EFTA00727276.pdf

ALFRED PAUL SECKEL, a resident of California, Plaintiff, v. TOM McIVER, an individual, and DOES 1 through 100, inclusive. Defendants. CASE No.: CV03-6606 CAS (PLAX) DECLARATION OF Bart D. Hibbs I, Bart D. Hibbs, declare: I have personal knowledge of the facts as set forth below: I am not a party to this action. I can testify in a Court of Law under oath the following facts: I am an engineer at AeroVironment in Simi Valley, CA. I have known the plaintiff Al Seckel since approximately the mid 1980s. In approximately 1984, Al Seckel founded a skeptical group to counter various pseudoscientific beliefs in popular culture. This group was called the Southern California Skeptics (SCS). In approximately1987, I was appointed by the Board to take over the role of SCS Treasurer from the previous treasurer John Edwards, and continued in this official role until the group suspended its activities sometime in 1990. Between 1987 and 1990 I was officially listed as the SCS treasurer on all SCS mastheads. I reported to the SCS Board on a regular basis about the finances of SCS. Al Seckel was present at these meetings, along with other SCS board members. I also regularly attended the meetings of SCS. I rarely see Al Seckel anymore. During the time that I was SCS treasurer, I personally handled all the finances and accounting of the SCS. This task included keeping track and recording all income/expenses of SCS, as well as check writing privileges for various SCS expenses. I made copies of all checks, all bank deposit receipts (which included cash deposits from the basket to collect donations during the meetings). All of this I entered into an accounting program on my computer, and the results of the accounting were given to the SCS board at the Board meetings, and accurate and true annual accounts were published in the LASER, the official Newsletter of the group. I took this job very seriously, and did it myself. Al Seckel never tried to influence me in any way in doing the accounting, was not involved in the accounting, and I was never "under his control" as some people have falsely claimed. I am my own person and do my own work. While I was treasurer of SCS, at no time was there any significant income into the group, and legitimate expenses seemed to always quickly consume any income that came in, EFTA00727276 despite the fact that the group was run on a very tight shoestring. Any income to SCS was quickly eaten up by expenses that related to mass promotional mailings, subscriber mailings, printings of the flyers and other promotional literature, printing of the LASER (the official journal of the group), subscriptions, book purchases, banquet and conference costs, costs of the Beckman Auditorium, and other legitimate SCS expenses. On several occasions, SCS was short funds to cover the expenses that had to be outlaid. At this point, Al Seckel would step in and put his own personal funds into the SCS account to cover the SCS account so that it would not be overdrawn. As SCS was always operating at a slight loss, Seckel would rarely, if ever, reimburse himself for the money that he outlaid to cover SCS. Other Board members also contributed some funds to keep SCS afloat. Seckel did not "loot the skeptics out of existence" as has been falsely claimed. The rumors that have been related to me that Al Seckel had somehow been inappropriate, misused, or taken funds from the SCS accounts for his own personal benefit are completely contrary to my experience and knowledge. I cannot say this more emphatically, as the truth is just the opposite! I know of no foundation to these claims at all. The claim made by Pat Linse that Al Seckel received $60,000 from SCS (during my tenure as treasurer 1987-1990) is absolutely false and without merit. I never saw those kinds of funds in the Skeptics at any time. The accounting books of SCS have always been open to anyone that asked. These books had copies of all checks deposited, originals of all checks written, copies of all deposit receipts, all SCS bank statements, and a computerized accounting of all transactions. All of this was prepared solely by me. A true and correct copy of the SCS accounting books were provided to Elie Shneour, Phillip Klass, and CSICOP. I cannot recall anyone else that ever asked me to examine them. I kept them in my possession until approximately a few years ago, when lack of space and any interest in them, made me decide to throw them out. This is a decision I did entirely on my own, and I did not consult with anyone about it, as SCS had closed down its operation well over 10 years previously. This is what I informed Al Seckel when he contacted me recently for copies of the SCS accounting books. Finally, there have been allegations that Seckel somehow "fabricated" the accounting books to make them appear as if he did not "loot the skeptics." I know of no reason to do this, as the legitimate accounting books showed just the opposite: that he helped keep the Skeptics financially afloat, rather than looting it. In addition he never accessed the computer on which I kept the records without my presence. The computer was almost always at AeroVironment so he could not have gained access to it without my knowledge. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed this day of December , 2007 , at Simi Valley, California. Bart D. Hibbs EFTA00727277