Rescue EcoVersity

Congratulations, Santa Fe!  Close to 3,000 people signed the Rescue EcoVersity petition, of whom the Clerk of Santa Fe County confirmed that 1,952 match the names of registered voters of Santa Fe County.  This surpasses by 182 signatures the two percent threshold of registered voters necessary to convene a grand jury.

The Rescue EcoVersity petition is now pending in the Courts.  Once granted, it will lead to an investigation of suspicious wrongdoing focusing on some of the unfortunate events described below, including, as listed below, close to $900,000 in questionable payments that we are aware of.  Now it appears that some of the targets of this investigation are trying to sell land and a building at 2725 Agua Fria to turn real estate into cash.  Why are they doing this?

Before launching the petition drive and during its pendency, we have made every good faith effort to restore EcoVersity to its promise by peaceful and amicable means.

We are a grass-roots movement of citizens who would like to see EcoVersity and Prajna Foundation restored to the promise both institutions have for enabling the people of northern New Mexico to embrace a more sustainable way of life and society. EcoVersity and Prajna Foundation are sister non-profit corporations that Frances "Fiz" Harwood generously formed before her death in 2003. She intended that they teach and fund hands-on sustainable living and permaculture methods and projects.

We miss having a vibrant EcoVersity campus, with dozens of courses offered at low cost to the community, taught by your friends and neighbors who have expertise in aspects of sustainable living and permaculture. A place that is a hub of activity and hands-on learning. Alas, the New Mexico Attorney General recently stripped EcoVersity of its status as an educational institution because, in the AG's words, it "does not have a defined curriculum with classes offered on a regular basis."

There is concern surrounding the fact that Thomas Harbour (a/k/a "RP" a/k/a Jeff) was put in charge of Fiz's Estate six days before she died of cancer, while she was on morphine. To compare Fiz’s signature on the will with her signature when she was healthy and aware, <CLICK HERE>.

We are concerned that RP Harbour might have used his position as Personal Representative of Fiz's Estate to land positions on the Boards of Directors of both EcoVersity and Prajna with the help of others who benefited from his appointment as Personal Representative, as detailed below. George Clark and his then-wife Joan Clark held a seat on the EcoVersity and Prajna Boards, respectively; within a month, RP had joined both Boards. We are not sure if Fiz ever intended RP to take a leadership role on these non-profit Boards, and we would like an investigation.

Here is a summary of the questionable payments that we are aware of from the public record only:

Payments to RP Harbour:

$116,100 in 2009 from Prajna Foundation
$112,600 in 2008 from Prajna Foundation
$ 105.000 in 2007 from Prajna Foundation
$ 78,000 in 2006 from 2006 Prajna Foundation <CLICK HERE>
$ 52,590 in 2005 from 2005 Prajna Foundation <CLICK HERE>
$ 48,000 in 2004 from EcoVersity <CLICK HERE>
$ 134,454 in Personal Representative fees <CLICK HERE>

$ 635,644 that we know of paid to RP Harbour

Payments to the Clarks:

$ 100,000 owed to Estate by George and Joan Clark (Board Members) in question
$ 39,287 paid to George Clark in 2005 via EcoVersity <CLICK HERE>
$ 30,000 paid to George and Joan Clack via bequest in question from Fiz Harwood <CLICK HERE>
=========
$ 169,287 that we know of that is in question to George/Joan Clark

$87,614 paid for legal fees that we know of from 2003-05 <CLICK HERE>

RP paid George Clark and his then-wife Joan Clark $15,000 each from Fiz’s Estate. There is no evidence in the probate file (the court file) of Fiz’s will that Fiz approved these bequests. The document showing these payments can be viewed here <CLICK HERE>. We are concerned about these payments because we understand that the Clarks owed Fiz $100,000 at the time of her death. We’re not sure whether this debt was actually re-paid to her Estate. However, we believe that it was RP’s legal duty (as the person in charge of Fiz's Estate) to see to it that the Clarks re-paid this debt in full. Many of us find it odd that payments of $15,000 were made to each of the Clarks without evidence in the court file of Fiz's authorization, when Fiz had asked others to make sure that the Clarks re-paid their $100,000 debt to her Estate in full.

We are also aware that Fiz had a right to a Picasso painting, and that RP allowed this painting to revert to her family on the East Coast. We wonder if he did this so that they would not challenge his position in charge of Fiz's Estate, and we ask for an investigation of this question. (The value of this asset could have supported EcoVersty, Prajna, and the community, had it remained here.)

In addition, we are wondering about some of the grants Prajna issued. For instance, in 2006, Prajna gave $1,500 to the New Mexico Fencing Foundation. Why?

All of the payments listed above came from money that Fiz gave for the benefit of the community to fund low-cost, hands-on courses on sustainability and permaculture.

Our Goal

We really just want RP and the other Board Members to resign so that EcoVersity and Prajna can get back on course and be the wonderful assets that they could be to this community. Because the Board Members won't resign, we have had to petition the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe to convene a grand jury to investigate these matters.

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This information is as accurate as possible and is created with the limited information that is publicly available. We invite you to further investigate these issues. We are presenting facts we have discovered and the beliefs of the movement as clearly as possible, although individual members may have differing opinions about certain points. There are enough suspicions and the Board Members have not resigned, despite our many pleas that they do so, so we are requesting a grand jury to investigate these and other matters further. Thank you for your consideration.

This website is published by Rescue EcoVersity, Inc. and is paid for with money raised from private individuals wanting to see justice. We would like EcoVersity and Prajna Foundation to be restored under new leadership and governance.