Details in: Oct/Nov 2021 Newsletter Link
and https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/orchid-society-treasurer-charged-with-embezzling/
We also have resolved the Jack Ryder embezzlement case now that he was sentenced with grand theft at his October 13th hearing in the SF Superior Court, after finally getting him to pay back the money stolen (over $100,000) plus another $25,000 in interest/damages. Though we tried to make the case for a felony charge, he only ended up receiving a misdemeanor conviction. We were told by the DAs office that this was what would be achievable in San Francisco court at least, given it was his first documented offense, was non-violent in nature, and under a million dollars stolen. Mary Gerritsen, Tom Perlite, George McRae and I were present at the hearing and provided the court with our impact statements, which are also printed in this newsletter. Though somehow he is still allowed to handle multi-million dollar sales as a licensed realtor at Compass Realty (https://www.compass.com/agents/jack-ryder/), and is likely the reason he was able to finally get the money to pay us back when he was ready to do so, I hope having these statements made public allows this information to live on in a way they continue to have an impact, and help prevent other non-profits (or for profit businesses) from putting Jack Ryder on a Board or in a position of any financial responsibility that could enable him to commit these crimes again beyond the one year probationary period where he is forbidden by the court order to seek or accept such positions."
and the 4 impact statements in the "Board Meeting Minutes Addendum" - pp 25-29 - especially the detail in Mary's should be there...
"ADDENDUM - CONTINUED from October 11, 2021 SFOS BOARD MEETING MINUTES:
Impact Statements (read at Jack Ryder's court hearing on Wednesday, October 13, 2021) from Tom Perlite, Mary Gerritsen, Jeff Harris and George McRae regarding impact of Jack Ryder's deceit and theft on them personally as well as the San Francisco Orchid Society:
My name is Tom Perlite and I have been a member of the San Francisco Orchid Society (SFOS) for 45 years. I was on the Show Committee for the SFOS's annual Pacific Orchid Exposition for over 20 years and was the show producer when Jack Ryder?s theft of society funds took place.
As Show Producer, I was responsible for the organizational aspects of the show and the procurement and payment of goods and services for the show. I worked closely with Jack Ryder in this role, as it was his responsibility, as Treasurer, to pay the goods and service suppliers, as well as receive funds from the commercial vendors participating in the show.
Mr. Ryder was also a member of the show committee, which met every month for 9 months prior to the show, which took place in late February. At every meeting Mr. Ryder would present a financial report indicating the income and expenses for the show, as well as the bank account balance of the SFOS. At every meeting, Mr. Ryder repeatedly lied to the committee, and presented fabricated data on the financial reports presented to the committee. Most of the members of the committee were volunteers and SFOS board members and trusted implicitly the information presented by Mr. Ryder.
I initially became aware of the theft after one service provider and the Park and Recreation Department told me they had not received payment for invoices sent to the society. By the time we were aware of the theft, the bank balance was down to $5000. Since there were not funds to pay these invoices, I paid the $14,000 owed, with my own money, so that we could proceed with the show, the following week.
Mr. Ryder's actions impacted many people. All of the show committee members were personally devastated by the theft and felt betrayed by Mr. Ryder, who we all considered a friend and colleague. Beside myself, two other committee members also loaned money to the SFOSso that the show could take place. This was a financial burden to all of us.
In addition, Mr. Ryder's theft of the SFOS funds prevented the SFOS from distributing money to various educational organizations that they support every year, as part of the SFOS mission statement. These include a scholarship to the Floristry and Environmental Horticulture Department at City College of San Francisco, the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco, and the Helen Crocker Russell Library in the S.F. Botanical Garden. The theft also prevented the SFOS from functioning in its normal manner due to lack of operating funds.
Mr. Ryder's theft was not a spur of the moment action, but rather a systematic daily theft of money from the SFOS over the course of many months. I think this systematic theft and the fact that Mr. Ryder lied repeatedly to us all is what bothers me most. His actions hurt all of the members of the SFOS who work so hard to raise funds to distribute to the various educational groups we support. These organizations rely on our yearly donations to provide their services. Mr. Ryder's theft had a wide-ranging effect on many people.
---------------
To Whom it May Concern:
My name is Mary Gerritsen. I am a past president of the San Francisco Orchid Society, and at the time of the crime, I had stepped down from any director responsibilities, having held the president position for multiple years. However, I still remained involved, serving on the show committee and just advising on general society activities where organizational history would be of use .
The San Francisco Orchid Society was world renowned for the Pacific Orchid Exposition (POE), which was, up until 2016, the largest and most diverse orchid show in the USA. It was held at Fort Mason, and featured over 60 vendors, local, national and international and attracted over 15000 attendees, many of whom came from other parts of California, as well as different states and even different countries.
The logistics to putting on such a show were complex, and were for the most part, executed by a team of volunteers (The Show Committee) as well as a show manager (Tom Perlite) and our publicity manager (Frances LaRose). I had served on that committee for many years. The show required a substantial reserve (>$100,000) to put on, requiring pre-payments to Fort Mason (rent and permits), the City of San Francisco (permits and other fees), garbage services, advertising, rental of equipment, tables, drape, electrical layouts, security guards, and many more items too numerous to list. Every year the society would front these costs, and after the show, replenish our bank accounts so that we could put on a show the following year. The profits from our shows were variable, some years we made money and in more recent years, barely broke even. But for the most part, the profits from the show enabled our society to conduct our activities for the rest of the year, which included monthly meetings, speakers (including travel costs and speaker fees), plant tables (basically prizes for our members), scholarships, support to conservation organizations and the Helen Crocker Russel library and Conservatory of Flowers. Organization for the show would typically start 8 months in advance, and the team would meet monthly to go over the budget, costs for new items, progress on reports, contracts, etc. When Jack Ryder joined the society and became treasurer, he attended the show meeting, and provided (what we later learned were falsified) reports about the bills he had paid etc for the show.
About 1 week before the POE in 2017, I received a phone call from Ms. Jean Lee, also a past president of the San Francisco Orchid Society, and other than Jack Ryder or myself, apparently the only ones that had been left with authorization to access to balances in our Wells Fargo Account. We had an independent bookkeeper, but Jack had been blocking her access to our bank statements for months and fabricating very convincing and professional looking financial reports. To our complete surprise the balance in our accounts was only a few thousand dollars, and with the POE about to occur, we owed tens of thousands of dollars in past due bills. Many of the bills that Jack had said were paid had not been.
We were cratering on a complete disaster - if we could not put on the show, we could not recover the funds we had invested, but we could not do so since the rent had not been paid and dozens of bills were outstanding. We went into emergency mode, with Tom Perlite, Dave Hermeyer and Maureen Clarke all putting up thousands of dollars to get us through the show. It was only because of their unsecured risk in putting up this money that the society even survived, but for the next few years, the society was on very rough ground. We could not even think of doing a show at Fort Mason again, and had to radically downsize the show and our activities, changes that created a lot of negative feelings from our audience who normally attended the POE and were extremely disappointed in the much smaller show that we were forced to put on at the Hall of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. Now the Pacific Orchid Exposition has lost its former glory, being a much smaller show (with less than 30 vendors, only a few international), and a considerably smaller attendance. It is no longer a national and international draw for attendees, now most of the audience comes within a 300 mile radius of San Francisco. While still popular with our attendees, every year we field complaints about why we no longer have the show at Fort Mason, how disappointed people are with the displays (we have about 1/4 the area available for displays), and why can't we go back to Fort Mason?
As one of the former officers still on the SFOSbank accounts, I was able to access the bank accounts, and spent several sleepless (entirely sleepless) weeks tracking down the slight of hand and dishonest practices of Jack Ryder. He had systematically drained the bank accounts of the SFOS, robbing from our savings, checking and endowment accounts. For the most part he stole $300 per day for months on end using an ATM card. He also paid for extravagant meals, expensive wine, used SFOS funds to support his real estate promotions (by taking clients out to meals, faking that he was wealthy). This man is a sociopath, with no respect or honor whatsoever. It meant nothing to him that it took the efforts of several hundred VOLUNTEERS every year to put on the show and make a small profit, and he had no guilt whatsoever about stealing every penny the society had. Had we not discovered the discrepancy in his financial reports versus the bank account when we did, I am sure that 5 or 10 days later, the San Francisco Orchid Society would have ceased to exist, something that he had no feelings whatsoever for. This man is a crook, a con man, and should never ever have access to any non-profit (or profit) bank accounts. I ended up volunteering to be the treasurer of the SFOSfor more than a year to resolve all of the issues, file the crime reports with the San Francisco Police department, meet with officers of the crime division and many other related activities. This required hundreds of hours of my time. I work as an independent biotech consultant, and normally my time (for my clients) is billed at $350/hr. However, I provided all of my services pro bono, but please realize that this effort required a substantial personal investment on my part.
Why is it that some poor man (more often than not a minority such as a black man or Hispanic) can rob a convenience store and if he is lucky enough to net $300 that he needs to feed his family (but gets caught) and he gets a felony conviction and spends several to tens of years in jail, yet this white, sociopath, spoilt and non-repentant jerk can steal over $100,000 from an organization that is primary supported by senior citizens (over 90% of the membership of the SFOS has been historically over 50 years of age, and of that, many over 65), who volunteer their time and health for a good cause, and a crook and con man can get away with stealing nearly the entire treasury of such organization, and get away with a slap on the hand? This man needs a serious intervention, above and beyond a slap on the hand and a misdemeanor. A felony conviction,even without a sentence, at least carries with it the significant baggage that would hopefully prevent Jack from ever robbing another profit or non-profit organization again. I should also add that over the last few years I was approached by several other fraternal and other types of organizations where Jack was trying to join (and volunteer to be on boards, treasurer etc). So he has not stopped this type of activity. He continues to be a sociopath and a danger to the community.
Mary E Gerritsen, Ph.D.
-----------
My name is Jeff Harris.
I am the current President of the San Francisco Orchid Society (SFOS) and have served in that role since 2018. I have been a member of SFOS since 2009, and also served in various leadership roles since 2012, including as SFOS treasurer from 2012-2014, and as SFOS Vice President and newsletter editor in 2017-2018.
Jack Ryder's deliberate embezzlement of well over $100,000 from the San Francisco Orchid Society in 2015 to 2017 (while serving as treasurer) nearly destroyed this San Francisco institution. We rely on a pretty small annual operating budget not only to run the day-to-day operations, to host our online presence, to conduct monthly meetings and other seasonal events for our several hundred members, to provide donations to support local educational institutions and scholarships as well as global habitat conservation efforts, but also to produce the Pacific Orchid Exposition (POE), which is one of the largest orchid shows in the country. SFOS has been hosting this internationally recognized orchid show for approximately 70 years, since it was founded in 1951. In 1990 this popular event outgrew it?s space at the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park and moved to Fort Mason, until 2016.Though other factors such as rising costs were also involved, Mr. Ryder's actions most certainly contributed to crippling the society's ability to financially produce this annual event at scale, and forced society members to personally loan us money just to pay off the overdue bills Mr. Ryder had repeatedly claimed to have paid in his role as treasurer in 2015 - 2017. Despite the huge impact of Mr. Ryder's theft and deceit, we have successfully managed to downsize our activities to stay in operation and now slowly recover. Many people involved in running the society and the orchid show event wanted to believe Mr. Ryder, and naively gave him the benefit of the doubt when he lied to us over and over again during his tenure about the financial state of the society.
Mr. Ryder presents himself well. He is intelligent and charismatic, but I am convinced he is a pathologic liar and sociopath who cannot be trusted, particularly with management of other people?s money.After the previous leaders were finally able to forcefully remove Mr. Ryder as treasurer and attempt to begin to remedy the financial situation, most of these people were exhausted by the process and stepped down. Though we have finally gotten him to pay back much of what he stole and some additional amount in damages, I have had to personally oversee this protracted process to get Mr. Ryder here today.
I do not believe he has any real remorse for his actions, but finally cooperated in making these payments when he felt he had no other recourse to move on from this episode. Though I do not personally agree that he should be allowed to conduct business as a licensed realtor, or to be able to serve on non-profit leadership boards, I have had to keep quiet in the interest of SFOS getting repayment, albeit about five years later. I strongly recommend that his actions remain easily visible with quick online search to enable others who seek to do a background check on him in the future to take appropriate decisions around granting him employment or access to funds, and avoid a repeat performance of what we have endured.
Jeff Harris, MD, PhD
President, San Francisco Orchid Society
-------
My name is George McRae. I was a member of the society for many many years. I served on the board and on the show staff. I volunteered my time as Plant Hotel chair for the show for many years, as a board member and nominating committee member and finally as President of the society as a whole.
Except for a small few paid show staff, the entirety of the society consists of volunteers. Members who believe in the value of the society as an educational, and conservation and aesthetic asset. Members who donate their funds andif not more importantly their time and sweat equity. The workings of nonprofits such as the SFOSrequire literally thousands of person-hours each year to not just survive but to thrive. The society and its twice yearly shows and monthly meetings are an historical asset not just to local members but to folks all over the world.
In my year as President, and nominating committee member,we evaluated and reached out to Mr. Ryder to assume the duties of treasurer. A position of the highest trust. That he betrayed that trust is an unforgivable insult and violation of that trust. His exploitation and enrichment was methodical and carefully planned and executed. Not an act of impulse or need. Restitution and damages are one thing. That satisfies the financial crisis he put the society in. The betrayal of trust is quite another. It is not in my scope to put a price on that. I hope the court system will take that into account.
Thank you,
George McRae
Past President, San Francisco Orchid Society
and https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/orchid-society-treasurer-charged-with-embezzling/
We also have resolved the Jack Ryder embezzlement case now that he was sentenced with grand theft at his October 13th hearing in the SF Superior Court, after finally getting him to pay back the money stolen (over $100,000) plus another $25,000 in interest/damages. Though we tried to make the case for a felony charge, he only ended up receiving a misdemeanor conviction. We were told by the DAs office that this was what would be achievable in San Francisco court at least, given it was his first documented offense, was non-violent in nature, and under a million dollars stolen. Mary Gerritsen, Tom Perlite, George McRae and I were present at the hearing and provided the court with our impact statements, which are also printed in this newsletter. Though somehow he is still allowed to handle multi-million dollar sales as a licensed realtor at Compass Realty (https://www.compass.com/agents/jack-ryder/), and is likely the reason he was able to finally get the money to pay us back when he was ready to do so, I hope having these statements made public allows this information to live on in a way they continue to have an impact, and help prevent other non-profits (or for profit businesses) from putting Jack Ryder on a Board or in a position of any financial responsibility that could enable him to commit these crimes again beyond the one year probationary period where he is forbidden by the court order to seek or accept such positions."
and the 4 impact statements in the "Board Meeting Minutes Addendum" - pp 25-29 - especially the detail in Mary's should be there...
"ADDENDUM - CONTINUED from October 11, 2021 SFOS BOARD MEETING MINUTES:
Impact Statements (read at Jack Ryder's court hearing on Wednesday, October 13, 2021) from Tom Perlite, Mary Gerritsen, Jeff Harris and George McRae regarding impact of Jack Ryder's deceit and theft on them personally as well as the San Francisco Orchid Society:
My name is Tom Perlite and I have been a member of the San Francisco Orchid Society (SFOS) for 45 years. I was on the Show Committee for the SFOS's annual Pacific Orchid Exposition for over 20 years and was the show producer when Jack Ryder?s theft of society funds took place.
As Show Producer, I was responsible for the organizational aspects of the show and the procurement and payment of goods and services for the show. I worked closely with Jack Ryder in this role, as it was his responsibility, as Treasurer, to pay the goods and service suppliers, as well as receive funds from the commercial vendors participating in the show.
Mr. Ryder was also a member of the show committee, which met every month for 9 months prior to the show, which took place in late February. At every meeting Mr. Ryder would present a financial report indicating the income and expenses for the show, as well as the bank account balance of the SFOS. At every meeting, Mr. Ryder repeatedly lied to the committee, and presented fabricated data on the financial reports presented to the committee. Most of the members of the committee were volunteers and SFOS board members and trusted implicitly the information presented by Mr. Ryder.
I initially became aware of the theft after one service provider and the Park and Recreation Department told me they had not received payment for invoices sent to the society. By the time we were aware of the theft, the bank balance was down to $5000. Since there were not funds to pay these invoices, I paid the $14,000 owed, with my own money, so that we could proceed with the show, the following week.
Mr. Ryder's actions impacted many people. All of the show committee members were personally devastated by the theft and felt betrayed by Mr. Ryder, who we all considered a friend and colleague. Beside myself, two other committee members also loaned money to the SFOSso that the show could take place. This was a financial burden to all of us.
In addition, Mr. Ryder's theft of the SFOS funds prevented the SFOS from distributing money to various educational organizations that they support every year, as part of the SFOS mission statement. These include a scholarship to the Floristry and Environmental Horticulture Department at City College of San Francisco, the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco, and the Helen Crocker Russell Library in the S.F. Botanical Garden. The theft also prevented the SFOS from functioning in its normal manner due to lack of operating funds.
Mr. Ryder's theft was not a spur of the moment action, but rather a systematic daily theft of money from the SFOS over the course of many months. I think this systematic theft and the fact that Mr. Ryder lied repeatedly to us all is what bothers me most. His actions hurt all of the members of the SFOS who work so hard to raise funds to distribute to the various educational groups we support. These organizations rely on our yearly donations to provide their services. Mr. Ryder's theft had a wide-ranging effect on many people.
---------------
To Whom it May Concern:
My name is Mary Gerritsen. I am a past president of the San Francisco Orchid Society, and at the time of the crime, I had stepped down from any director responsibilities, having held the president position for multiple years. However, I still remained involved, serving on the show committee and just advising on general society activities where organizational history would be of use .
The San Francisco Orchid Society was world renowned for the Pacific Orchid Exposition (POE), which was, up until 2016, the largest and most diverse orchid show in the USA. It was held at Fort Mason, and featured over 60 vendors, local, national and international and attracted over 15000 attendees, many of whom came from other parts of California, as well as different states and even different countries.
The logistics to putting on such a show were complex, and were for the most part, executed by a team of volunteers (The Show Committee) as well as a show manager (Tom Perlite) and our publicity manager (Frances LaRose). I had served on that committee for many years. The show required a substantial reserve (>$100,000) to put on, requiring pre-payments to Fort Mason (rent and permits), the City of San Francisco (permits and other fees), garbage services, advertising, rental of equipment, tables, drape, electrical layouts, security guards, and many more items too numerous to list. Every year the society would front these costs, and after the show, replenish our bank accounts so that we could put on a show the following year. The profits from our shows were variable, some years we made money and in more recent years, barely broke even. But for the most part, the profits from the show enabled our society to conduct our activities for the rest of the year, which included monthly meetings, speakers (including travel costs and speaker fees), plant tables (basically prizes for our members), scholarships, support to conservation organizations and the Helen Crocker Russel library and Conservatory of Flowers. Organization for the show would typically start 8 months in advance, and the team would meet monthly to go over the budget, costs for new items, progress on reports, contracts, etc. When Jack Ryder joined the society and became treasurer, he attended the show meeting, and provided (what we later learned were falsified) reports about the bills he had paid etc for the show.
About 1 week before the POE in 2017, I received a phone call from Ms. Jean Lee, also a past president of the San Francisco Orchid Society, and other than Jack Ryder or myself, apparently the only ones that had been left with authorization to access to balances in our Wells Fargo Account. We had an independent bookkeeper, but Jack had been blocking her access to our bank statements for months and fabricating very convincing and professional looking financial reports. To our complete surprise the balance in our accounts was only a few thousand dollars, and with the POE about to occur, we owed tens of thousands of dollars in past due bills. Many of the bills that Jack had said were paid had not been.
We were cratering on a complete disaster - if we could not put on the show, we could not recover the funds we had invested, but we could not do so since the rent had not been paid and dozens of bills were outstanding. We went into emergency mode, with Tom Perlite, Dave Hermeyer and Maureen Clarke all putting up thousands of dollars to get us through the show. It was only because of their unsecured risk in putting up this money that the society even survived, but for the next few years, the society was on very rough ground. We could not even think of doing a show at Fort Mason again, and had to radically downsize the show and our activities, changes that created a lot of negative feelings from our audience who normally attended the POE and were extremely disappointed in the much smaller show that we were forced to put on at the Hall of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. Now the Pacific Orchid Exposition has lost its former glory, being a much smaller show (with less than 30 vendors, only a few international), and a considerably smaller attendance. It is no longer a national and international draw for attendees, now most of the audience comes within a 300 mile radius of San Francisco. While still popular with our attendees, every year we field complaints about why we no longer have the show at Fort Mason, how disappointed people are with the displays (we have about 1/4 the area available for displays), and why can't we go back to Fort Mason?
As one of the former officers still on the SFOSbank accounts, I was able to access the bank accounts, and spent several sleepless (entirely sleepless) weeks tracking down the slight of hand and dishonest practices of Jack Ryder. He had systematically drained the bank accounts of the SFOS, robbing from our savings, checking and endowment accounts. For the most part he stole $300 per day for months on end using an ATM card. He also paid for extravagant meals, expensive wine, used SFOS funds to support his real estate promotions (by taking clients out to meals, faking that he was wealthy). This man is a sociopath, with no respect or honor whatsoever. It meant nothing to him that it took the efforts of several hundred VOLUNTEERS every year to put on the show and make a small profit, and he had no guilt whatsoever about stealing every penny the society had. Had we not discovered the discrepancy in his financial reports versus the bank account when we did, I am sure that 5 or 10 days later, the San Francisco Orchid Society would have ceased to exist, something that he had no feelings whatsoever for. This man is a crook, a con man, and should never ever have access to any non-profit (or profit) bank accounts. I ended up volunteering to be the treasurer of the SFOSfor more than a year to resolve all of the issues, file the crime reports with the San Francisco Police department, meet with officers of the crime division and many other related activities. This required hundreds of hours of my time. I work as an independent biotech consultant, and normally my time (for my clients) is billed at $350/hr. However, I provided all of my services pro bono, but please realize that this effort required a substantial personal investment on my part.
Why is it that some poor man (more often than not a minority such as a black man or Hispanic) can rob a convenience store and if he is lucky enough to net $300 that he needs to feed his family (but gets caught) and he gets a felony conviction and spends several to tens of years in jail, yet this white, sociopath, spoilt and non-repentant jerk can steal over $100,000 from an organization that is primary supported by senior citizens (over 90% of the membership of the SFOS has been historically over 50 years of age, and of that, many over 65), who volunteer their time and health for a good cause, and a crook and con man can get away with stealing nearly the entire treasury of such organization, and get away with a slap on the hand? This man needs a serious intervention, above and beyond a slap on the hand and a misdemeanor. A felony conviction,even without a sentence, at least carries with it the significant baggage that would hopefully prevent Jack from ever robbing another profit or non-profit organization again. I should also add that over the last few years I was approached by several other fraternal and other types of organizations where Jack was trying to join (and volunteer to be on boards, treasurer etc). So he has not stopped this type of activity. He continues to be a sociopath and a danger to the community.
Mary E Gerritsen, Ph.D.
-----------
My name is Jeff Harris.
I am the current President of the San Francisco Orchid Society (SFOS) and have served in that role since 2018. I have been a member of SFOS since 2009, and also served in various leadership roles since 2012, including as SFOS treasurer from 2012-2014, and as SFOS Vice President and newsletter editor in 2017-2018.
Jack Ryder's deliberate embezzlement of well over $100,000 from the San Francisco Orchid Society in 2015 to 2017 (while serving as treasurer) nearly destroyed this San Francisco institution. We rely on a pretty small annual operating budget not only to run the day-to-day operations, to host our online presence, to conduct monthly meetings and other seasonal events for our several hundred members, to provide donations to support local educational institutions and scholarships as well as global habitat conservation efforts, but also to produce the Pacific Orchid Exposition (POE), which is one of the largest orchid shows in the country. SFOS has been hosting this internationally recognized orchid show for approximately 70 years, since it was founded in 1951. In 1990 this popular event outgrew it?s space at the County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park and moved to Fort Mason, until 2016.Though other factors such as rising costs were also involved, Mr. Ryder's actions most certainly contributed to crippling the society's ability to financially produce this annual event at scale, and forced society members to personally loan us money just to pay off the overdue bills Mr. Ryder had repeatedly claimed to have paid in his role as treasurer in 2015 - 2017. Despite the huge impact of Mr. Ryder's theft and deceit, we have successfully managed to downsize our activities to stay in operation and now slowly recover. Many people involved in running the society and the orchid show event wanted to believe Mr. Ryder, and naively gave him the benefit of the doubt when he lied to us over and over again during his tenure about the financial state of the society.
Mr. Ryder presents himself well. He is intelligent and charismatic, but I am convinced he is a pathologic liar and sociopath who cannot be trusted, particularly with management of other people?s money.After the previous leaders were finally able to forcefully remove Mr. Ryder as treasurer and attempt to begin to remedy the financial situation, most of these people were exhausted by the process and stepped down. Though we have finally gotten him to pay back much of what he stole and some additional amount in damages, I have had to personally oversee this protracted process to get Mr. Ryder here today.
I do not believe he has any real remorse for his actions, but finally cooperated in making these payments when he felt he had no other recourse to move on from this episode. Though I do not personally agree that he should be allowed to conduct business as a licensed realtor, or to be able to serve on non-profit leadership boards, I have had to keep quiet in the interest of SFOS getting repayment, albeit about five years later. I strongly recommend that his actions remain easily visible with quick online search to enable others who seek to do a background check on him in the future to take appropriate decisions around granting him employment or access to funds, and avoid a repeat performance of what we have endured.
Jeff Harris, MD, PhD
President, San Francisco Orchid Society
-------
My name is George McRae. I was a member of the society for many many years. I served on the board and on the show staff. I volunteered my time as Plant Hotel chair for the show for many years, as a board member and nominating committee member and finally as President of the society as a whole.
Except for a small few paid show staff, the entirety of the society consists of volunteers. Members who believe in the value of the society as an educational, and conservation and aesthetic asset. Members who donate their funds andif not more importantly their time and sweat equity. The workings of nonprofits such as the SFOSrequire literally thousands of person-hours each year to not just survive but to thrive. The society and its twice yearly shows and monthly meetings are an historical asset not just to local members but to folks all over the world.
In my year as President, and nominating committee member,we evaluated and reached out to Mr. Ryder to assume the duties of treasurer. A position of the highest trust. That he betrayed that trust is an unforgivable insult and violation of that trust. His exploitation and enrichment was methodical and carefully planned and executed. Not an act of impulse or need. Restitution and damages are one thing. That satisfies the financial crisis he put the society in. The betrayal of trust is quite another. It is not in my scope to put a price on that. I hope the court system will take that into account.
Thank you,
George McRae
Past President, San Francisco Orchid Society