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Search Dog North Idaho, Inc. has been dissolved by the new directors, Molly Hewett, Diana Carlson, and Susan Janssen. According to an email from Carlson, they took all the money out of the SDNI bank account and donated it to Priest Lake SAR, which they aparrently all joined.They did not advise any prior members or interested participants of their intention and gave no one opportunity to pay membership dues for 2011. This allowed them to claim the three of them and their husbands were the "only members" of SDNI and their decisions were "unanimous". The rational given to me is full of misinformation and accusations against me personally. This suggests that the real reasons for not giving anyone opportunity to keep SDNI going is purely revenge over over criticisms I gave during the last two months of 2010. It certainly demonstrates lack of respect for the hundreds of supporters SDNI had throughout Bonner County and disinterest in serving the interests of the county in which they live. As I get more information, this web site will delve in detail into the personalities and self-serving acts that not only destroyed SDNI, but are characteristic of many well intentioned but doomed attempts of public service in areas dominated by "good-ol-boy" mentality. Hopefully others wishing to join or create a K9 SAR group will gain helpful insight into the difficulty in overcoming obstacles established by wanna-be heroes, the absurd sense of superiority of ignorant people who think they know everything, and the self serving interests of those whose main aim is to impress others.
The following is a summary of what transpired just before Hewett, Carlson, and Janssen dissolved SDNI. Shortly after completing Helicopter Awareness and Rescue Protocol program under the 36th Rescue Flight, Fairchild Airforce Base, the new directors elected to office during the October General Meeting; Molly Hewett (president), Diana Carlson (Secretary), and Susan Jenssen (Treasurer) cut off all relathionships with me personally following a dispute over the way they were handling the corporation. My criticisms included: 1. Their attempt to rewrite the corporation bylaws in a way that I believed did not follow procedures established by Idaho Code; 2. Failing to communicate with paid members in good standing who were original founders of the group or any of the extended network of non-member supporters who have participated in SDNI programs over the years, and: 3. Treating the corporation as if it is now their own personal club. I began my criticisms politely but became harsh after the suggestions were summarily dismissed. Very quickly the three new directors removed their profiles from the members section of this web site and cut off all communications with me personally and as far as I know also with all other original SDNI members and supporters. According to a Daily Bee article on the SDNI training with the 36th Rescue Flight, the new directors were considering changing the name to Kaniksu Search Dogs. According to the last communications from the new directors, this appears to be an attempt to sever all connection with my name as they believe that association with me personally will reduce their credibility with Priest Lake Search & Rescue and the Bonner County Sheriff Department. Since then I checked the following: 1. The Idaho Secretary of State website shows that the SDNI annual report required to maintain a corporation has not been filed as of January 22, 2011. When I checked on February 25, 2011 the corporation has been dissolved.2. According the the previous Treasurer of SDNI, all of the money from the SDNI bank account was taken out in November 2010, and we do not have any record of what was done with it. (When the new directors were elected in October, an authorization was given to Molly Hewett, Diana Carlson, and Susan Janssen to open a new Search Dog North Idaho, Inc. bank account and transfer the funds from the old one to the new account, but not for personal use or any purpose other than keeping SDNI going. They are the only ones authorized to remove money from the account and only for the specified purpose of keeping SDNI going.) Susan Janssen is/was the treasurer and the official coroprate office along with all SDNI property was moved to her husband's business office, Three Amigos Plumbing on Michigan Street in Sandpoint. 3. There is now a website apparrently owned by Molly Hewett called; http://kaniksusearchdogs.com/ with a byline stating "North Idaho Search Dog Group". The site features Twitter updates and pictures of her dog's tongue. There has been nothing remotely resembling a search dog activity posted on the web site since I first discovered it to this date, Feb. 25, 2011. I have written to elected President, Molly Hewett trying to find out what has happened to the SDNI money and if they have or do intend to fulfill their responsibilities as corporate officers. I have not received any response. I then sent an email to each of the directors requesting information and none of them have responded. I personally believe that the three new directors have neglected all responsibilities toward SDNI and took the money then abandoned the corporation. The dissolution of the corporation along with disappearance of the SDNI money provides evidence of this. I also believe they took the SDNI money (a little over $1,000.00) to either start a new group according to their own personal taste or to give to someone else they like better than keeping SDNI going. I believe they have and intend to totally ignore all the past members and supporters. I am now trying to find out exactly what the truth is. If any of my suspicions are wrong, I will humbly offer apology to Molly Hewett, Susan Janssen and her husband Todd Janssen of Three Amigos, and Diana Carlson, each of whom I considered friends up until they pulled this heinous act. I am now looking into legal action against Molly Hewett, Diana Carlson, and Susan Janssen if they can not provide concrete evidence that they did not simply steal SDNI money while neglecting to properly undertake the responsibilities they took on by seeking and accepting positions as directors of the corporaiton. Over the past 5 years, the original Search Dog North Idaho has helped over 100 people of Bonner County train their dogs, over 20 people train their dogs to find lost people, certified 5 dogs in wilderness SAR, has been an active supporter of both good dog citizenship as well as K9 SAR, and hosted the silly, fun Dog Baseball League. SDNI has organized training sessions in winter survival, K9 SAR handling, avalanche awareness, helicopter protocol, and much more. If you look at the training logs and articles from the past years on this web site, citizens of Bonner County can see what SDNI has been. If you look at Molly's web site http://kaniksusearchdogs.com you can see what these people have replaced a vaulable community effort with. For the new directors to take the corporations money, advise none of the other members and supporters and abandon the project is hideously shameful if not criminal. If that is what happened, they have betrayed the entire community of North Idaho and will live with their vulgarity for life, as will any person or organization who accepted the SDNI money under these circumstances. If that is not what has happened, why do they not have the courage to inform me, the other members they have neglected, the hundreds of supporters, and the general public? I personally thank each and every one of you of the community for your participation, support, and enthusiasm over the years and humbly apologise for my own failure to locate sincere people able and willing to keep up this work on behalf of the people of North Idaho. thank you, Steve Van Ronk Founder & past President, Search Dog North Idaho, Inc. The content of this article is the observations and opinions of the author to the best of his knowledge.
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