Steve Munson and The Seven Apostles

Apologies for the lack of original content recently; I’ve been traveling for work and meeting with some friends of mine out here in the Wild West.  Time is scarce these days but I should be back to a normal posting schedule in the days ahead.
 
One interesting tidbit that I learned during a stop in Oregon Duck country (other than the fact that Chip Kelly’s men got robbed in the latest BCS standings – Auburn, really?!?): our old friend, Steve Munson, was named as the debtor in an involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition filed on October 14th.  Taken at face value, such a development should not come as a total surprise, given Munson’s past history of six-figure tax liens and the like.  However, when you dig a little bit deeper, it’s clear that this filing isn’t exactly what it seems to be at first glance.
 
There are seven petitioning creditors listed in the filing (bankruptcy petition #10-39795-tmb7, US Bankruptcy Court, District of Oregon): Cynthia Bene, Calvin Oldham, Ginger Sanders, Robert Buechler, Edward Slavkovsky, Arthur Smith and Colgan Smith. The petitioners claim that Munson owes them over $133,000 in wages and payments.
 
Now it’s no secret that everybody likes to get paid for doing their jobs and, as such, if people don’t get those funds as promised, it can lead to some tensions with the boss.  So if the Munson gang’s paychecks have been delinquent for months, I can see how they might feel they have no other option if they want to pay their rent, pay off their credit cards, keep the water on, etc.
 
However, it wasn’t too long ago that some of these petitioners were talking about Steve Munson like he was a god among men:
 

Bene: “Steve is a wonderful teacher. He is demanding, but fair. I would follow Steve to the ends of the earth working alongside him if I could as he is the most intelligent and dynamic person whom I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with and for.”
 
Sanders: ”Steve is a fair, tough, blunt and generous man. He is one of the smartest people I have ever met and consequently has made me a smarter person. I’ve learned and grown more in the last few years than I did in the ten before.”
 
Buechler (posting as ‘Bob B.’): “I have only worked with Steve Munson for a short time, but even within these last few months, one thing is obvious: Mr. Munson is the single most honorable man I have ever worked for. He is a visionary commited [sic] to saving this planet. I remain humbled that he selected me, and I am honored to work for him. I chose to move my family across this great country because I believe in Steve Munson and I believe he is probably the only one left in America brave enough to effect REAL CHANGE.”
 
Slavkovsky: “Munson is an intelligent, highly-organized entrepreneur, who gets a lot done in a short period of time. He does his research, deals with facts and takes decisive action, while empowering his staff to achieve beyond their imaginations. He has a tremendous historical perspective. His handshake still means what a handshake meant in the past. I know. I work for him. His genius rubs off on his employees, a highly educated mix of youth and sages. In my 35 years of Senior Management in 50 to 100 million dollar companies, I have never seen a more unique, challenging, on-point visionary who whants [sic] to do what is right.”

 
Both Bene and Sanders note their own activities in the Vulcan Shareholders Rights Protection Committee, a Munson organization created to fight Denham Capital, after Denham gave Munson the boot upon realizing that he was a entrepreneurial charlatan.  Sanders and Oldham have also appeared in videos posted by the group on Vimeo.com (which have since been made private).  So I don’t think we’re exaggerating when we say that at least a few of these petitioners are on the record as having consumed the Munson brand kool-aid.  And while money can make people do funny things, I’m not sure that a bankruptcy petition is the path I’d take if my personal Jesus owed me money for services rendered.
 
So what’s really going on here?  Interestingly, People Who Know Things in Bend tell me that Munson’s legal battle with Denham hasn’t been going in his favor lately – the kind of thing that happens when you don’t show up in court, as he is apparently fond of doing.  I’m told Munson’s already on the hook for a few million bucks to Denham after that stunt and that things were about to get worse (i.e. they were about to peek inside Munson’s books) when the bankruptcy petition was filed and all other Munson-related actions were stayed.
 
Now it makes sense.  When you’ve got a group of people that worship you, who would do anything for you, who would walk 1,000 miles just to be the toadies who fell down at your door, why not have them file a bankruptcy proceeding against you if it serves the greater good, which in this case would be avoiding additional exposure in your battle with Denham?  It’s not what I’d do on behalf of someone who owed me a few months’ wages, but maybe I’d change my tune if the right drunk-driving, woman-punching, animal-neglecting, earth-saving cowboy came along.