Winter 2024/2025 Issue

Page 4 Winter 2024/2025 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN By Suzanne Bush A storm is brewing in Bensa- lem, PA. The Pennsylvania Thorough- bred Horseman’s Association (PTHA) board president, Robert Hutt, in an August Zoom meeting with PTHA members and direc- tors, expressed frustration and anger about a number of structur- al and policy issues that he says have thwarted him from fulfilling his responsibilities. Hutt, who is 78, became president in 2023, de- feating previous president Sal De Bunda, who held the office for 12 years and was running for a fifth three-year term. The Zoom meet- ing was supposed to be broadcast from the PTHA office in PARX. But at the last minute the meeting was moved because Hutt was in- formed that he was not permitted to use PTHA’s office. Shortly after he became pres- ident, Hutt said he realized that things were not as they should be. He says he discovered evidence of “ghost consulting,” as well as policies that didn’t make sense. Legacy Directors Block Changes Among the challenges Hutt faces as president are structural restrictions on his office. “The only time I get a vote is when there is a 5/5 tie,” he says. The PTHA executive director, Jeffrey Matty, Jr. who is a paid employee of the organization, gets a vote. But the board president’s vote is limited. Further, Hutt says, there The Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association website states its purpose is “to protect and provide for the Parx Racing horsemen through the guarantee of live racing, horsemen’s rights, health care and pension for horsemen, benevolence programs, and more.” Photo credit: Suzanne Bush ‘Ghost Consulting’, Obfuscation Roil Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horseman’s Association are several “Legacy Directors,” who have formed a voting block that routinely blocks Hutt’s efforts to get to the bottom of the issues. “I have learned that the previous board shared the same concerns this board has. The dif- ference is when I asked this board to spend the necessary funds to prove our allegations they have refused to do so. They left that entire burden to (fellow PTHA board member) John Julia and me as we have personally funded the investigation,” Hutt says. Beyond the implications of the over-sized impact of the Legacy Directors, Hutt says that PTHA’s bylaws are being ignored and violated. Ghost Consultants Haunt PTHA In September Hutt and Julia filed a petition in state court to remove several members of PTHA board—the so-called “Legacy Directors”—along with Matty, its executive director. Among the claims set forth in the petition were that the board is not fulfilling its fiduciary obligations to PTHA, and is ignoring past misconduct and perpetuating violations of PTHA bylaws. Hutt says that, almost by ac- cident, he discovered a pattern of payments to “ghost consultants,” among them former State Senator Vince Fumo. “We would never have uncovered the ghost consultants if Vince Fumo had not come forward to demand his money,” he says. Fumo, who left the legislature in 2008, was one of the architects of the State’s slot machine law. And, apparently, he provided consulting services to De Bunda, the previous PTHA board president. Fumo’s consult- ing contract originated with De Bunda, who told the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2021 that he had hired Fumo for “strategic input.” The Philadelphia Inquirer re- ported that “Fumo was convicted in 2009 on 137 counts of conspir- acy, fraud, obstruction of justice, and filing false tax returns. Fumo had defrauded the state Senate and two nonprofit organizations and staged a cover-up in a failed bid to thwart the FBI and federal prosecutors. After serving four years in prison and a period of house arrest, Fumo announced in 2014 that he had begun a career as a political consultant and listed the Horsemen’s Association among his clients. DeBunda, a longtime Fumo associate, praised the former politician’s profession- al rebirth.” According to the petition, the contract with Fumo had ended in December 2022, shortly before the beginning of Hutt’s term as president of PTHA in January 2023. But in the fall of 2023 Fumo threatened to sue PTHA for more than $50,000, which he said he was still owed. The full board, according to the petition, voted to permit attorney Alan Foreman to communicate with Fumo’s attor- ney. The petition states that: “In total, in excess of $215,000 was paid to Fumo for alleged consult- ing. No apparent services were provided by Fumo in exchange for the payments and Petitioners’ investigation has revealed the existence of no deliverables.” According to Hutt and Julia’s petition, Matty, without the board’s consent or knowledge, negotiated a settlement with Fumo on behalf of PTHA and signed the agreement. The petition also alleges that PTHA’s Legacy Directors ac- quiesced to consulting payments to Dun Roamin Farms, which is owned by De Bunda. Between 2017 and 2022, Dun Roamin Farms received payments in excess of $380,000. Petitioners Hutt and Julia have been unable to find any deliverables from this consulting agreement. PTHA’s bylaws preclude the payment of direct or indirect compensation to officers of the board. The final payment to Dun Roamin Farms, according to the petition, was made in December 2022, De Bunda’s last full month as board president. The petitioners further claim that between 2019 and 2023, while he was president of the board, De Bunda funneled legal work to the firm of Archer & Greiner. The payments totaled $550,800. During that same period, De Bunda was a partner in the firm. Matty is adamant that Hutt and Julia are wrong. “The PTHA board members will vigorously and forcefully defend ourselves. We will continue to fulfill our re- sponsibilities, and we will not be intimidated by those who engage in personal attacks.” Doing the Right Thing Hutt says that he and Julia are trying to ensure that PTHA lives up to its mission and conforms to its bylaws and state laws. “John and I did not sue for one penny. There is no financial gain. All we’re asking the court is to remove the Legacy Board that is standing in the way of us doing our jobs. We have a fidu- ciary and moral responsibility to the 2500 people who elected us and that is all we want to do,” he says. “PTHA should do right for the horsemen. We have no ill will or animosity.” He says he’s fulfilling his desire to do the right thing and does not regret initiating these actions. He and Julia are paying the legal fees associated with this petition themselves. For his part, Matty insists that “We will defend every and all allegations and we look for- ward to putting this matter behind us.” He would not comment on an y of the specific allegations in th e petition, instead, he said “I’m go ing to let those issues be settled in the courtroom.” The Pennsyl- va nia Racing Commission has al so declined to comment, as the ci vil litigation is pending. In 2004 the Pennsylvania L egislature passed Act 71, also ca lled the Pennsylvania Race H orse Development Trust Fund A ct. Act 71 opened the door to casinos, linking them to ho rseracing and creating a stream of revenue from the casinos’ sl ot machines. Although Act 71 ’s objective was to provide re sources and support for the st ate’s horseracing industry, the A ct created broad support for P ennsylvanians in the form of as sessments on gross terminal re venue from slot machines. The pr oceeds from these assessments ar e distributed far beyond the st ate’s horseracing industry— fr om property tax relief, to grants fo r volunteer fire companies, to dr ug and alcohol treatment pro- gr ams, to local law enforcement gr ants.