanViejo2 and another person close to the case, and my personal speculation is that as soon as this case wraps up in court, whatever the outcome, the removed elders, or at least the one who is the younger go-getter fighting this case, will be disfellowshipped for "brazen conduct" because they had the courage to challenge officers of "god's channel." These poor guys are trying to remain JWs while suing a CO, a Bethel rep from the Service Department, and the body of elders who took over their congregation and knowing the Borg like I do, the ONLY reason they haven't been DFd already is because they could and almost certainly would bring up the DF/shunning issue to use against the Borg reps in court.

PLEASE read the articles on www.ex-JW.com because this is a very important case. Also, if you haven't yet, please listen to last night's Cult Free Radio show at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/cult-free-radio

Thanks.

Juan Viejo2

I am in the process of loading two large documents that have been submitted to the federal court. Unfortunately, my computer is really on its last legs and a new one that was suppose to arrive by Friday didn't make it. (I believe it was delayed due to the horrific tornadoes that rolled through the midwest USA early last week).

Check Ex-JW.com later Sunday night or early Monday for the new article. If it doesn't show, that means my computer expired. I'll try to keep everyone informed by updating JWN through my Droid.

If I can get these documents up this weekend, I guarantee that many of you who've been following this case will be quite suprised at how complete they are. They really fill in the details of the Menlo Park story better than I could in a lifetime.

Sweeney, you have a PM - or will have as soon as I can get it up.

JV

av8orntexas

This reminds of a local hall down here in the Houston area.

About 10-12 years ago a cong, Cypresswood was pretty much all white. Since it has grown dramactically.

A friend who had attended when I had first moved into the area had moved on to a foreign language hall. His parenst still attended.

I asked if he had been back to visit,this may have been two years ago, and I remember him saying ,"Yup. and it suuuure is 'dark' in there too." ( he is black ) Being that alot of black brothers and sisters had moved in. Sure enough,when I visited,it was very dark,lol.

Of all nights, the night I visited they annouced the split. Louetta Lakes and Cypresswood. Louetta Lakes being newer, and pretty much all white. Cypresswood,the territory that has become increasingly minority over the years. The halls reflect the current territories. I thought about it then,but just a quick passing thought.

This thread made that pop into my mind.

Mad Sweeney

Racism is alive and well at the higher levels of the organization. I wonder if Samuel Herd left like Ray Franz did and wrote a book how many black members the Borg would lose. That would be awesome, actually. Is there anyone left at CO level or above with a conscience? I wonder.

wiser

This is Gods directed organization? Spare me please, these people need the truth.

Juan Viejo2

The article I've promised to publish should go up around 8PM PDT tonight. I've got most of the text and layout completed, but there are still some minor glitches with the uploaded documents. And it's the documents that are the important part of the story.

As with all of my articles, the lead to this one will appear on the home page and will remain on that page for at least a couple of weeks. After that it will be accessible via the sidebar menu and/or the search bar.

The title of the article is "Takeover: What really happened at Menlo Park?"

Feel free to comment after you've read the attachments. Combined, they are over 125 pages. They are written by someone close to the case and almost all of the pertinent documentation is included.

The website is, of course, http://ex-jw.com .

JV

Juan Viejo2

It's been a real struggle, but the latest news on the Menlo Park Kingdom Hall case is now on line. You can read it here:

http://ex-jw.com/takeover-at-menlo-park

I am supposed to get a new desktop computer tomorrow - my old one is almost completely dead. So I will add some additional highlights to to the attached documents to point toward especially interesting items, but I just can't get anything more out of my old computer.

Depending on your browser, some will be able to open the court documents up in another screen. Some will have to download them and open them up off-line. Both are clean and should pass any virus check. In spite of having a lot of pages, each file is about 2.5Mb, so they should not choke when you download them. Both files are in standard PDF format.

MadSweeney has also been nice enough to allow me to embed his May 28 podcast where he and I discuss the Menlo Park case in detail. Please pay special attention to his prologue, a very well researched discussion of how the Watchtower Society manages properties. He also explains how the Watchtower tries to walk a fine line between being ecclesiatical or congregational, trying to protect itself from anything negative happening within local Kingdom Halls, while actually maintaining an iron-fisted control over everything.

Enjoy. I look forward to your comment both here and on the article page.

JV

stuckinamovement

I just went through the court filing in Melo park and it is my opinion that the Local elders and Branch have really screwed themselves. I hope this case gets some media attention. It is so funny because I remember hearing about an Elder in Sacramento who refused to go along with the remodel of the Sylvan hall in Citrus Heights. There was a big hullaballo there about the corporate officers. I would bet you money that Anthony Smith was the legal beagle on it also. He is the Branch's lawyer for things on the West Coast.

I know for a fact that the RBC was encouraging remodels for a while. That is part of the new inspection process that identified things that needed to be fixed. It sure seems like a nifty way for the branch to hide their money and then make additional money on the remodel project with the end result of having the deed in the Societies hands.

What is also kinda funny is the branch used to loan money to the congregation for a remodel at a rate of 3% or so. The max loan term was 10 years. Around 2 years ago they sent a letter to the elders telling them that the loans would be set at 0%. I wonder if that was due to tax exempt reasons?

SIAM

Menlo Park Kingdom Hall 3

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