Franklin Community News
Rock Receives "Notice of Violation" on the Same Day Common Council Votes to Enact Temporary Ordnance to Accommodate Rock Event Enchant
County Supervisor Steve Taylor also Executive Director of the ROC Foundation Receives Notice of Violation on Enchant Further Providing Evidence of Conflict of Interest
Rock Receives "Notice of Violation" on the Same Day Common Council Votes to Enact Temporary Ordnance to Accommodate Enchant
Franklin Community News has become aware that on the very same day the Franklin Common Council approved a temporary ordinance that would accommodate approving an Extraordinary Special Event Application for Enchant at the Rock, the Rock Received a Notice of Violation regarding hours of operation for the Hills Has Eyes.
The Notice of Violation was signed by Regulo Martinez-Montilva the Principal Planner with the Franklin Department of City Development and was sent to Steve F. Taylor, Executive Director, ROC Foundation on October 17, 2023. The Notice of Violation indicates:
"Dear Mr. Taylor:
Please be advised, it has come to our attention the City of Franklin that on Sunday, October 15, 2023, the "Hills has Eyes" event was still in operation as of 1:00AM. The Hills has Eyes" event must end by 12:00AM (midnight) in accordance with the Extraordinary Event permit No. 23-1821 (attached). Therefore, you are in violation of your Extraordinary Event permit and hereby notified that future "Hills has Eyes" events must end by 12:00AM. Failure to comply with the approved hours of operation may result in revoking your Extraordinary Event permit.
On the VERY same day this Notice of Violation was issued the License Committee met to approve the Extraordinary Event Application for Enchant. The License Committee voted 2 to 1 to table the application because it did not comply with Franklin Municipal Ordinance of an event can only be 4 consecutive days and the number of hours per day the event is held. Voting Yes was Alderperson Eichmann and voting No was Alderpersons Day and Craig.
Immediately following the Licensing Committee meeting the Common Council met and after disucssion voted to amend the current Municipal Ordinance to allow Extra Extra Ordinary Events that meet certain criteria the ability to run more than 4 consecutive days and longer daily time duration. This amended ordinance will sunset on January 15, 2024. The two Alderperson who voted no for this amended ordinance were Day and Craig.
It appears once again the City of Franklin is making special accommodations for the Rock unlike any other Franklin Business or Organization. The issue of the Notice of Violation was not mentioned in the Licensing Committee or at the Common Council meeting. Was the Common Council aware of this Notice of Violation Prior to the vote in both Committee and at the Common Council? This may explain the absence of County Supervisor Steve Taylor, ROC Executive Director's absence from the meetings this past Tuesday.
During the Common Council Meeting one Alderperson opined that once the modified Extraordinary Event language is approved to allow an event to go more than 4 days could the Croatians apply for their Beer Garden next season 2024 and run everyday rather than just on every Thursday? I certainly hope they take advantage and do apply because if they are not approved I think there might be a great case for discriminatory business practices by the City of Franklin.
As it relates to changing the ordinance requiring no event is longer than 4 days. I believe Enchant is truly a great event. I am opposed to changing the ordinance when the ROC was fully aware of it and thought that again the rules do not apply to them when they were following the same rules (4 days) for Hills Has Eyes. The Rock did not believe that the city was going to hold the line and follow the ordinance.
The loop hole in the ordinance is that any event can be promoted and tickets can be sold at any time. What the ordinance requires is that the Extraordinary Event application be submitted no later than 30 days PRIOR to the event. Hence the reason why Enchant was being promoted and tickets being sold back in June and Tacos and Tequila 2024 was just announced and tickets already being sold without any major dialog with the city on major improvements for next year. What the Rock continues to do by submitting applications at the last minute is hope they can ram the event thru without giving the city the opportunity to throughly review and application for an event that will have major logistical issues for the promotor and the city.
By submitting at the last minute the city succumbs to the pressure of the event is good for Franklin and has great opportunity for local economic development. Meanwhile city staff do not have an opportunity to provide due diligence and the poor City Clerks Office, DPW, Fire, Police, EMS, and City Development are left to pick up the bag and spin in circles to make sure the city is prepared for a 12,000 person a day event that should have been submitted many months in advance to have adequate planning time. This is not fair to city staff and is costing the taxpayers of Franklin an inordinate amount of money devoted to this last minute amateur approach. Could you imagine Summerfest or Amfam Field operating like this?
County Supervisor Steve Taylor also Executive Director of the ROC Foundation Receives Notice of Violation on Enchant Further Providing Evidence of Conflict of Interest
Franklin Community News has previous reported a conflict of interest with County Supervisor Steve Taylor and his role as ROC Foundation Executive Director, along with his role in ROC Ventures, along with his direct conflict with the City of Franklin and Mayor Nelson.
Franklin Community News has also reported that Steve Taylor led the campaign election team for Mayor Nelson and working with him on the "campaign committee" was Mike Zimmerman, CEO ROC Ventures, Kelly Hersh, Recently hired Director of Administration for the City of Franklin and former Alderwomen Kristen Wilhelm.
According to a 2020 Tax Filing of the ROC Foundation Steve Taylor is a paid employee of a Not for Profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. As such one would ask why Mr. Taylor received the Notice of Violation from the city of Franklin and what the Hills has Eyes event has to do with the ROC Foundation?
The answer is simple - NOTHING. The ROC Foundation is being used by Mike Zimmerman and Steve Taylor to conduct the work of ROC Ventures under the ROC Foundation and that is illegal according to the IRS.
As previously reported by Franklin Community News, Franklin Community News and Franklin Residents Concerned with Sound at Ballpark Commons, have submitted a formal Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint (Form 13909) against ROC Foundation, Inc. The ROC Foundation is the charitable arm, a not for profit 501(c)(3) of ROC Ventures.
The complaint to the IRS Exempt Organization Classification Unit alleges:
Directors/Officers/Persons are using income/assets for personal gain
Organization is engaged in commercial, for-profit business activity
Organization is involved in political campaign
Organization is engaged in excessive lobbying activity
The complaint is based on over
3000 pages of open records received from the City of Franklin of any email or correspondence to or from “Steve Taylor” or “Steven F Taylor” or “Steven Taylor” and any email or correspondence containing “Steve Taylor” or “Steven F Taylor” or “Steven Taylor” from July 1, 2020 thru August 22, 2023 as well as other public information and documents. The time frame requested is the time the ROC Foundation was incorporated to the present.
The emails show a direct conflict of interest with Steve Taylor in his role as Rock Foundation Executive Director, Inc and Taylor also appears to be acting as an employee of Rock Ventures who would be responsible for daily operations and government relations. Taylor uses the email address of “stevet@rocventures.org” for many different responsibilities and purposes. It’s almost impossible for City of Franklin Staff to know which Steve Taylor they are dealing with on a daily basis. Of the over 3000 open records obtained from the City of Franklin, the following email addresses and positions have been identified:
ROC FoundationExecutive Director – stevet@rocventures.org
Issues NOT Relating to ROC Foundation but to ROC Ventures Operations/Government relations – stevet@rocventures.org
Milwaukee County Supervisor – Steve.Taylor@milwaukeecountywi.gov
Issues related to Open Records Requests, Requesting Mayor Nelsons campaign finance reports and other non-Rock or County Business – stevetaylor4milwaukeecounty@gmail.com
According to the ROC Foundation Webpage https://www.rocventures.org/foundation/about-us the current Mission Statement of the Organization is:
“The ROC Foundation’s mission is to provide support and unique experiences for youth, high school, and young adults in sports, recreation, education, employment and wellness; through a robust network of like-minded businesses and supporters. The ROC Foundation thrives to create impactful outcomes in the communities where we live, work, and play.”
Based on the stated mission of the ROC Foundation both on their web page and in their August 26, 2019 Articles of Incorporation with the State of Wisconsin, Mr. Taylors activity with ROC Ventures and the licensing of the Hills has Eyes has nothing to do with meeting the stated mission of the ROC Foundation.
Mr. Taylor made
the following post in response (summary) to a citizen that called Taylor out for working on political and non-charitable tasks for ROC Ventures on a Franklin Community social media site.
“Oh….I don’t work for ROC Ventures. Get your facts straight”
“Like I said I don’t work for ROC VENTURES or collect a paycheck from the organization. I run ROC Foundation and answer to a BOD (Board of Directors). People should be able to figure out the difference.”
In the Facebook post Taylor directly admits that he is not paid by ROC Ventures and does not work for ROC Ventures. However, according to some (or many) of the over 3000 public records from the City of Franklin much of the job and activities that Taylor fulfills under the title of “Executive Director, ROC Foundation has absolutely NOTHING to do with the ROC Foundation and the stated mission of the ROC Foundation. The Open Records indicate that much (most/vast majority of) Taylors job has to do with the OPERATIONS and GOVERNMENT RELATIONS of ROCK VENTURES. This not only creates a conflict of interest, but also puts the ROC Foundation Inc. in serious jeopardy of losing the 501(c)(3) status.
“The corporation shall not carry on any activities not permitted to be carried on (a) by a corporation exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) if the IRS code or (b) by a corporation, contributions to which are deductible under sections 170(c)(2), 2055(a)(2)m and 2522(a)(2) of the IRS code.
Directors/Officers/Persons are using income/assets for personal gain
Organization is engaged in commercial, for-profit business activity
Organization is involved in political campaign
Organization is engaged in excessive lobbying activity
The numbers tell us for 2020, the last year the ROC Foundation, Inc filed their 990EZ with the IRS that the ROC Foundation lost $18,826 for the year. They needed to use a fund balance of $14,947 to stop the bleed. They only made charitable contributions grants/funding in direct relationship to their stated mission of $2,835. Steve Taylor the Executive of the Foundation received more from the Foundation than the Foundation provided in charitable contributions. His Salary and benefits were $62,232. The ROC paid itself rent for the ROC Foundation of $7,800. Professional fees/independent of some unknown nature were paid $16,665. The Foundation held three fundraising events for the year that provided $58,660 gross revenue with expenses of $43,995 leaving a balance of $8,363. The ROC Foundation certainly did not generate enough revenue to sustain itself and pay for its operations. The 990 EZ also indicates that the ROC Foundation, Inc was paying a loan back to ROC Ventures but not much in detail.
Based on the over 3000 public records, text messages, IRS documentation, the following allegations are identified to the IRS in the formal Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint:
ROC Foundation activity related to its stated mission is very minimal.
The ROC Foundation was set up as a cover business for Steve Taylor to lobby the City of Franklin and to avoid a conflict of interest with his position as Milwaukee County Supervisor which includes the Rock which in his district. It also serves as the Trojan Horse charitable arm for Mike Zimmerman.
The ROC Foundation is paying for Mr. Taylor’s salary and benefits while the majority of his time is focused on ROC Venture Operations and Government Relations, not the stated charitable mission statement.
There is a definite conflict of interest between Mr. Taylor and his work, representation, and influence as ROC Foundation, Inc Executive Director; Steve Taylor, ROC Ventures; Steve Taylor, Milwaukee County Supervisor; Steve Taylor, Campaign Chair to elect John Nelson; and Steve Taylor, citizen of Franklin.
Mr. Taylor was the Chair of the Campaign to elect John Nelson and was very heavily involved in running the campaign, very active on social media promoting candidate Nelson, and involved in the community in fundraising events, meetings and activities to elect candidate Nelson. There is a definite conflict of interest as Mr. Taylor is a part-time Milwaukee County Supervisor and a Full Time employee as ROC Foundation Executive Director and his efforts to place a “ROC friendly” mayor in Franklin. Milwaukee County and the State of WI Ethics Board strictly prohibit election campaigning during paid time or with County Resources. Additionally, the IRS strictly prohibits 501(c)(3) organizations from being involved in any political campaign activity. When did Mr. Taylor have the time to campaign for Mayor Nelson?
Based on the over 3000 public records obtained from the City of Franklin over the last three years identify that the majority of the correspondence to and from the City of Franklin had to do with ROC Ventures Operations and Government Relations and very minimal having to do with ROC Foundation, Inc. The influence or interaction with the municipality in this excessive manner relating to process, requests, filing of application, inquiries and meetings on behalf of ROC Ventures constitutes excessive lobbying activity.
Comments
Post a Comment