An unpleasant chapter finally closed!

As many of you have noticed, I have not been blogging as much as I normally do.

There are a number of reasons for that.  I have been dealing with a number of very time consuming and draining issues and late yesterday I got news that the most draining of them all has finally concluded.

On December 22nd of 2013, I along with 6 others were slapped with lawsuit papers by Ray Sasseville, Joan Hansen and Sturgis North.

Bernie Aubin, Steven Hammer, Vince Lewis, the Sicamous Chamber of Commerce, the Mayor of Sicamous and the City of Sicamous and myself found ourselves embroiled in a nuisance, shot gun lawsuit where in among other things, libel and slander were the predominant complaint.  It did not take very long for the City and Mayor of Sicamous to have the case against them dropped.  A few months later, the case against Bernie, Steve, Vince and the Chamber was dropped, leaving me the only one left to fight the case.

Over the course of the last two years I have seen the lawyer for Sturgis North et al be suspended, not once but twice. I attended the BC Securities hearing against Ray, his wife Edith and his accountant, Norm Keller. The result of that hearing was just recently announced.  Ray Sasseville was banned from trading for 5 years and fined $10,000, his wife was banned for 1 year and fined $5,000 and Norm Keller, their accountant was banned for 1 year and fined $5,000.  Click here to read more about the bans and fines.

Ray attempted to settle with me a month before his failed Merritt event by offering me passes and some cash to promote his event, he said that if I agreed, he'd drop the case.  In all good conscience, I could not and from that point forward all communications ceased.

My attorney, Rodney Chorneyko hit wall after wall attempting to move this case forward toward resolution.  In September of 2015, we finally got in front of a "judge" however, while the "judge" agreed the case could be quashed for want of prosecution, she did not like the way my lawyer had served Joan Hansen.  You see when Gerhard Pyper, their attorney was suspended, Ray filed to become self representing, Joan however, did not.

So, because Mr. Pyper was suspended a second time, Joan's file was in the hands of the BC Law Society.  It took several attempts to finally have Joan file as self representing, but the minute we were notified that it was done, Rodney served them all again and the culmination of that effort took place yesterday.

A consent dismiss order was signed and the lawsuit is now ended. I will not be getting any of my costs back, but then, even if I did get an order for costs, Ray's home is in foreclosure, he and his wife have $15,000 in fines to pay BC Securities and Mike Smith who has a judgement against Ray for $70,000 has, as of the best of my knowledge, not been able to collect on it. It is also my understanding that Ray paid $40K to the plaintiff in the Arizona Court case to end that lawsuit back in October/November of 2015.

Knowing all of these things about his financial standing I agreed to not go after costs, after all, the likelihood of collecting appears to be slim to none and any attempt to collect would be met with more costs.

FINALLY this lawsuit is over.

It's been a tough road to walk, but now I feel somewhat vindicated.

I don't feel victorious though,  I am not gloating or shouting with glee. I should feel like celebrating, but all I can think about are all of the people that to this date, have gotten none of the promised compensation over three failed motorcycle/music fests.

I do feel good though after all I have done my level best to educate people so that they could make sound decisions. I have been condemned and criticized by some and praised and hailed by others for my attempts to stand strong and support the truth and this community.

To those who felt I deserved to be sued because you feel I am too outspoken, too passionate, too opinionated; I say thank you. You have been the best teachers I could have asked for.

To those who supported me, some financially, I say thank you, for you shored up my resolve when I felt weak or guilty over what the stress was doing to my husband.

To those who still hold the bag financially over their dealing with Sturgis North I pray you overcome.

My only regret about the outcome of this case is that we never actually went to court.  I truly wanted my day. I wanted to be able to make public all of the copious documents and email conversations from those whose businesses and lives were adversely affected by their dealings with the Sturgis North event management.

I wanted to hear a judge say that I was within my rights to put together the information I did, that I did it properly and well, and that by offering Ray the opportunity to speak though he chose not to, I had ensured the integrity of the body of evidence I had pulled together.

I am happy to have this case over. I am happy to see the relief in the eyes of my husband. I am happy that I don't need the services of Rodney Chorneyko anymore but I am grateful to Steve Hammer for introducing him to me as Rodney has been relentless in getting this case closed.

I am grateful for so very much this morning.

Now I have one favour to ask all of you who ride.

Our 9th Annual Beat the PMS Blues entry has been extended because my Doctor, Dr. Feelgood says that I am not getting the massive dose of motorcycle photos that I need to deal with my PMS (Parked Motorcycle Syndrome.)  He says the number of entries we has so far is barley going to sustain me.

There are some MAGNIFICENT prizes to be won - a Drift Ghost S Camera from the Sports Camera Store, Swag from Nashville Bike Week, a set of Love-Jugs to keep your hot motorcycle cool, books from Chris Holesheck and survival gear from Prospector Central - that collapsable cooler/stool is a rally survival must have!

So please folks, enter your bike in our online show n shine and help me get through the PMS Blues - I want to smile again, I need to smile again and seeing all of your wonderful motorcycles will make that happen - I know they will! Click on the banner below to go to the show n shine page....

Have a great day everyone and if you are blessed enough to be riding today because of the climate you live in or are holidaying in - PLEASE, ride like everyone around you is blind and can not see you. (And think of we Canucks and those who live in cold snowy climates and BE GRATEFUL you can ride.)

Belt Drive Betty,
Editor & Rider



Disclaimer:
All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. The Belt Drive Betty Blog makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site & will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.

Dealing with lawyers and lawsuits - fun and games - NOT!

I recently posted a photo of Doc, my 2010 Ultra Classic with 9,800 miles on it, on Facebook, with the information that I am selling him in order to put a big chunk of money on the upcoming lawyers bills that I know will be arriving sooner than later.

A few people who although we are connected on Facebook, have not truly been following the story aka SAGA and took a few things out of context.

My goal here is to clear the air and update people on exactly where things stand.

For those who have not been following this misadventure, I am being sued by Sturgis North/Canada, Ray Sasseville and Joan Hansen for Libel, slander and defamation.

My reporting on Ray Sasseville and his history included links, screen shots and documents - you can read up on the history of the lawsuit here:
http://www.beltdrivebetty.com/community/bdb-defense-fund

No matter that what I reported was already in public domain and all I had done was put everything together in one place, Ray and his group decided to sue myself along with 6 others.

The shotgun lawsuit, initiated just before Christmas, included the Mayor of Sicamous, the City of Sicamous, the Sicamous Chamber of Commerce, Steve Hammer, Bernie Aubin, Vince Lewis and myself.

My attorney calls it a nuisance suit.

Nothing about this lawsuit has been straight forward.
Shortly after the suit was launched by lawyer Gerhard Pyper, Ray petitioned to self represent on behalf of himself and the company.  Joan however was still represented by Pyper.

In March we got an offer to settle from Gerhard Pyper.

The first six defendants took the offer they were given. Their offer was that if they didn't ask for costs, the plaintiffs would drop the suit.

The offer I was given was unacceptable.
They basically wanted a $250,000 gag order on me and for me to remove any reference to them off my site, out of my newspaper and to monitor social media and ensure that no one in my circle said anything about them. If I didn't they'd claim the bond money.

As a reporter, I have done my job well. I reported facts, provided evidence and asked people to educate themselves.   Nothing I wrote was untrue, nor written with malice, therefore it is not slanderous, libellous or defamation. I am covered under fair comment and freedom of the press.

Still, I must get before a judge for those freedoms to be exercised.
AND - that costs money and lots of it.

The latest developments in this case are that Gerhard Pyper, the lawyer for Joan Hansen was suspended and his law firm was closed down by the BC Law Society.  Ray is listed as self representing for himself and Sturgis North. Joan however is not represented by anyone at the moment.

Before I had a chance to send my counter offer to Ray, I got a second offer to settle from a new lawyer out of Kelowna named Greg Alfonsso.  That offer was for $1,000 cash and 30 four day passes that I could sell to offset my lawyers bills if I would market their event for them.  Again, in all good conscience I did not feel I could take this offer and so my lawyer had to rewrite my counter offer and sent it off to the new lawyer along with Ray and Joan.

To date there has been no response from any of the parties to my counter offer.

On top of that, the consent to dismiss orders for the others have hit a road block.
The only dismissal that has taken pace is that involving the Mayor and the City of Sicamous.
The other four parties paperwork was apparently never filed by Gerhard Pyper's office.
It took the BC Law Society this much time to determine this.  So now the other 4 parties will have to incur more costs to see if the original consents can be found, and if so can they be filed.

If not, then they too will face the challenge of getting the other parties to communicate and again it will cost them more money.

I myself, have recently sworn out an affidavit for my lawyer to use to have my case moved from Surrey to Salmon Arm/Vernon.  My lawyer will need to go to Surrey and petition the court to transfer the case. That means a minimum of a full day out of his office on top of the preparations for that hearing and the paperwork that will come out of that hearing.

He told me to prepare for $7-$10K for that portion of the bill.
The next step will cost far less as it will involve a hearing before a judge in Salmon Arm/Vernon where in we will petition the court to ask Ray and company, to post a bond for costs.

Then, if they do that we proceed to examinations for discovery, then to trial. If they don't post a bond, then the judge will examinee the case and potentially throw it out. At least that is my understanding on how this is supposed to work.  Each step of the way will cost a different amount of money and time.  I have been told to prepare for an over all bill of $50K from this date forward, so that I am ready for the long haul if this does go that way.

So that's where the legal end of things stand...now to deal with the money portion.

Ours is a community newspaper that does a lot of charity work and as such, it does not generate huge money, basically it covers its costs and modest wages for myself and my staff. Without fundraising, the business would be at jeopardy.  So I had started tee shirt campaigns, donation drives, sold a company bike - a Johnny Pag, some art that was donated to me via an online auction and Blair Weber organized a Poker Run to help me.

At the end of May, on the Defence Fund Poker Run, I was involved in a mishap where my bike ended up getting totalled.

I lost control in a washout on a gravel road and another rider hit me from behind before I had gone down. Had that other rider not hit me, I would have only had to replace the front fender and lived with a battle scarred fairing.  As it was though, the bike was written off and the RCMP consequently charged the other rider with following too close.  The bike I bought to replace my Street glide with was purchased at Edmonton Harley-Davidson.  With what insurance gave me for my bike, some personal savings and $1,800 of the money from the poker run I was able to get another work vehicle.
(As a moto journalist, my motorcycle is a workhorse not a pleasure machine.)

I had no choice, if I wanted to keep the newspaper running, my source of income, not to mention my employees paid,  I had to use some of that money. I have managed to keep paying the lawyer because I was working and so eventually the $1,800 raised did go on the lawyers bill, but funny thing, those bills just keep coming.

Had I been able to put all of that defence run money on the bill at the time, I'd be about $1,800 closer to having him paid up towards this newest bill. As it stands, I owe him about $500 right now, since I was able to, yesterday, make a payment to him from the sale of SOA art in an online auction we held last month.

Because of the latest twists and turns of this lawsuit, I have an anticipated $7-$10K bill coming to get the venue changed from Surrey to Salmon Arm.

I also have a business loan and my motorcycle is but one piece of the collateral for that loan.
My banker has agreed that if I sell the bike, they will take 50% towards my loan and allow me the other 50% to pay my lawyer.

If this court case gets dropped, by some miracle, then I will just continue paying the lawyer monthly until he is paid off and use the remaining money towards another bike.

Nothing about this lawsuit has been straight forward nor does it remotely resemble normal practices according to my attorney.

I need to take some stress off of my brain so that I can focus and concentrate on doing the work my team and I do in and for the riding community.

If I can't put my focus on Belt Drive Betty Media and all of the support tools we offer the community then I and my employees will not have wages to live on.
This doesn't just affect me or my small staff, it affects the entire community that uses our events calendars, our newspaper and web sites as sources of information.

I am not asking for a hand out but a hand up.
I am willing to sell everything I own to defend myself if that's what it takes to see this thing through.

I am selling items like tee shirts, like so many businesses do, but instead of that money funding my business, like it does for other businesses, the tee shirt sales are helping to fund my lawsuit.

If you know anyone looking for a great bike with extended warranty, please put them in touch with me via bdbetty @ gmail.com  - fix the spaces.

If you are interested in purchasing a tee shirt to support the cause please visit: http://teespring.com/beltdrivebetty

I hope this clears things up for those who seem to be confused about this lawsuit, and what I am preparing for and why I am doing what I am doing.  I want to do the work I do, pay my bills, eat decently and enjoy life just like every other working stiff out there.  I want to be able to sleep at night without worrying about how I am going to come up with the money for the lawyer, a bill I know is coming sooner than later.

That's all!  By selling my bike, I can take the pressure off of the looming lawyer's bill and focus on the business and community.

By the way we have some great prizes up for grabs in our Capture the Gear Fail Photo Contest.

You could win a pair of boots and a helmet from Kimpex - a value of $300 for your first place photo and for the second place photo you could win a pair of Draggin Jeans!

Visit Our Contest Page to find out more!

If you are blessed to be riding today, please ride like everyone around you is blind and cannot see you.

Belt Drive Betty,
Editor & Rider


Disclaimer:
All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. The Belt Drive Betty Blog makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site & will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.

A tough year almost behind me…

Ever since I arrived home from Ireland last October, life has thrown me curve ball after curve ball that I had not anticipated.

I had to let go of the person laying out the paper and doing the books for the company. That was a tough thing to do with so much work on my plate after having been on the road for so long, not to mention the fact that we had an 8-year history.

Had I known the full ramifications of riding across Canada in support of our veterans, had I known it was going to cost me so much personally, or exactly what I was going to face, I sure would have done things differently – but, hindsight is always 20/20!

Then Ray Sasseville, Joan Hansen and Sturgis North sued me along with 6 other people.

They claimed slander, libel and defamation.

I was angry, incredulous and determined.

The ensuing 4 months, from December 21st/22nd when I was served until March 30th or there about, were filled with; myself, a research assistant and a friend going through hundreds and thousands of emails, creating timelines, organizing all data and letters in a chronological time frame.  To say it was exhausting is putting it mildly.

Add to that sales of ads for the Rider Friendly Phone Book, dealing with advertisers who broke their contract and held the book up for 5-6 weeks, and then a motorcycle crash, getting to know the IOMC and the ruckus that caused with folks in the US 1% circle and I feel like I have been under siege all year long.

The phone book being held up was costly in more ways than one as I had to air freight the books in.  It also upset riders who bought books and has caused me to return to going to layout in December and January and to print in February – that means changing marketing materials and book keeping but it also means that the book will go out to purchasers in a timely fashion and that the app and download version will also be up in a timely fashion.

My trip this summer was a muted one. I spent many nights on the couches, airbeds and in spare rooms of good friends and family in Alberta and BC. Without my friends and family, I could not have continued to do my job. You are too numerous to mention, but I hope you know how deeply I thank you for your support, friendship and love.

This whole Sturgis North lawsuit is a fiasco. NOTHING about this lawsuit is typical; first they issue a shotgun lawsuit where in they sue the City of Sicamous, the Sicamous Chamber of Commerce and the Mayor of Sicamous, Steve Hammer of Summer Stomp, Bernie Aubin of the Headpins, Vince Lewis and myself.

In late March, an offer to settle is given to the first 6 defendants, basically the offer said; “if you don’t charge for costs and we’ll go away”.  I too got an offer to settle but the offer to settle with me was much different. They wanted me to remove all reference to their names, in the newspaper and web sites, promise to never utter their names and post a $250K bond – oh and monitor social media to ensure no one in my circle said anything bad about them.

My attorney and I drafted a counter offer to settle that clearly laid out that all of the complaints – A- K, that were filed against me were non slanderous/libelous nor were they defaming.  We wanted to wait to send it until the other 6 cases were rubber stamped through the courts as dealt with.

Then Gerhard Pyper, the lawyer for Sturgis North, Ray Sasseville and Joan Hansen is suspended.  We waited and waited to see where the other 6 cases were in the court system.

While we were in this holding pattern, I got a second offer to settle via Ray’s new lawyer, Gregg Alfonso which stated that:

Dear Renee’,

                I would like to settle this dispute amicably with you and move forward, withdraw the lawsuit  and concentrate on the Motorcycling Community as a whole. Your past postings have been criticizing me for leaving a wave of destruction re creditors from past events. Even though it puzzles me why you went to such great extents to involve my family I have heard and understood the message. I take full responsibility on behalf of Sturgis North as its CEO re the past debts that are outstanding and will try my hardest to satisfy those debts albeit a little at a time. I apologize to all debtors and ask that they give me a chance to satisfy the debts which has been my intention all along. My only intention ever has been to put on an event for the Motorcycling community to be able to meet, share experience and enjoy great music and each others company. I chose to continue to put on the best festival possible in order to maintain our goal for the Motorcycling Community and pay down past debts on a timely basis as opposed to walking away and not attempting to take care of our obligations. I truly you believe you have the best interests of the creditors and Motorcycling community at heart and would like to see the creditors paid back therefore I am willing to offer the following.

1. The letter of apology to the creditors for you to post if you wish not mentioning any blame on your part re your articles
2. I have set up a trust fund with my Lawyer Gregg Alfonso with Alfonso Law Corp to collect and pay to the creditors on a prorated basis at the end of the festival a percentage of our online ticket sales annually. This will ensure that monies are distributed each year regardless of what the festival makes because this is not based on profits. Your lawyer will be informed of the details 
3. Obviously since this whole thing was about your interpretation of my character and the fact that you want the creditors paid I will need help to market my festival so the creditors will get paid back annually until paid upon agreed invoicing amounts. Thus you will achieve the main goal which was making me accointable and getting the creditors paid. 
4. I am willing to pay you $1000 for advertisig on your weekly editions up to the festival
5. I am willing to give you 30 4 day all event passes for you to sell to some of your 75,000 readers who will purchase them from you once they see this has been setllrd and you can keep the monies $310 per 4 day event pass ticket which totals a tad over $9000 which when added with the advertising money will get you out of debt with your lawyer.

                Ray Sasseville

I had some tough questions to ask myself. Clearly Ray blames me for why the riding community was not embracing his event. Clearly we had all heard before that a fund would be set up to pay vendors etc., but nothing seemed to materialize. Clearly Ray wants to hold me accountable for why people won’t get paid if I don’t take his deal. BUT - Could I promote someone who was suing me? Could I possibly want to tie my name to their event anymore than I already had with sponsorship in 2011 and 12? 

In all good conscience, I could not and so, I chose to pass on this offer to settle and my lawyer sent in my first counter offer, albeit redrafted to the new attorney and geared towards the second offer to settle as opposed to the first.

To date I have not heard from the good folks at Sturgis North/Canada, Ray Sasseville and Joan Hansen regarding my counter offer.

I attended Sturgis Canada; I experienced the small attendance, the disorganization and some of the politics of the 2014 version of the event first hand.  I reported on the event in as professional and level headed manner as is possible and have left it to the attendees who were unhappy, the booking agent, Keith Sharp, the band manager Ted VanBoort, the hotelier who said he hadn’t been paid and the Royal Canadian Legion who say they don’t think they will get paid, to say their piece on Facebook, in the Merritt Herald and in my blog through screen captures.

Now I get a letter from my lawyer that states that the 6 other cases have NOT gone through the court the way they were supposed to and that only one of the consent to dismiss orders were ever filed. So in effect, the Sicamous Chamber of Commerce, Steve Hammer, Bernie Aubin and Vince Lewis along with myself, are all right back to where we were.

He has also advised me that we are pushing on to a change of venue application to get the case moved to Salmon Arm. This is going to be an expensive undertaking, getting the case moved.  It means my lawyer going to the courthouse in Surrey and meeting with a judge.

I am advised I will need to prepare for a $7-10K bill for that alone, not to mention the $2,100 I owe him at the moment.

I have been getting a lot of comments from people about countersuing the group, it may come to that, although I am advised there isn’t anything of any substance to attach to and that it could get costlier than the $50K it is slated to cost to see this thing through. 

Besides, I am one in a long list of people who would be going after assets. Michael Smith has a $70,000 judgment and then there is the BC Securities hearing in October and the Arizona Lawsuit that has been going on for ages that will go to trial in 2015.  There really is nothing to gain in trying to counter sue – I would get a piece of paper saying I am owed and that paper would be worthless.

Folks, I need your help if I am going to succeed.  The time and focus this court case has taken away from the business side of what I do has been telling and has hurt me financially and reputation wise – people don’t like it when you miss deadlines.

So far this community, has helped me pay my lawyers bill and I am asking you to keep that support coming.  I have hired two sales people and with their help and perhaps the help of a few more, the business end of things will get righted shortly.

I need to keep my attention, as much as possible on the business; I need to get rid of some of the worry about paying the lawyer… I have to swallow my pride and ask…

Please consider donating to my Defense Fund or buying a tee shirt for my Offence Fund, which is what I now prefer to call it.

On top of all of those challenges I have had 6 friends pass away, and that was/is hard to deal with. My hubby going through an MS attack was another toughie I have had to endure.

But as in all things life, a ray of sunshine always presents itself…

I became a great aunty twice in the space of 10 days, I have a new great niece and a great nephew!

Those two wonderful occasions have brought new life to this very tired spirit, as did the friends and family who helped me to accomplish my sales and reporting trip.

To those who propped me up while I was struggling to deal with death after death, and frustration after frustration, there are no words to express my gratitude.

I am not sure what these various trials and tribulations are preparing me for, but man I am ready for the tides to turn. 

Our Canada’s Most Rider Friendly Community Contest is shaping up nicely, our Spot the Gear Fail contest has just kicked off and is offering great prizes from Kimpex and Draggin Jeans and we are getting ready to launch our newest Rider Survey!

Our 2015 Beat the PMS Blues Online Show N Shine is also beginning to take shape with Big Blue coming on board as a major sponsor and I have about a dozen advertising proposals to build.

I know that with the help of this community we are going to go on to bigger and better things and I promise you all this much, I will continue to pay forward every kindness and helping hand I get to all of the charities and the riding clubs who support them through free promotion and marketing…

To donate to my Defence Fund: CLICK HERE

To Buy an Offence Fund Tee Shirt: CLICK HERE

If you are blessed enough to be riding today, please remember to ride like everyone around you is blind and cannot see you and please consider wearing good gear.

Belt Drive Betty

Editor & Rider

Lawsuit Saga Continues

As many of you know, I am being sued by Ray Sasseville, Joan Hansen and Sturgis North.
They claim, my reporting of the doings of their CEO Ray Sasseville is defamatory, libellous and preventing them from earning a living in the motorcycle community.

Visit my defense fund page for all the information on everything I have ever written on them including the evidence I am allowed to share publicly.

According to my attorney, Ray wants to drop the suit as it pertains to the City of Sicamous, the Mayor of Sicamous and the Sicamous Chamber of Commerce.  So we shall see how that ends up.

The hearing to move the case to Salmon Arm happens on the 31st of March.

My research assistant and I have continued to investigate Sturgis North and all of it's various names and owners including the newly trademarked Sturgis Canada.  The trademark went through on February 28th of 2014.

Apparently because Sturgis SD never registered their trademark internationally (meaning here in Canada), Mr. Sasseville has all the right to use the name Sturgis and now that he's trademarked, there can be no question.

I came across interesting news from Jonathon Sasseville, one of Ray's three sons, on Plenty of Fish, a dating site. He claims to be the head of security and part owner of Sturgis Canada.

I wonder what his investment in the company is.

Before the lawsuit I was still investigating the doings of the people involved with Sturgis North now Sturgis Canada and I intend to continue following them to see if the little people from year's one and two of this event will ever get paid off.

It will be interesting to see if we ever learn who the new investors are in Sturgis Canada and what kind of bands they line up, they say there will be a big announcement on the 19th of March.

Writing about them is a double edged sword for me as I am giving them airtime I would rather not, but I still have a defense fund that needs help and letting you all know that I am not giving up in my pursuit of the truth is important to me.

I need to sell 224 more tee shirts to pay my lawyer this month and will need to raise the same for next month, then I should have a lull until we get to court.

My lawyer asked me about a countersuit but from what I have seen in the court documents, even when you win a case with these people, it appears that collecting is rather, difficult.  The lawsuit launched by Ray's wife Edith as the Power of Attorney for Marjorie Sasseville (Ray's Mother from what I am told), has gone nowhere and it's for $140,000.

Michael Smith's lawsuit was won but from what I am lead to understand he has not been able to collect as of yet, that one is for $70K and there has been no movement on the Vernon Motoplex suit which is for somewhere around $450K.

And so, the Lawsuit Saga Continues....

My head is spinning with all of this.

I never started this fight but I will tell you that I want my day in court and to have a judge tell me I have done my job properly. I want to see the people who are owed money paid.  I want to see wrongs righted.

So folks, if you were in my boots, what would you do?

Waste more money to countersue and hope you can collect?  

The other thing my lawyer asked is if they offer to drop the suit against me would I be prepared to absorb the costs and walk away?

You know, I have no idea how to answer that question.

If I thought I had this community behind me and willing to help me fight, I'd continue on because I want my good name cleared by a judge and I want the people involved exposed - I have more knowledge that what I can share publicly and none of it is good, and if I don't get to court, that evidence will remain forever buried.  

I am looking for ideas and advice.  

My little business has always been run like a non profit and has always paid things forward into the riding community where I make my living.  I don't have a reserve to fight this kind of stuff.  I am $1,600 away from being able to pay this latest bill. 

What do I do if I can't raise that money?

Represent myself I guess....

If anyone has any ideas, I am more than willing to hear them...

If you are fortunate enough to be riding today, please ride like everyone around you is blind and cannot see you.

Belt Drive Betty

Editor & Rider