10.05.05 – The Retired Boxers Foundation is releasing this statement on California Senate Bill 247, sponsored by Liz Figueroa, (D. Sunol), which intends to dismantle the existing California State Athletic Commission and turn over the jurisdiction to the State Department of Consumer Affairs.. Every Commission in the United States should take note: California has more boxing events than any other state! If California is repealing the laws that created the Commission, you should be scared…..VERY scared!
Executive Director of the Retired Boxers Foundation, Jacquie Richardson, said about the legislation to turn the State Athletic Commission over to the Department of Consumer Affairs: “The California State Athletic Commission has had several opportunities to fix its problems but has never had the proper resources to do it, nor did it use what was available to them.
In a nutshell, leadership has been asleep at the wheel and unless you attend the Commission Meetings, you would have no clue that California is about to take away the local authority over boxing and turn it over to the Department of Consumer Affairs. Basically, the apathy of the current State Athletic Commission, as well as the public, is responsible for this debacle. We believe that boxer safety will be compromised without a commission.” The Retired Boxers Foundation intends to inform the public of the affect of SB 247 on the Sport of Boxing and asks those involved in boxing, as well as the fans of the sport to make an effort to save the Commission, Richardson also said, “This is THE opportunity to reform boxing and at the same time, to insist on correcting the problems that caused this action in the first place.”
Why should we care if the State Athletic Commission is removed and all of their responsibilities turned over to a government agency—the Department of Consumer Affairs? The Commission was created in 1924 specifically to regulate the sport of boxing. The primary purpose for creating the California State Athletic Commission was to make sure that the sport operated legally and most importantly, for the safety and welfare of the athletes.
Without the State Athletic Commission, SB 247 turns over all of the responsibilities of the Commission to the Department of Consumer Affairs, to regulate boxing much the same way it does the Board of Cosmetology and other professions that require a license. It takes governance away from the people and deprives the public—the boxers, the promoters, the fans, etc., from participating in the decision making process. “It takes away our voice and our knowledge of the sport and turns it over to a bunch of government workers,” said Alex Ramos, the Founder and President of the Retired Boxers Foundation.
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?
Last year, the Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions and Consumer Protection (Joint Committee) and the Department of Consumer Affairs recommended a one-year extension to the Commission so that it could deal with financial and personnel issues. The Joint Committee and the Department determined that the Commission has not dealt with these issues to an acceptable level. On April 12th, 2005, the Joint Committee and the Department of Consumer Affairs recommended that the State Athletic Commission should be allowed to sunset and its functions and duties should be transferred to the Department of Consumer Affairs immediately. There was plenty of warning, but the Commission failed to take action. In all fairness, the Commission is comprised of appointees who replaced other appointees under different governors and legislators, and so on and so on for many, many years. There have been warning signs and threats of derailing the commission for a number of years.
WHAT ARE THE DEFICIENCIES THAT CAUSED THIS DRAMATIC ACTION?
1. Failure to hire an Executive Director in a timely manner. Failure to hire an Executive Director has made the other staffing shortages worse, to the detriment of the entire Commission. This position has remained vacant since July of 2004. The Commission has been without an Executive Officer.
2. The Chief Inspection Officer was appointed “Acting Executive” in November of 2004, but has been managing the Sacramento Headquarters from his Los Angeles base. Without management in Sacramento, the staff has been unable to meet the operational mandates that the Commission is responsible for.
3. To make matters worse, the Commission has been operating with just two staff members and this has contributed to the operational deficiencies according to the Chief of the Internal Audit Office (Auditor) at the Department.
4. The Department conducted an Audit of the Commission to identify operational deficiencies and while the Auditor conceded that there were staff limitations that contribute to the accounting deficiencies, the Auditor still believes the problem has more to do with unorganized and improper accounting and miscalculation at events.
5. While the Auditor recommended changing the manual form of calculating ticket sales, etc., by using computerized spread sheets; he has met with resistance from the Commission to implement this recommendation. Their insistence on using the antiquated method of calculation has caused problems in reconciling show ticket payments and, even worse, the illegible handwriting and miscalculations are unbelievable. Without accurate statistics on tickets sold and fees assessed, the Auditor cannot event tell if the accounting was EVER done properly.
While The Retired Boxers Foundation, who has NO PAID STAFF, has tried to monitor the situation and has made every effort to make people aware of the problems, they persist and now will be the final nail in the coffin of the California State Athletic Commission if the masses do not step in to make the changes necessary to keep the Commission. While we have been critical of the Commission on many fronts, we believe that California has the potential to make our State Athletic Commission one of the finest in the World. After all, we have a Boxers Pension that if monitored and administered correctly, could change the face of boxing and elevate the professional boxer to that of other professional athletes.
In fact, if the California Boxers Pension Plan was initiated in every state, boxers would retire with a pension they could actually live on. The Boxers Pension is basically financed by the fans–$.89 a ticket—and pays the retired boxer $2 for each round fought in California. For boxers like Alex “The Bronx Bomber” Ramos, the Founder and President of the Retired Boxers Foundation, he is eligible for $154 a month at retirement. Clearly not enough to really help, BUT, if the same were true of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, he would have a substantial retirement.
The problems we have identified are easy to fix if only the Commission had the determination and the ability to do so (i.e., the appropriate staff). First of all, the Boxers Pension has been plagued with the same poor accounting and record keeping that is the Commissions demise today. In 1991, the California State Auditor outlined the poor accounting, and identified gross record keeping as well as incidents of embezzlement and mismanagement. What did the Commission do? Nothing. What did the Legislature do? They revised the legislation and basically started over. Remember the ads about “Free Money” to be returned to the boxers who were not vested? A handful actually got their money back.
Then there was the problem with the State of California borrowing, i.e., taking, the pension funds when the state was in financial difficulty (when ISN’T the State of California in a financial mess!) until legislation finally stopped this practice. If this had happened in corporate America, some union would have wreaked havoc and the story would have been front page! Basically, when the money is NOT in the Pension account, it can’t earn interest. In other words, the Commission was asleep at the wheel and rather than protecting the boxers, it cowered in the corner, afraid to make waves.
Therein lies another problem: Political Appointees. The California State Athletic Commission has previously been comprised of appointees who were owed favors by the elected’s who appointed them. Our State Athletic Commission should have people who know boxing and who have an interest in making this sport safe and reputable. When you have appointees who have no clue, the Department of Consumer Affairs is in charge. In that matter, nothing will change. The loss will be in what COULD have been.
For the record, the State Athletic Commission Sunset Reviews for the past twenty years are on the Internet for your review. They seem to be another useless expense of taxpayer money in that they continue to revolve around the very same issues of poor accounting and record keeping and the poor state of the Boxers Pension. The reports are excellent and IF they were meaningful to the Commission, they could have prevented the current state we are in.
Because the California State Athletic Commission has been non-responsive, not only to the Sunset Reviews, but to the public as well, they are getting their just desserts. What has transpired is unconscionable. Just “Google” Sunset Review, California State Athletic Commission and you can read for yourself. The last Sunset Review for 2004 was the very best report on the condition of the State Athletic Commission. The Retired Boxers Foundation worked with the Center for Public Interest Law to initiate some of the changes, but we couldn’t even get a phone call returned from the Commission, nor could we get copies of the minutes of their meetings. We sent 5 requests for minutes and not one request was acknowledged.
WHAT IS THE CURRENT STATUS OF SB 247 AND THE CALIFORNIA STATE ATHLETIC COMMISSION?
According to the Sacramento Bee, May 1, 2005:
“The measure already has legs. Recommendations, describing the commission as inefficient in operational and financial procedures, won approval Monday during a Figueroa-chaired business-and-professions committee hearing. There are other legislative steps to be taken before it reaches the Senate floor for a vote. But if the bill passes there and the Assembly acts accordingly, it’s on to the governor’s desk, although a spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says his boss has yet to take a position.”
The last Senate analysis of the bill reveals that SB 247 sunsets (terminates) the Commission and its executive officer on July 1, 2006, and permits the Department of Consumer Affairs to assume its regulatory responsibilities as of that date unless legislation is enacted by January 1, 2006 to extend that date. This bill repeals provisions establishing the Commission as of January 1, 2006, whereby providing for the Department to assume the Commission’s regulatory responsibilities as of that date.
CONCLUSION:
We, the people, are powerless unless we have the support of the masses. We encourage you to look into this situation and to do what you can to make a difference. The sport loses and the athletes are at risk unless we all try to do something to bring attention to this travesty. It’s time to “get in the arena and fight! Theodore Roosevelt said it best back in 1910:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
For more information:
The Retired Boxers Foundation, Inc., is an IRS 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation whose mission is to assist retired professional boxers in the transition from their glorious days in the ring to a dignified retirement.
Retired Boxers Foundation www.retiredboxers.org
Alex “The Bronx Bomber” Ramos: Founder and President of the Retired Boxers Foundation; 4-time New York Golden Gloves Champion; 1984 USBA Middleweight Champion; 1986 California Middleweight Champion; Member of the USA Boxing Team 1978-80; One of NBC’s “Tomorrow’s Champions. Became homeless and addicted to alcohol and drugs only to escape from what he calls “the darkness” and start the Retired Boxers Foundation to help retired professional boxers in the difficult transition from their glorious days in the ring to a dignified retirement.
Jacquie Richardson: Executive Director of the Retired Boxers Foundation. Grant writer with over twenty years experience who met Alex Ramos at a grand opening for a boxing gym where she had written a gang prevention grant using boxing as an incentive to stay in school. Richardson currently works part time for the Ventura County District Attorney where she coordinates services for victims of child molestation and abuse. Jacquie assisted Ramos in the establishment of the RBF and assists Alex in getting the word out about the Retired Boxers Foundation and its mission. Jacquie has written over $8.5 million in successful grant proposals to help the less fortunate.
For more information, please contact Alex Ramos at (805) 583-5890, or email rbfalex@ix.netcom.com