Dispute in Santa Rosa softball league leads to bitter lawsuit

This is one dispute that will be settled off the field.

A Santa Rosa girls softball league is suing a breakaway group of former board members who executed a coup, alleging they improperly used money, equipment and infrastructure from the first league to start their new league.

Suspicions of financial mismanagement and a perceived lack of transparency and unresponsiveness drove the breakaway group in June to take over from longtime leaders of the two decade-

old Santa Rosa All City Girls Softball League.

It's a dispute that some had hoped to keep internal, but it became public with a police report alleging embezzlement and dueling lawsuits filed in Sonoma County Superior Court.

It is a scene anyone involved in youth sports will recognize — adults fighting.

The argument has splintered the youth softball community and could confuse parents and discourage softball participation, which could in turn affect high school softball teams in the long run.

Those involved said it has caused some parents to enroll their girls in competing leagues in Windsor, Petaluma or Rohnert Park. Thousands of young girls play recreational softball in Sonoma County, many moving up the ranks from T-ball to competitive fast-pitch travel teams and onto high school teams.

'It's a mess, it really is,' said longtime Santa Rosa High School and travel team coach Jube Begley. He was formerly a coach and board member of the league, though not for the past year or two. 'The kids are the ones who are really suffering here. That's a shame.'

The new league, the Northbay Girls Softball League, is preparing for its upcoming season at Comstock Fields with skills assessments, registrations and umpire clinics.

The original league is also signing up players for its season at Rincon Valley Middle School. Both leagues are for girls ages 5 to 14 in several divisions separated by age groups. Practices start next month for games beginning in April.

In the meantime, volunteer board members and parents have been skirmishing about bank accounts, board actions, use of membership lists and social media accounts, and alleged theft of funds and equipment. Longtime volunteers are bickering and feel forced to choose sides, those involved said.

The dispute seems to have been simmering for some time, but came to a boil in the summer, when board leadership was upended and the first legal claim was filed.

At a June 11 board meeting, Michael Trillo, a director, was removed in a 5-4 vote of the Santa Rosa All City Girls Softball League board, according to the league's lawsuit.

Six days later, Trillo and the other three board members who voted with him — Jennifer Galusha, Janeth Membrilla and Justin Voight — are alleged to have called their own board meeting, without notifying the directors who voted to oust Trillo, including Debi Miramontez, Chris Carr, Kiera Morales and James Gabriel.

Lawsuit details

The lawsuit alleges the breakaway group then voted to remove Miramontez as president and Carr as vice president, and passed a new set of bylaws to govern the nonprofit organization.

The suit alleges that because there was no notification to the other board members about the meeting and not enough members present to form a quorum, any actions taken are invalid. Other meetings were held under similar circumstances, the suit claims.

The following day, on June 18, the breakaway group filed a report with Santa Rosa police, alleging the other board members, which included Carr and Miramontez, embezzled funds from the nonprofit's bank account.

Police Lt. Dan Marincik said officers found no evidence of a crime and the case has been suspended.

On July 11, Santa Rosa attorney Justin Hein filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Santa Rosa All City Girls Softball League against Carr, Miramontez, Morales and Gabriel.

It alleged, among other things, the foursome used league funds for personal expenses, awarded a no-bid concessions contract to a fellow director, failed to account for funds and failed to conduct financial audits. It sought control of the league property and bank account and asked for a restraining order against the four.

Continued fight

A judge denied the restraining order on July 15 and the lawsuit was dismissed in October.

That suit wasn't authorized by the legal board of directors, said Tony Bentivegna, a Santa Rosa attorney who represents the existing Santa Rosa All City Girls Softball League board.

Bentivegna on Jan. 8 filed a 47-page civil suit on behalf of the original league against Trillo, Galusha, Membrilla and Voight, and 13 others who are believed to have formed the Santa Rosa Red Barons Association and the Northbay Girls Softball League.

The latest suit alleges the splinter group damaged the Santa Rosa league, which was formed in 1997, by improperly conducting board business, lying to bank personnel to access league money, filing a false police report and frivolous lawsuit, using the league contact lists to poach participants to benefit their own organization, misappropriating equipment and stealing its traditional team names, including the Red Barons.

2 sides to the suit

The actions are 'an unfortunate depiction of a minority of the directors of a nonprofit, charitable corporation having not gotten their way and then taking extreme and misguided steps to take over and destroy' the original league, the suit claims.

'Defendants have repeatedly violated the law, breached their fiduciary duty to the corporation, inappropriately alleged criminal behavior against certain of these plaintiff's directors and improperly attempted to use the judicial system to prevent the other directors from doing their jobs as volunteers,' it alleges.

The suit seeks a legal determination of the rights and duties among the assorted board members, general damages of $30,000, return of all funds and equipment, a transfer of all registrants, legal costs and $90,000 in punitive damages, Bentivegna said.

Todd Sterbens, president of Northbay Girls Softball League, and a defendant in the suit, disputed the suit's contention that other board members weren't notified of actions taken in meetings after Trillo had been ousted.

'They notified all the other board members and none of them came,' he said. 'They were all invited. We opened it up to all girls and parents who would like to attend.'

He said members of the new league are 'committed to being a fully transparent organization,' something many found lacking in the previous board.

Parents feel tension

Parents associated with the breakaway group said discontent had been growing within the organization for some time, particularly with finances and a perceived lack of openness about how funds were spent.

They sought a freeze on the bank accounts for that reason, said Kristine Burk, whose daughters are not playing recreational softball this year, in part because of the drama. Burk, an attorney but not involved in the lawsuits, said she and other parents felt the original league was suffering from atrophy and a stagnancy because of the same leadership for years. Several parents wanted to see change at the top.

There was also suspicion about self-dealing, parents said, since two board members had relatives heavily involved in league business.

Another parent said longtime friends have taken sides in the dispute and had bruised feelings, hurting the girls in the long run as some split with teammates they'd played with for several years.

Sterbens said Hein does not represent his league. Hein declined to comment on the original lawsuit he filed.

The four breakaway board members named in the lawsuit are not on the new league's board, according to their website, though at least two spouses are.

Openness is a key objective of the new league, Sterbens said.

'We wanted a better experience for our girls, a fun, safe environment,' he said. 'We also want to be completely transparent, which we never got from that league. All our meetings have been open to the public. We're 100% transparent.'

Bentivegna, the Santa Rosa league's attorney, said it was a shame such a dispute between adults is hurting youth softball and girl athletes. It didn't have to happen this way, he said.

'It's one thing to break away and start your own league, but they ruined this league to do it. So now the city has two softball leagues going, and these girls and the parents are all bickering and gossiping about this,' he said. 'What was once a great league was ruined by these four people.

'What they should have done, if you were honest and ethical, is you quit, you go form Northbay. Instead, while they were on the board, they undermined it.'

You can reach Staff Writer Lori A. Carter at 707-521-5470 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @loriacarter.