Denver businessman Stan Anderson’s promise to give the Presbyterian Church (USA) $150 million by November seems too good to be true.
You know what they say about that.
I’m going to go out on a limb here. I’m going to say that at this moment, I’m in a better financial position than Anderson to provide the Presbyterians with the largest monetary gift in their history.
I do not base this stunning conclusion on the fact that I have $150 million. I couldn’t scrape together 1 percent of that amount if I sold everything I own and cashed in every investment I have.
But right now, I still think I’m in better shape than Anderson for these reasons:
One, my house is assessed for a bit more than Anderson’s $282,000 home. Two, unlike Anderson’s, my house is not being foreclosed. Three, my assets are not frozen by a court judgment. And four, I don’t owe ex-employees money.
I called Anderson to ask why he offered the Presbyterians money he doesn’t seem to have. He refused my request for an interview.
I’ll gladly eat crow in a future column if Anderson delivers his $150 million in philanthropy on time. Meanwhile, I suspect the nervous Presbyterian leadership will warble like whippoorwills if it happens.
The church’s screening process for benefactors needs to change.
Last week, when Anderson’s business troubles came to light, John Detterick, executive director of the Presbyterian Church’s General Assembly Council, issued this statement: “In the church, unlike a business that oftentimes requires ramification of capability, when people make a pledge of a gift to the church, we accept that gift, we accept that pledge with gratitude and grace.”
I called a church spokesman Friday hoping to get a workingman’s translation of Detterick’s purple prose. The spokesman didn’t call back.
I still would like to know what the Presbyterian vetting process is for major donors and how often those donors fail to make good on big-dollar pledges.
This isn’t about cynicism or meanness. It’s about being realistic. Publicity surrounding Anderson’s pledge stands to embarrass everyone. Gratitude is one thing, naiveté something else. That applies to donors, as well as their churches. By religious standards, Anderson seems a kind, devoted, thankful Christian. By business standards, he has some explaining to do.
He told Denver Post reporter Eric Gorski that he started working as a kid, shoveling driveways and mowing lawns and later worked his way up in the banking business from a job as a file clerk.
But two purchasing-card businesses he started foundered. Another executive says he was forced out of a failing ProCard Inc., a charge Anderson denies.
Court documents show that Anderson and business partner Edwin A. Smith never repaid a $100,000 loan from a Cherry Hills Village couple for a second purchasing-card company, E-Smart Services Inc. A judgment and fees of roughly $140,000 remain unpaid.
Anderson “has promised to pay us on Monday (today),” said Parker Semler, a lawyer for the couple.
If Anderson pays, added Semler, it will be the first time in years that he’s made good on many promised payoffs. But if Anderson settles with Semler’s clients today, he still owes more than $850,000 in judgments and back pay. Court files say that Anderson, Smith and E-Smart failed to repay a loan from Derek Faison and didn’t pay Faison his E-Smart salary. When Anderson and Smith didn’t respond to a suit filed by Faison, a judge awarded Faison $851,369 and froze Anderson’s and Smith’s assets. This second judgment, like the $140,000 one, remains unpaid.
Anderson told Gorski and Semler he will pay off his debts and fund his $150 million church donation with “off-shore investments.” Semler said Anderson has described a complex series of “seven or eight transactions” that will result in the issuance of foreign bonds. Semler said he’ll believe it when he sees the money.
As for the Presbyterians, they can only hope it isn’t too good to be true.
Jim Spencer’s column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 303-820-1771 or jspencer@denverpost.com.
David Harsanyi’s column will return.
