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Revelers at
J’Ouvert 2008 |
J’Ouvert City International,
Inc. (JCI) thanks all Masquerade bands,
Steelbands and revelers who partake in our 2008
J’Ouvert Carnival on Labor Day in Brooklyn. As
usual it was a wonderful event. For the past 15
years J’Ouvert City International, Inc. has been
the organizer of this awesome activity. It is
estimated that over a Ľ million people from all
over the world come to experience this event.
Our J’Ouvert is loved and respected because of
its uniqueness, “Steelband music only, No
amplification”.
Unfortunately, this year 2008 we were faced with
a situation that had to be resolved in Court due
to a conflict in 2007. On August 9, 2007, a
quorum of the Executive Board of JCI voted to
remove the then-President Earl King from his
position due to his detrimental conduct and to
safeguard JCI’s main event, “J’Ouvert in
Brooklyn”. Mr. King refused to accept the
decision and retained the law firm Perlman &
Perlman, LLP and they sent a letter, dated May
16, 2008 to us demanding that we cease and
desist any activities on behalf of JCI. In a
nutshell, this letter was meant to strong-arm
and intimidate us. The firm also sent copies of
this letter to several City Council members,
State Senators, the 67th South Precinct, the New
York State Attorney General Office and certain
funding sources stating we were operating
illegally and that we should not be recognized
nor funded. These actions caused our
organization to lose two major funding sources,
damaged our reputation and jeopardized our 501©3
funding status. Sometime in June 2008, Mr. King
illegally dissolved JCI’s Board of Directors and
created his own “Board of Directors”, with
himself as President, a member who left the
organization in 1997 as Vice-President and
another who left in 2005. It is interesting to
note that Mr. King’s new “Board” also consisted
of two Attorneys from Perlam & Perlman, Seth
Perlman and Sarah Siegel as Secretary and
Assistant Secretary, along with one Tom Montvel-Cohen,
an affiliate of the firm and a member of United
States Steelband Association.
During this time period, Mr. King illegally gave
Anthony Hinds, President of United States
Steelband Association, the authority to manage
the J’Ouvert 2008 event. On August 1, 2008 Mr.
Hinds informed the 67th South Precinct that he
was going to manage the event, over the
objections of JCI, and did not want JCI members
partaking in this event. At that point, the 67th
South Precinct indicated that the conflict had
to be resolved in Court and that they would
honor the Court’s Decision. It was at this time
that we fully realized we had to go to Court to
settle this conflict, and we retained an
Attorney, Rawle Pantaleon, to represent us.
The matter was then scheduled for trial in Kings
County Supreme Court before Justice Francois A.
Rivera and lasted three days, with the Court
rendering its Decision on September 16, 2008.
In his Decision, Justice Rivera indicated that
the issue presented was: Whether or not a
meeting called by some members of the Board on
August 9, 2007 - was lawfully called in accordance
with the by-laws, and whether notice was given in
accordance with the by-laws, which would be
necessary for the activity of that meeting to be
enforceable and carry the weight of law, and the
enforceability of the law.
• The first thing Justice Francois Rivera did
was to dismiss the action against United States
Steelband Association as they had no connection
to the issue.
• Justice Rivera then began by stating that
members who may have been voted in 1997 or 1998,
who never appear, never show up and are never
involved, are found to have abandoned their
posts even though there is no formality of
removal.
• He then ruled that the August 9, 2007 meeting
was properly called, the vote was proper and Mr.
King’s removal was proper.
• He also clearly found that as such, any
actions by Mr. King after he had received notice
that he had been removed, INCLUDING his attempt
to try and create another Board with additional
votes was INVALID, and a NULLITY. (Simply put,
his actions with Perlman & Perlman and their
cease and desists letters were null and void.
His actions to hand over the J’Ouvert event to
Mr. Hinds were also null and void).
• He also ruled that the current Board of JCI
consists of Mr. Danville Williamson, Ms Yvette
Rennie, Ms. Lynette Pascall and Ms. Hazel John,
and that JCI is the proper organization to
promote the annual J’Ouvert in Brooklyn. In a
nutshell, the Court clearly ruled in favor of
the current and legal JCI, and re-established
our legitimacy.
From the News Desk
of:
Danville Williamson, President
Yvette Rennie, Vice-President
Hazel John, Secretary
Lynette Pascall, Treasurer