Passes & Canyons Blog

Her legal matters cleared away with charges now dropped, Terry Howard, former state coordinator for ABATE of Colorado, is seeking “to reclaim her good name.” And it appears that she has plans to remain active in the motorcycling community.

That last statement is based on the fact that she recently emailed me some materials regarding the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Most Operator Safety Training program. I haven’t had a chance yet to discuss with her the source of these materials or her intent in sending them out but this doesn’t strike me as something that would be done by someone who just plans to fade away. More on all that in some later post.

Regarding the first item, I was recently copied on a letter Terry’s attorney sent to the Southwest Scooter News following the dropping of the charges. Terry has been on bad terms with the Scooter News for a long time, so it seemed to be with considerable joy that the publication put up a detailed recitation of the charges and allegations she faced at that time. The attorney, Wade Eldridge, addressed various issues and asked that the Scooter News treat Terry according to the American concept that a person is deemed innocent until found guilty in a court of law. Here is the letter.

Tim Anderson
Southwest Scooter News
P.O. Box 16304
Golden, Colorado 80402-6006

RE: “ABATE leader charged with theft”; All charges DISMISSED

Dear Mr. Anderson:

My law firm represented Terry Howard in connection with the recent charge of felony theft filed against her by the Denver District Attorney. It is important to remember that, in this country, a defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until he or she is proved guilty of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. That presumption of innocence is one of the main differences between American law and that found in other countries, but it is too often forgotten.

The allegations of the charging documents were reported in the February edition of Southwest Scooter News. Before discussing some of the details of the case, it is appropriate to recall a speech from the character Iago in William Shakespeare’s play Othello.

“Good name in man and woman, dear lord, is the immediate jewel of their souls. Who steals my purse steals trash; ‘tis something, nothing; ‘twas mine, ‘tis his, and has been slave to thousands. But he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him, and makes me poor indeed.”

The Southwest Scooter News article contains many references to the affidavit in support of the arrest warrant. As is often the case, that is only part of the story.

Terry Howard joined ABATE District 10 (Aurora) in 1998 as general member. She became an officer (rep from District 10) in 2002, and the Northeast regional rep in May 2003. By the end of 2003, she was elected as State Coordinator (then a volunteer position) for 2004. In 2004, the ABATE State Board hired her as the State Manager (a paid [position, and then hired her as ABATE State Coordinator in 2010.

The arrest warrant for Ms. Howard was filed on December 3rd 2014, and she turned herself in of December 7, 2014. She retained my law firm to represent her, and was released on a personal recognizance bond on December 9, 2014. The case was scheduled for a preliminary hearing to be held on February 3, 2015.

There is a provision in Colorado law (Section 18-4-401(6), C.R.S), which says that in a theft case, the prosecution must, upon request, provide the defendant with a “bill of particulars” which spells out the precise manner in which the defendant is alleged to have committed theft. On December 19, 2014, my office filed a motion requesting such a “bill of particulars” from the District Attorney.

While the motion for Bill of Particulars was pending, we reviewed ABATE documents that had been provided to my office by the District Attorney. One of those documents had the words “Forged checks with No Receipts” at the top of it. This document referred to twelve (not 22) specific checks that were considered questionable, in the three years from 2010 to 2013 (a time when probably 100 various checks were written).

I explained to the District Attorney that, by virtue of her position with ABATE, Ms. Howard had the authority to write herself checks in order to reimburse her for cash expenditures she had made for ABATE. For each one of the twelve checks in question, my office provided the District Attorney with corresponding receipts, bank records and credit card statements which showed that each one of the suspect checks was a legitimate reimbursement.

The office of the District Attorney never did provide the “bill of particulars” that I had requested. Instead, on January 23, 2015, the District Attorney filed a motion to dismiss the case against Terry Howard. This was not part of a ‘plea bargain’ in which a defendant pleads guilty to some lesser charge, but a straightforward dismissal of all charges.

I have enclosed a recent photograph of Ms. Howard, taken after the case against her was dismissed. Ms. Howard and I ask that you print that photograph, as well as this letter. Terry Howard wants to reclaim her good name.

Very truly yours

Wade H. Eldridge
Attorney at Law

Biker Quote for Today

If you want to be happy for a year, marry. If you want to be happy for a lifetime, ride a motorcycle.

I just came from the ABATE District 10 meeting and once again it seems everyone else already knew what I only learned in an off-handed reference: The Denver District Attorney has decided to drop the one remaining charge against Terry Howard, ABATE’s former state coordinator. Although Bruce Downs, the new state coordinator, made the point that it should be stated in the terms that the DA “will not pursue” the charges any further. I’m not really clear on the semantic difference. Either way, Terry is no longer being prosecuted for theft.

As Bruce explained, ABATE was asked to provide a “victim’s statement,” which it did, and later the DA’s office got back to Bruce to inform him of its decision to call it off. He said the call had come on Wednesday or Thursday.

“That’s where it ends,” said Bruce.

At least that’s where the criminal aspect of the situation ends. Of course both ABATE and Terry Howard remain on the hook for this high-interest loan that the group has defaulted on and for which Terry co-signed. It’s probably going to be a long time before that business comes to an end.

Biker Quote for Today

Careful maintenance and preparation is critical to making sure your dirt bike is reliable enough to tow your buddy’s bike back to the truck.

I spoke to people from the Denver Police Fraud Unit and the Denver District Court Wednesday and got a few things clarified regarding the charge against former ABATE of Colorado State Coordinator Terry Howard. She definitely has been charged, but only on one count of theft. I had been told previously, and reported with caveats, that there were charges of forgery and theft. (I have updated that post with this new, solid information.)

There still isn’t much official information available yet but I did learn that there will be a “second advisement” at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 19 in Room 2100 at the Denver City and County Building. The case is #CR146265 in case anyone wants to pursue it. I will definitely be there.

While this case is crucially important for Terry Howard, not at all meaning to be dismissive toward her, it is really small potatoes for ABATE. ABATE has a much bigger issue, which is this crushing debt that threatens to wipe out the organization. I’ll be following the case but I’m going to be spending a lot more time trying to get answers to the questions regarding how ABATE ever got here in the first place.

I want to spell out the questions I’m going to be pursuing, both to let you know where I’m headed and also to organize my own thoughts on what I want to do. I’ll include a little history along the way.

There was a time not long ago when ABATE was flush. Revenues from the rider training program were in excess of $1 million a year, providing the group the cash to put the state coordinator on salary along with the rider training program manager (already being paid, I believe) and two folks to work in the office. Ben Hochberg was the rider training head and it was largely through his efforts that the program was doing so well.

Personalities were conflicting in the office, however. One thing led to another and Ben got fired. One thing I want to understand is how–and if–Ben’s departure ties in with the decline in the program and the revenue it brought in. Was there already a major decline in proceeds when Ben left? Or did the program nosedive after he left? I do know there were some issues before Ben left that he tried to warn the board about but I’m not clear if they were financial.

So Ben left and then what happened? I do know the state MOST program (Motorcycle Operator Safety Training) went through some changes, and I’ve talked about them here. Was that change in MOST all by itself the cause of ABATE’s financial crash? Or was firing Ben a decision that really should have been avoided at all costs? Or what other factors came into play?

Either way, it is my understanding–and I want to know a lot more about this–that ABATE launched an advertising campaign to the tune of about $45,000 and apparently was not very successful. I’m an active member. I go to meetings. I have never heard about this ad campaign. I want to know what it was for, what it entailed, what the results were, and who made the decision to do it, and why.

And then this expense apparently led to a need to take out a loan just to meet expenses. And ABATE apparently didn’t have the credit standing to qualify for a bank loan so Terry personally signed or co-signed for it. How did we fall so far so quickly? Why was this loan even necessary?

And after that came another loan, I guess intended to cover the first one. Who made that decision? What discussion went into that? And this is the one that is killing ABATE. I saw an article about exactly this kind of loan-sharking in the Nov. 17-23, 2014, issue of Bloomberg Businessweek magazine. Discussing this field of finance, the magazine says, “It’s a high-risk market, and interest rates can exceed 500 percent a year.”

And they quote someone who lost her company because of falling for this loan come-on: “It’s the worst possible decision you can ever make, because they own you. It’s crack for a business. You can’t get off it.”

I repeat: how did we ever get to this point? I want details and I want names. Not to blame and point fingers, but if the same people who made these decisions are calling the shots today then I’m going to have some serious issues about trust. And I know I’m not the only one. I was all prepared to write a check to do my part to help bail the organization out but when I started learning about all this I put down my check book. I’m going to need answers before I reach for that check book again.

Biker Quote for Today

I know there’s money in motocross. I put it there!

I went to the Denver Police substation yesterday to try to get confirmation and details, but apparently because this reported action came from the District Attorney’s Office the PD didn’t have it on their computer. I haven’t had time to contact the DA yet. So be advised that so far, all I’m about to tell is hearsay.

I heard from two people on Friday that Terry Howard, the former state coordinator for ABATE of Colorado, had been criminally charged. One of the two sources included the information that the charges were forgery and theft.

Update 12-10-14: I learned today directly from the Denver District Court that Terry has been charged with theft, not forgery.

This whole story has been exploding all around me. Because I seem to be the only one with journalistic pretensions following it, many people who have an interest and know about the matter has been contacting me. I definitely appreciate everyone who has contacted me but it’s going to take me awhile to sort through it all.

The greater number of the folks I have spoken with tend to have tried and convicted Terry in their minds. It was very interesting then to receive the email from someone who supports Terry and stands by her. There are a whole lot of interesting statements in her note that I hope to learn a lot more about.

For instance–and again, this is still only hearsay–apparently the organization needed a loan quickly to meet obligations but was not able to qualify for a loan from a bank. So Terry took out a $28,000 loan in her name–or personally co-signed for a loan, I’m not sure which–with the money going to ABATE. This person also says that “Terry also started finding discrepancies in the books. Before she could present her findings, and the day the check cleared for the $28,000 to keep ABATE afloat, she was suspended on suspect of theft and fraud and subsequently forced to resigned.”

Now, obviously, that sort of action doesn’t rule out the possibility of having committed forgery and theft, but it does put a little different light on the person who is accused. Likewise, some of the very negative information I’ve been given about Terry’s management of ABATE could very well be true–and I suspect some of it, maybe even a lot of it, is true–but that would not lead inevitably to the idea that she is also a forger and a thief. Nor would it suggest that she is not. They aren’t necessarily related at all.

I really see at least two linked but separate stories playing out here: First, how did ABATE get into this horrendous financial bind? And second, was there actually forgery and theft, and if so, who was the forger/thief? And in the meantime, there’s just too little information for anyone on the outside to make an informed judgment. Of course, that’s why we have courts and juries. We just hope that true justice prevails, whichever direction that may lead.

I will keep talking to people; I’ve barely gotten started. My pace will be slow. I’m not interested in getting the story first; I’m interested in getting it right.

Biker Quote for Today

Any bike can be taken off road. The question is: How much fun did you have doing it?

I wouldn’t have missed my ABATE District 10 meeting Sunday for anything. Theoretically Rocky, our newly drafted district rep, was to inform the membership of the issue that led to the firing of Terry Howard as state coordinator and read a prepared statement from the board.

Before the meeting got started there was no discussion of the issue, which led me to wonder if a lot of these folks had no idea or if perhaps everyone knew a lot more than I knew and for them there was nothing to discuss. Then I heard a little veiled, discrete mention so I suspected it was the latter.

We got to this topic in the agenda and again there was almost nothing said and no one asked any questions. This was too much for me. I said that if I hadn’t received a tip that something was going on and if I hadn’t pursued that to where I received a copy of the board’s statement, I would have been sitting there asking “What the hell are you people talking about??!!” And I got some questions answered. Here’s what I’ve learned.

As we already knew, Terry was removed because the board concluded that she had not fulfilled her fiduciary responsibility to the organization. Apparently there were some expenses that were paid for more than once. I have no idea if there was anything more than that. And something of that sort could easily happen by accident–heck, I’ve paid the same bill twice myself once or twice. So the board is wise to phrase it the way they did. You can be bad at managing money without being a criminal.

I asked if there was a criminal investigation underway. The internal investigation is continuing, we were told, and in compliance with the law regarding a 401(c)3 organization, a report has been made to the state and to the City and County of Denver. What happens next may depend a lot on the response from them. That response is not expected for a couple weeks.

So that’s not a lot but it’s something. It’s more than I knew before. And I really did feel like everyone else in that room knew way more than I did, but most of them are officers or state staff members or whatever–insiders–and I’m just a member, nothing else.

Oh, and as for Rocky reading the board statement, up to that point he still had not seen it himself. More than one person suggested strongly that this whole business be made known to all ABATE of Colorado members immediately. This sort of delay is unconscionable.

Biker Quote for Today

The good news is that heaven has a motocross track. The bad news is you’re racing next Tuesday.

Sad. That’s the word that, for me at least, sums up this bit of business.

I got a tip the other day that something was going on at ABATE of Colorado, that Terry Howard, the state coordinator, had been removed under very unpleasant circumstances. I immediately started trying to find out what the situation was.

Not surprisingly, the state organization is being pretty close-mouthed but they did prepare an official statement. Here is that statement.

In September, 2014, the ABATE of Colorado Board of Directors was made aware of discrepancies in one of ABATE’s bank accounts. At the September BOD meeting, in keeping with the fiduciary duties of the Board of Directors to the membership and the organization as a whole, a committee was formed to investigate these issues.

Although the investigation is far from being completed, by the end of two weeks, the committee had found enough evidence to support the allegations of Breach of Fiduciary Duties the State Coordinator. An emergency meeting of the Board of Directors was called for Saturday, October 4, 2014, at which time the decision was made to terminate the employment of [then] State Coordinator, Terry Howard.

The future of ABATE, and where we go from here, will be formally discussed further at the November (and future) board meeting(s). Don Enninga, assistant State Coordinator, will be acting as State Coordinator while we transition.

One plan at this time is that ABATE will be going back to a volunteer State Coordinator position. Interested parties should submit a Letter of Intent to the Board of Directors.

Please be assured, the Board of Directors and the ABATE office staff are working diligently to prevent future issues and will be keeping you, the membership, updated.

At this point that is all I know. Obviously, I’ll try to learn more and will report on what I find.

But again, the whole thing, to me, is very sad. I’ve known Terry for a number of years now and I like her and I’ve always thought she was doing a heck of a job as state coordinator. Regardless of what the facts of this matter are, ABATE will no longer have her there doing this job.

Let me give you an example of her efforts.

A number of years ago I unknowingly set some wheels in motion. I was doing a lot of work at that time as the National Motorcycle Examiner for Examiner.com. I was (and am) an ABATE member and I got to wondering why it was that the sportbiking crowd and the various state ABATEs were generally unfriendly with each other. So I posted on some sportbike forums asking opinions of ABATE and the reasons.

Boy did I get a response.

It turned out that the sportbikers, who for the most part are ATGATT folks, dislike ABATE because they saw these groups as being anti-helmet. Perhaps some state groups are but in my experience they are more anti-helmet law, which is to say, they prefer to have government stay out of it and let the rider decide. I know ABATE of Colorado strongly encourages wearing helmets, but is against having a law requiring them. That’s my own personal opinion as well.

But in the course of all the discussion there was a comment from someone in the Colorado Sportbike Club who said his group was not down on ABATE the way so many groups in other states are.

Terry Howard was reading these articles and the discussion they were generating and when she saw that statement she immediately contacted that person and when the dust had all settled ABATE of Colorado and the CSC had formed an alliance and the two groups have been working together on issues of concern to all bikers ever since. I may have set the stage but Terry was the one who made that happen. Colorado may be the only state in the country where these two groups are united. And I hope this relationship weathers this storm. I don’t see why it shouldn’t but you never know.

So yes, I think it’s incredibly sad. I don’t know what Terry has or has not done and I don’t even know what she is accused of having done. But I do know that ABATE is a loser in all this. There are no winners. It’s just sad.

Biker Quote for Today

If people focused on the important things in life, there’d be a shortage of dirt bikes.