BREAKING: Important New Statements Regarding the AMA. MEMBERS PLEASE READ

[Richard Kaufman]

Several days ago I wrote to the Executive Director of The Magic Castle, Chuck Martinez; the President of the Academy of Magical Arts, Mark Wooster; and Randy Pitchford, owner (with Kristy Pitchford) of Magic Castle Enterprises, which owns the land, building, and intellectual property related to The Magic Castle.

My question was direct and simple: “I presume you’ve seen the AMA members petition for a Special Meeting regarding Chuck Martinez. I am investigating this matter in preparation for coverage in Genii magazine. Would you care to make a statement?”

Chuck Martinez did not reply.

Mark Wooster sent a brief note: “The Board of Directors will address the AMA’s creation and filling of the Executive Director position at this Sunday’s Annual General Meeting, where we will welcome any and all questions on this subject. We also have addressed this matter in my message to the Membership on February 22, 2024. Members may also reach out to me directly at mwooster@magiccastle.com.”

Randy Pitchford’s reply, published below, lays out in detail exactly the problem facing the Academy of Magical Arts and its members. I urge you to read this in its entirety before the General Meeting of the Academy of Magical Arts on Sunday. And, after reading it, if you have not already signed the members’ petition for a meeting questioning the appointment of Chuck Martinez as Executive Director, please do so here: https://amasm.aidaform.com/AMA_Special_Meeting_Petition.
And now here is Randy Pitchford’s statement: “I fully support the members of the AMA using the rules of the club to hold accountable the blatant self dealing perpetrated by Chuck Martinez.

“According to the evidence provided by the AMA Directors themselves, Chuck leveraged a story of a competitive job offer as a threat designed to give him license to abandon his duty and commitment to the AMA and manipulate his fellow Directors to divert member dues and patronage towards his own enrichment.

“The evidence is there for anyone to review. The AMA BoD minutes of June 2023 make it very clear that the AMA BoD, while Chuck was sitting as President, negotiated and completed the contract he would be offered a few minutes later.

“The AMA BoD minutes, the BoD incumbent testimony at the 2024 AMA Meet-The-Candidates meeting, and the recent Q&A offered via newsletter to the membership by the now AMA President, Mark Wooster (who assumed the role vacated by Chuck), all confirm the necessary facts: 1) Chuck brought the idea of the new Executive Director role to the AMA BoD and, 2) while sitting as the active President of the AMA, negotiated his own contract for the all-new, never before existing job. Only when the fix was in, with the contract negotiated and the succession plan agreed to, did Chuck abandon his position and his commitment to the AMA in order to assume the highest paid permanent position in the history of the club.

“As the evidence has already confirmed, this blatant and appalling self dealing arrangement was the plan that was formulated WHILE Chuck was serving as the President of the AMA. The now President of the AMA that assumed the role from Chuck, Mark Wooster, also testified in his published Q&A that the AMA BoD under Chuck’s then leadership took NO steps to openly communicate the creation of the job opening nor did the AMA BoD consider any other candidates or any other arrangement that could be more favorable to the AMA.
“His behavior puts Chuck Martinez in violation of any reasonable ethical review and appears to be in direct conflict with the oath he took, the AMA’s bylaws and standing rules, and the law of the State of California.

“The behavior of our past President, Chuck Martinez, to engage in such egregious self dealing and to have leveraged his fellow Directors into this predicament is deplorable and must be met with reprobation and accountability. The audacity of Chuck’s actions do not suit a gentleman and definitely do not suit an AMA Director. I am impressed by the members organizing and standing up for accountability and I am proud to count myself among them.

“I have signed the petition to call a Special Meeting of the AMA for this matter and I pledge to offer the additional testimony and evidence I have regarding the issue at the inevitable meeting.

“I encourage all members who have even the slightest interest in integrity and ethics among our club’s leadership to sign the petition and make every effort to attend and participate in the Special Meeting. Further, if you are angry at the damage Chuck has done to our institution, as I am, please make your activism and participation known to other members, as I have. I stand with those members who demand that our club’s elected Directors live up to their oaths. For his abandonment of his elected, sworn duty, and for his betrayal of his solemn oath, and for his manipulations of his fellow Directors designed to enrich himself at the expense of our club and its members, Chuck Martinez must be held to account.”