Propriety of election called into question
Marlboro Players fill three positions on board; one vacant
BY REBECCA MORTON Staff Writer

MARLBORO — A recent election for the Marlboro Players Board of Directors resulted in three of the four open positions being filled.

Although by some people's account no ballots were cast, Neil Goldstein was named first vice president, Melanie Schmutter was named treasurer and Steve Zucker was named secretary, filling three vacancies.

They took those positions in early July.

The position of president of the Board of Directors remains open. The Marlboro Players is a community theater group which stages several productions a year.

In the wake of the election, questions have arisen from some members of the Marlboro Players concerning the fairness of the election. Board members contend the election was unopposed, which lead to the three individuals being named to their positions.

Meanwhile, other members of the Marlboro Players maintain they submitted their names for three of the positions that were available on the board, which would have resulted in contested races. However, those individuals say they were not considered for election.

Mindy Gollin and Alan Burkholz said they and Mitch Spiegel submitted their names to run in the Board of Directors election. Gollin sought the president's position, Burkholz sought the secretary's seat and Spiegel sought the treasurer's position.

The board, speaking though attorney Stuart Moskovitz, has said that Gollin, Burkholz and Spiegel were unable to run because their paperwork was submitted after the deadline.

Moskovitz is representing the theater company in a defamation and tortuous interference with business lawsuit against, as of now, unidentified online Internet message board posters.

According to the organization's bylaws, in the time of an election a nominating committee made up of three non-board members will be selected by the Board of Directors. The bylaws state that the nominating committee will prepare a slate of candidates consisting of at least one candidate for each position to be filled. All candidates are required to submit a short resume of their qualifications and reasons for seeking office.

Moskovitz said the board had nothing to do with the election process and that a deadline of 5 p.m. June 26 had been set for candidates to submit their information, a deadline he said Gollin, Burkholz and Spiegel did not meet.

Gollin said she sent several e-mails to board members questioning the status of the election. Early in the week of June 23, Gollin said, she received a phone call from the nominating committee and expressed her interest in running for president. She said she was told to turn in her biography by the end of the week.

In copies of e-mails sent from Gollin to the nominating committee members and to board members on June 23, Gollin asks for clarification on when the biographies are due. In the e-mail Gollin said she was unsure if the nominating committee members would finish their calling on Thursday, June 26, or if that was when the biographies were due. She informed both parties that there are former members (Burkholz and Spiegel) of the Marlboro Players who were interested in running for positions on the board.

Moskovitz said he did not know if board members responded to Gollin's emails. He said Burkholz and Spiegel were not members of the organization at the time of election.

The bylaws state that to be considered a member of the Marlboro Players, a person must present their name to the secretary and pay the required dues. Moskovitz said Burkholz and Spiegel did not notify Zucker, who was and still is the secretary.

An e-mail from the former treasurer to Zucker dated June 26 indicates that Burkholz and another man should be added to the membership list. The email's time is listed as 7:51 p.m. and informs Zucker that the two checks were deposited earlier that day.

Spiegel's dues were paid on June 30, according to another e-mail directed to Zucker from the former treasurer.

Burkholz said when another man dropped out of the race, Spiegel stepped in to seek the treasurer's position. Burkholz said he e-mailed the nominating committee members to alert them to the changes.

The nominating committee e-mailed Burkholz in response to advise him that they act as a collecting agent to call members and inform them of the open positions. The nominating committee also advises candidates on where and when to send their resumes for consideration.

"We do not make decisions on inclusion, exclusion or substitution," the email said, adding that the information of substitutions would be forwarded to the Board of Directors.

Burkholz said he finds the board's reasoning for why he and Spiegel were ineligible to run for office to be ridiculous.

"There is absolutely no provision anywhere in the bylaws (which states) that a candidate for the board must be a paidup member. We were merely paying dues as a courtesy and to avoid having to fight with a board who obviously don't read their own rules," Burkholz said.

Burkholz said he served as the secretary for the board for the last two years he was a member of the company.

"I decided to rejoin Marlboro Players and run for office again after hearing the horror stories of how far the company had fallen. The past president invited me to come down and help the winter show, 'Beauty and the Beast.' I witnessed firsthand how irresponsible, petty and mean the members of the board had become when the yelling, fighting and confusion grew when the pit drummer didn't show up for an afternoon show. I missed being part of the local Marlboro community theater and hoped that if Mindy, Neil, Mitch and I, all of us past board members, could get elected, we could instantly return sanity, fiscal responsibility and friendliness to this once-fun organization," Burkholz said.

"I have to admit that I was shocked when the board simply made up its own secret rules and unilaterally suspended what should have been a simple, fair and equitable election. If we can't get the board to install Mindy (as president) and reinstate an election, perhaps the Office of the Attorney General's investigation will help us save the company before the board mismanagement drives it to bankruptcy," Burkholz said.

Moskovitz noted that since two of the three individuals had served on the Board of Directors at previous times, they should be aware of how the election process works.

Gollin said, "I just want the board to immediately reinstate full and fair elections since they have no proof whatsoever of their 'deadlines' that were allegedly violated. Not one nominee who wasn't already on the board or supported by the board received any written notification of such. As a matter of fact, we didn't know about the deadline until a week after submitting our bios when we received an e-mail announcing the board's 'self-appointed,' unopposed acceptance of the positions."

Goldstein, who had previously spoken out against the pending lawsuit, was able to take the first vice president's position.

When asked what day he submitted his biography information, Goldstein said he sent it in on the evening of June 26, the day of deadline. Goldstein did say that he was not informed of a strict deadline, but rather had been requested to turn in his information preferably by that Thursday evening.

Concerns over the recent selection of board members are being voiced not only from those who intended to run, but also from other general members of the organization. Marsha Vosk, a member of the community theater group for 10 years, expressed her dismay at the way Gollin's bid for president was handled.

"They (the board) purposely left her (Gollin) name off of e-mail messages sent to the Marlboro Players, ignored her emails requesting information about bios and then notified her she missed 'the deadline' for the nominations. It appears that communication with the current board is poor at best, making it appear as a private club with their own agenda, rather then a community organization," Vosk said.

Since she was the only person to present her name for the position of president and that position is still vacant, Gollin said she wants to be named president.

Moskovitz said the board is allowed to appoint someone at its discretion to the president's position. He added that if Gollin had been elected president she would most likely have been removed from her position as allowed in the bylaws. The bylaws state that "a director may be removed when sufficient cause exists."

The attorney maintained that sufficient cause to have Gollin removed could be seen in the fact that she had committed "perjury and forgery" in regard to the pending lawsuit.

The matter to which Moskovitz referred is a letter that was submitted to the court which states that the general membership of the Marlboro Players is opposed to the lawsuit continuing to proceed. On the letter were the names and signatures of 18 individuals that Gollin said she obtained.

Moskovitz has claimed in court documents that signatures on the letter are forged. One member of the theater group whose name appeared on the letter certified in court documents that he had been contacted by Gollin over the phone.

"She (Gollin) asked me if she could include my name among a list of people who wanted to express a general opinion about how plaintiff 's (Marlboro Players) funds should be used," the certification, which is a claim and not proof, states.

The individual goes on to say that an explanation of the letter being related to the lawsuit was not given nor was he provided the details of what the petition would say.

Gollin said about the letter, "(it) was merely a request to the attorney (Moskovitz), by members of the company, to immediately dismiss the lawsuit and present his final bill so that company funds would not be wasted on an unauthorized use of company money."

She said if she was not physically in front of someone to sign the letter, each person gave their full consent to sign their name after agreeing with every word on the letter.

Moskovitz said he believes the hope of Gollin and others was to dismiss the lawsuit upon taking their positions on the Board of Directors. The lawsuit is currently awaiting a hearing in state Superior Court. Five of the online bloggers who are involved in the matter have hired an attorney to have the subpoena requesting their personal information quashed.

Moskovitz said if a judge rules in favor of the Marlboro Players then the operators of the NJ.com Web site will have to turn over the information that was provided by people at the time they signed up to participate on the Internet message board. Derogatory comments about people associated with the Marlboro Players were posted on a theater message board.

Moskovitz said the court has set a hearing for Aug. 22 to continue the case.