USA: An Invitation from Lady Blanka Rosenstiel and Michael Padykula

As most of you are aware, the right of qualified individuals to become members of PACOM was suspended by the Management Board of PACOM almost nine years ago.  A Motion of the Management Board made by Jack Woskowicz on July 27, 2008 states:

Jack Woskowicz made a Motion that, due to our legal situation at the Club, we freeze membership for the time being until outstanding issues are resolved, which was seconded by Joe Kaurich. The majority voted in favor and the Motion was carried out.

The complete Minutes on the Management Board meeting are attached to this letter.

Please note that this Motion is extremely vague and that the rationale of relevant “issues” and a specific time frame for the “freeze” were not defined in the motion.  The freeze was explained in two ways:

• The attorney representing PACOM at the time, Jeff Cutler, was supposed to have made a recommendation to Jared Zemantauski that membership be frozen.  In 2012, Blanka, then the financial secretary of the Board, wrote a letter to the Board requesting that the Jeff Cutler be made available to the Board to explain the recommendation to freeze membership. In addition, Blanka offered to pay the attorney’s fees for the presentation.  Blanka’s request was denied by Jack Woskowicz, and soon thereafter she was removed from the Board together with Rose Kruszewski, the membership secretary.  The Board has never directly heard Jeff Cutler’s remarks or seen anything related to the freeze in writing.  It is important to note that the lawsuit has been left unmanaged for at least the past five years.
• The second explanation related the Management Board of PACOM's fear that if membership was opened up once again, the people from “Polonia” would join and soon elect a different Board.  The new Board would then be able to sell the property and distribute the sale proceeds to membership.  This is an unreasonable concern for many reasons but primarily because sale and distribution of cash to members is specifically precluded by all versions of PACOM’s Constitution.

It is our contention that the freezing of PACOM membership for almost nine years has been a “device” used by the current Board to retain control.

The consequences of this action have been disastrous for PACOM.    In addition to all of the management deficiencies, this has nearly been a death blow to the Club. The most important asset of the Club is its membership, and without new members, we lack the resources, energy, and skill sets necessary to resuscitate this organization.  Most importantly, we believe that the Management Board of PACOM never had the legitimate authority to freeze membership in 2008, especially for unspecified reasons.

Please come to the Annual Meeting on May 7th to help us remove this damaging and unwarranted Motion. The meeting will be held at the American Institute of Polish Culture, 1440 79th Street Causeway, Suite 117, Miami, FL 33141.

Sincerely,
Blanka Rosenstiel & Michael Padykula