And then there was one. After months of chaos, acrimony, and resignations, it appears only one person is still officially affiliated with Pride Fort Lauderdale, and that’s President Miik Martorell.
In this week’s SFGN, online now and on stands tomorrow, I look at how the current situation poses multiple, existential threats to Pride. Whether you support Martorell and his leadership or you don’t, he cannot run Pride by himself. Currently Pride is in abeyance of many of its own by-laws. There is no working board, and legally they must have a minimum of three people. There is no treasurer so there’s no one to file taxes, keep books, and write checks. Speaking of checks, it takes three board members to distribute funds: the treasurer to cut the check, and then two other officers to sign. As of now, only Martorell, as President, can sign checks but he needs another.
And then there are the continuing issues of transparency. The board secretary resigned in January, so there haven’t been any records posted of meeting minutes or notices of meetings since then. Even before the secretary resigned, important records were missing from their website, records that are required to be posted.
I’ve talked with Martorell since Pride of the Americas finished. He promised me minutes, records, and a profit/loss statement from the event. Those have not materialized, and he has not responded to my calls this week.
You can read my full story, which goes into great detail, at SFGN on stands tomorrow and online now.
There is no sign the organization plans to continue. The website is still promoting Pride of the Americas, and no date for next year has been announced.