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We are unable to pay for co-location costs, and that's why our servers will go offline as Thomas our CEO is unreacheable. He only has access to bank and thus to

We are unable to pay for co-location costs, and that's why our servers will go offline as Thomas our CEO is unreacheable. He only has access to bank and thus to funds. Explaination of the DC thing at Github: https://github.com/fosshostorg/fosshost.org/blob/main/src/posts/chicago-status-update.md https://github.com/fosshostorg/fosshost.org/blob/main/src/po... (Other posts can be read from there too.) Post from three months ago regarding state of affairs: https://github.com/fosshostorg/fosshost.org/blob/main/src/posts/suspended-applications.md https://github.com/fosshostorg/fosshost.org/blob/main/src/po... Skyler, one of the last Fosshost volunteers.

tdeck 4y ago
> Thomas our CEO is unreacheable. He only has access to bank and thus to funds. Does your nonprofit have a treasurer? I thought it was a legal requirement for the treasurer to be a different person from the CEO. In that case the treasurer should be able to present something on official letterhead and gain access to the account.
- samip537 4y ago
  Not to my knowledge, or we tried but they weren't given access by our CEO so there's that.
  - tomrod 4y ago
    A bank can grant a treasurer access to resources if they are legally obligated to the funds. Has the CEO absconded? This is crazy.
    - tdeck 4y ago
      This really highlights why rules for nonprofit governance exist. The CEO could have also run off with donor's money and nobody else in the organization would know.
    - samip537 4y ago
      I don't know if the whole thing was ever officially documented, so we don't really have a way to gain control to the bank account. There's two directors remaining, and no board to speak of as they have resigned. All in all, we have tried our best to prevent this, but we cannot anymore. I don't know what's the motive for the CEO to be unresponsive and I don't want to speculate anything, but it's not at all fun for anyone.
      - tomrod 4y ago
        Not to be too probing, but have you reached out to an attorney?
        samip537 4y ago
        Again I'm not a Director, so not my problem.
        vikramkr 4y ago
        It is going to be a problem for the radix project though, since given how close the ties are between that and fosshost there are significant questions about the motivation and competence of the team, and their dedication to protecting donor money/supporting the organizations they host etc. If this happens again, are they just going to abandon everything and walk away again? Why did those volunteers decide that the better way to further their mission was to abandon their old nonprofit as a loss and start a new one instead of taking serious steps to regain control and at the least clearly document all leg routes taken/the reason that they had to give up in the end? It's the same community of people that are being asked to trust substantially the same set of people a second time.
      - dale_glass 4y ago
        You should really put some of this on your website. You don't have to air out all of the dirty laundry, but some clarity about what went wrong would be very helpful to people just learning about it. That would also help explain what's Radix about and why they are the alternative you recommend.
- charcircuit 4y ago
  Legally CEOs are not a thing.
  - samip537 4y ago
    Officially one of the directors, and there's two of them remaining. Even the other Director doesn't have any access to the bank.
  - shapefrog 4y ago
    > Occupation - Chief Executive Officer And Founder When you put that on the formation document of the company that you are becoming CEO and Founder of then I am 50-50 on it being a scam. I have seen it enough times on 'influencer' instagram accounts to know what a red flag looks like.
- alyxw 4y ago
  [former fosshost member] We did not (as far as I'm aware) have a treasurer, but did have a volunteer as the CFO. After appointing them, the CEO never fully gave them access to finances and after many requests, eventually just started taking away financial access from everyone else too.
  - PeterisP 4y ago
    There should be a legal way for them to gain access to the funds without the cooperation of the CEO. A CIC has specific rules for usage of funds which can be enforced especially if the CEO isn't applying them as they are required to.
dale_glass 4y ago
Sorry to hear that! What happened to the CEO? Has this been going on for long?
- samip537 4y ago
  He has been unresponsive for the past 6 months, I have even tried calling and they decided to not answer so... This has been going on internally for really long from when people started to resign in 2021/2022 due to management issues.
  - choult 4y ago
    He appears to be Head of Operations at a company called Ciptex, operating out of Manchester UK. His most recent LinkedIn activity is from 2 months ago. Perhaps try via their contact info?
    - samip537 4y ago
      Will not help, as they (our CEO) don't seem to want to answer to anything related to Fosshost. Also I cannot be bothered anymore.
      - choult 4y ago
        Looks like you're a UK CIC, which means you're regulated like a company, and your CEO/Director has statutory responsibilities. If he is failing to dispense his duties, he could be struck off as a company director in future. He incorporated a Limited company called Fosshosts Projects Ltd. last year, on his own. It'll be struck off in the next two months due to failure to file. He also has another company currently in protracted liquidation, and it sounds like he is failing in his responsibilities there too. The guy either sounds shady, or in a deep mess.
        toomuchtodo 4y ago
        Can anyone file a complaint for authorities to investigate? It sounds like embezzlement of organizational funds might be a possibility and it warrants whomever oversees non profits in the jurisdiction asking some questions.
remram 4y ago
You might not want to, but you should put some of that information on your website. Otherwise this is a huge red flag against the "Radix project" you are advertising there. If not for the information in this thread, I would stay the hell away from a project "founded in part by one of the original architects" from the ashes of the one which died suddenly without any explicit reason. You don't have to put your dirty laundry there, but you should at least mention that the Fosshost leadership moved on, and that it's the other members that are starting Radix.
- amatecha 4y ago
  Yeah it's good to know when the people who actually built and ran stuff are moving on, and the problems are due to poor management (especially by people with zero connection to the new thing).
n3storm 4y ago
horizontal organization 101: more than one member (if not all) should have access to the bank, mobile,water,light,gas contracts
- wartijn_ 4y ago
  I think they've realized that by now...
- pardon_me 4y ago
  Horizontal organisation 001: one member should not hold the ownership and voting rights? The AWOL director has full control... "Nature of control Ownership of voting rights - 75% or more Right to appoint and remove directors" Ownership in open orgs is very difficult but this is set up to fail.
fsckboy 4y ago
in situations like this, if you could use financial help you need to blurt out what the costs are that need to be covered. There's plenty of people with money about, so if you have somebody's attention take advantage of it. I've already clicked a half a dozen link and there's no info. Why make me work so hard? if you are happy it's over, well, that's ok, thanks for volunteering as long as you guys have.
- ajsnigrutin 4y ago
  Also probably a bunch of organizations that might be willing to host for free.. if they knew that it was an issue.
- RF_Savage 4y ago
  Money will not help when the CEO with the ability to pay the bills has been AWOL for 6 months.
  - colonwqbang 4y ago
    The board could elect a new CEO?
    - samip537 4y ago
      What board? They have resigned. It's just two directors remaining, one of which is the unresponsive CEO.

tdeck 4y ago

> Thomas our CEO is unreacheable. He only has access to bank and thus to funds. Does your nonprofit have a treasurer? I thought it was a legal requirement for the treasurer to be a different person from the CEO. In that case the treasurer should be able to present something on official letterhead and gain access to the account.

samip537 4y ago
Not to my knowledge, or we tried but they weren't given access by our CEO so there's that.
- tomrod 4y ago
  A bank can grant a treasurer access to resources if they are legally obligated to the funds. Has the CEO absconded? This is crazy.
  - tdeck 4y ago
    This really highlights why rules for nonprofit governance exist. The CEO could have also run off with donor's money and nobody else in the organization would know.
  - samip537 4y ago
    I don't know if the whole thing was ever officially documented, so we don't really have a way to gain control to the bank account. There's two directors remaining, and no board to speak of as they have resigned. All in all, we have tried our best to prevent this, but we cannot anymore. I don't know what's the motive for the CEO to be unresponsive and I don't want to speculate anything, but it's not at all fun for anyone.
    - tomrod 4y ago
      Not to be too probing, but have you reached out to an attorney?
      - samip537 4y ago
        Again I'm not a Director, so not my problem.
        vikramkr 4y ago
        It is going to be a problem for the radix project though, since given how close the ties are between that and fosshost there are significant questions about the motivation and competence of the team, and their dedication to protecting donor money/supporting the organizations they host etc. If this happens again, are they just going to abandon everything and walk away again? Why did those volunteers decide that the better way to further their mission was to abandon their old nonprofit as a loss and start a new one instead of taking serious steps to regain control and at the least clearly document all leg routes taken/the reason that they had to give up in the end? It's the same community of people that are being asked to trust substantially the same set of people a second time.
    - dale_glass 4y ago
      You should really put some of this on your website. You don't have to air out all of the dirty laundry, but some clarity about what went wrong would be very helpful to people just learning about it. That would also help explain what's Radix about and why they are the alternative you recommend.
charcircuit 4y ago
Legally CEOs are not a thing.
- samip537 4y ago
  Officially one of the directors, and there's two of them remaining. Even the other Director doesn't have any access to the bank.
- shapefrog 4y ago
  > Occupation - Chief Executive Officer And Founder When you put that on the formation document of the company that you are becoming CEO and Founder of then I am 50-50 on it being a scam. I have seen it enough times on 'influencer' instagram accounts to know what a red flag looks like.
alyxw 4y ago
[former fosshost member] We did not (as far as I'm aware) have a treasurer, but did have a volunteer as the CFO. After appointing them, the CEO never fully gave them access to finances and after many requests, eventually just started taking away financial access from everyone else too.
- PeterisP 4y ago
  There should be a legal way for them to gain access to the funds without the cooperation of the CEO. A CIC has specific rules for usage of funds which can be enforced especially if the CEO isn't applying them as they are required to.

dale_glass 4y ago

Sorry to hear that! What happened to the CEO? Has this been going on for long?

samip537 4y ago
He has been unresponsive for the past 6 months, I have even tried calling and they decided to not answer so... This has been going on internally for really long from when people started to resign in 2021/2022 due to management issues.
- choult 4y ago
  He appears to be Head of Operations at a company called Ciptex, operating out of Manchester UK. His most recent LinkedIn activity is from 2 months ago. Perhaps try via their contact info?
  - samip537 4y ago
    Will not help, as they (our CEO) don't seem to want to answer to anything related to Fosshost. Also I cannot be bothered anymore.
    - choult 4y ago
      Looks like you're a UK CIC, which means you're regulated like a company, and your CEO/Director has statutory responsibilities. If he is failing to dispense his duties, he could be struck off as a company director in future. He incorporated a Limited company called Fosshosts Projects Ltd. last year, on his own. It'll be struck off in the next two months due to failure to file. He also has another company currently in protracted liquidation, and it sounds like he is failing in his responsibilities there too. The guy either sounds shady, or in a deep mess.
      - toomuchtodo 4y ago
        Can anyone file a complaint for authorities to investigate? It sounds like embezzlement of organizational funds might be a possibility and it warrants whomever oversees non profits in the jurisdiction asking some questions.

remram 4y ago

You might not want to, but you should put some of that information on your website. Otherwise this is a huge red flag against the "Radix project" you are advertising there. If not for the information in this thread, I would stay the hell away from a project "founded in part by one of the original architects" from the ashes of the one which died suddenly without any explicit reason. You don't have to put your dirty laundry there, but you should at least mention that the Fosshost leadership moved on, and that it's the other members that are starting Radix.

amatecha 4y ago
Yeah it's good to know when the people who actually built and ran stuff are moving on, and the problems are due to poor management (especially by people with zero connection to the new thing).

n3storm 4y ago

horizontal organization 101: more than one member (if not all) should have access to the bank, mobile,water,light,gas contracts

wartijn_ 4y ago
I think they've realized that by now...
pardon_me 4y ago
Horizontal organisation 001: one member should not hold the ownership and voting rights? The AWOL director has full control... "Nature of control Ownership of voting rights - 75% or more Right to appoint and remove directors" Ownership in open orgs is very difficult but this is set up to fail.

fsckboy 4y ago

in situations like this, if you could use financial help you need to blurt out what the costs are that need to be covered. There's plenty of people with money about, so if you have somebody's attention take advantage of it. I've already clicked a half a dozen link and there's no info. Why make me work so hard? if you are happy it's over, well, that's ok, thanks for volunteering as long as you guys have.

ajsnigrutin 4y ago
Also probably a bunch of organizations that might be willing to host for free.. if they knew that it was an issue.
RF_Savage 4y ago
Money will not help when the CEO with the ability to pay the bills has been AWOL for 6 months.
- colonwqbang 4y ago
  The board could elect a new CEO?
  - samip537 4y ago
    What board? They have resigned. It's just two directors remaining, one of which is the unresponsive CEO.