Dispute flares over Realtors board budget, $40,000 bonus

Kathryn Bovard wants the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors to explain how a $40,000 bonus check was written to its former chief executive officer without proper authority.

Bovard, who served as GLVAR's treasurer in 2011 and currently sits on the finance committee, was among about two dozen Realtors who asked about the bonus and other finances at an open forum before the association's Nov. 19 board meeting.

The check was issued in January to Irene Vogel, who retired in June after serving as CEO of the Realtors association since 1977. It was never approved by the board, Bovard said.

"I just think the membership has a right to the facts and how their money is being spent," she said.

She also questions a travel fund of about $30,000 proposed by board members for a trip of their choice, particularly with a $180,000 budget deficit on a total annual budget of about $10.6 million.

Each of the 10 board of directors members also received an iPad purchased with association funds.

"Was this a gift?" Bovard asked. "If so, is the director going to file a (IRS Form) 1099? Or was it going to be returned?"

Directors have a "personal" budget of about $500 to spend on events promoting GLVAR within the community. The iPads are in violation of that policy, she said.

Kolleen Kelley, president of the Realtors association, insists all of the members' questions were answered at the open forum.

Some board members are reimbursed for travel expenses to attend out-of-town real estate conventions and workshops, Kelley said. The thought process behind that is to train leaders for tomorrow, she said.

"It has to make sense for everyone involved," Kelley said. "It's not just to line your pocket."

Some members see the travel fund as just another bureaucratic expense.

"Once it gets in the budget, it can't get out," said Jackie Porter, former board member and one of three plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against the association in June claiming misappropriation of funds.

When she was on the board in 2008, Porter asked for basic financial information regarding accounts that were "skewed." For example, a $4,000 payment to a dental office showed up on the association's credit card statement.

"We were essentially told it's none of our business," she said.

Porter said bonuses were given to Vogel in the past but were never authorized by the board of directors. The executive committee can only review and make recommendations for the CEO's contract and bonus pay but cannot ratify or sign the contract, she said.

"If you go back to 2008, they're the only ones that saw the contract. When we questioned that, we became known as troublemakers," Porter said.

Vogel said nobody spoke to her about the bonus until it showed up in her paycheck. She's been advised by her attorney not to talk about the lawsuit.

"I feel sorry for everybody involved," Vogel said Friday. "There was no bad intention. Thirty-plus years I was there. Give me a break. It wasn't done maliciously, and I feel bad about it."

In the lawsuit, plaintiffs Porter, Kevin Child and Honey Borla are requesting that the court order the association to open its audit and employment contracts for inspection by its nearly 11,000 members. The complaint seeks class action status on behalf of the association's current and past members, dating back 10 years. Plaintiffs are also seeking damages in excess of $10,000.

Clark County District Court Judge Jerry Wiese heard oral arguments in the case in September and denied a motion by GLVAR attorney Karl Nielson to dismiss the lawsuit.

Kelley has been advised by the attorney not to talk about the bonus.

"Part of that (Vogel's bonus) is involved in the lawsuit and we can't comment," Kelley said. "The rest of that is board actions that have not gone through yet."

The lawsuit will go forward with some amendments to the original complaint, plaintiffs' attorney Matthew Callister said Friday. He said it may go forward as a public group action and the class action status may be decided in the future.

"By allowing us to proceed, we can start with the discovery process and ask the CFO for support documents," Callister said.

Kelley said it appears that the goals of those filing the complaint against their own association were achieved even before the lawsuit was filed. Vogel is gone, replaced by Nelson Janes as the new CEO, and a detailed annual financial audit was conducted and made available to GLVAR members, she said.

At the Nov. 19 meeting, GLVAR staff and board members addressed questions about its ongoing cost-cutting programs that have saved more than $5.6 million since 2007 and reduced paid staff from 42 to 33 employees. GLVAR leaders also explained its annual budget will be published by early December in its monthly magazine.

"It's hard to envision a negative deficit," said Lee Barrett, president of GLVAR in 2004. "We were fiscally conservative and set a budget and expenses that would not exceed that."

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.