Mr. Arthur Zakama

I just received a copy of a letter Mr. Bartee is planning to send to the Minneapolis Police Department asking for protection on Sunday August 23, 2009, at the referendum the Liberian community is holding.

I am very disappointed that you, who went from church to church, from one tribal organization to another, asking the Liberian people in Minnesota to vote for you, will sit down and allow this administration to take the constitution to referendum without ensuring that the document would truly benefit the organization and the Liberian people.

As I said to you and the administration in several meetings, I want this community to have a constitution that will strengthen the community. I want a constitution that will allow OLM to function as a true non-profit organization. However, the document you are taking to referendum is not ready and will only create more problems in our community.

I am ONE member of the Board and I know Board Member Doris Parker is on the same page with me. I am appealing to you to stop the referendum and rescheduled it for another date.

· At the community meeting held on Sunday July 26, 2009, the Liberian people agreed that this administration would hold two educational sessions to discuss and make corrections to the constitution before August 23, 2009. We have not had the two meetings.

· At the meeting held on Sunday August 9, 2009, we discuss the constitution, made corrections and a motion was passed that this administration/the constitution committee will properly document all changes and corrections to the constitution and bring the changes the next meeting. This was not done.

· On Sunday August 16, 2009, over 35 Liberians showed up to discuss the constitution. The administration and the constitution committee showed up without meeting notes and without the changes that were made in the previous meetings. This lack of documentation prompted a lengthy discussion and argument. The meeting was canceled and no discussion was held on the constitution.

A motion was made by a community member, the motion was voted upon and the decision was that the meeting be rescheduled for the following week (August 23, 2009) and the referendum be postponed to a later date. That the Board of Directors and the Administration set the new date for the referendum. We have not had a Board since Sunday. Mr. Bartee was present when this motion was made, Board Member Doris Parker and myself were also present. Mr. Bartee is insisting that the referendum be held on Sunday August 23, 2009. He is disrespecting the Board of Directors of OLM, and the Liberian people of Minnesota.

· The acting President, Mr. Bartee, insulted the Liberian people on Sunday August 16, 2009, when he told everyone that if they want to discuss the constitution they should show up on Wednesday and Thursday at the OLM office. Before anyone could comment, Mr. Bartee walked out of the meeting and left everyone still sitting. I have been actively involved in OLM since 1996. We have never had a community town-hall meeting on a weekday. This constitution matter is a serious business; we need to treat it as such.

· OLM is getting grants from donor organizations to serve the Liberian people. I am afraid that if we failed to fix the OLM constitution the correct way, we could run to problems with Federal and State laws, that governs non-profit 501© 3 organizations.

Mr. Zakama, you wanted to become Chairman of the Board of Directors because you felt you were best qualified for the job. I respectfully ask you to call off this referendum and allow the constitution committee to continue its work and let us fix the OLM constitution. We need to allow the people to comment, we need to make corrections and we need to produce a decent document for our community. Other communities have done it, we have capable Liberians to do this job, let us do it right.

This is my peaceful and respectfuly request to you.

Georgette N. Gray
OLM Board Member