should the fmf meet city?

I've come to the conclusion that, in the absence of any other prospective manager, and in the absence of amendments to the constitution then there are only two options:-

(1) City as manager; or (2) Trilogy as manager.

Somehow, I feel comfort with City but am bothered generally by:-

(1) excessive fees, (2) the status of loans in general, (3) the status of related party loans in particular, (4) a lack of transparency, and (5) a lack of trust.

With Trilogy, I'm concerned that the parallels with the PIF experience as just too olose.

I'm hoping the state of the FMF is much better than the state of the PIF was. We've heard figures from Mr. Gore as about 30c/unit, and I've heard others at .50 - .60/unit at a fire sale, with more over a longer time frame.

so, its all uncertain. Personally, if compelled to go for Trilogy, it would only be with complete dissatisfaction with City. I'm sure both would have long term plans to list the fund, and while city has put off that option, it says it hasn't taken the option off the table.

what I was thinking was that a group of us, myself for one, tom powers for another, michael chahine (who is in Thailand at this time, and who I haven't asked yet) and say, three to seven others (or professional representative) who may have had businesness/legal/accounting experience, or have life experiences adequate to allow them to make sense out of the documents they might witnesss, and are well known to members in their various areas, should try to make an approach to City to endeavour to:-

(1) seek city's permission (on a confidential basis) to see the true state of loans in the FMF, including valuations, and the names of the valuers concerned so external checks may be made on these loans, and
2) engage with City at a conference in order to come together and discuss each others' concerns in order to pave the way to an outcome which would benefit both parties.

We would hope that City might see some value in this and unilaterally offer members a much better offer in its operation of the FMF that it has in the past.

Presently we are trying to figure out what issues we might put in a letter to (1) examine and report, and (2) discuss. Any contributions of ideas would be gratefully accepted from anyone who has interest, thru here or thru my site.

I have made my mind up about Trilogy, but at present, that does not imply that I support City. I know this will cause heckles, but unless we start making lateral decisions, then we will just lose control.

I would want minutes to be kept of any discussions and that such meetings be deemed 'without prejudice' and edited only to protect information with city regards as confidential.

This is just yet another effort to try to get something going, it just might be swallowed up by events, nevertheless, every effort has to start somewhere, even with the prospect of it going nowhere.

I hope this posting is taken as a well intended effort to improve our chances of a good outcome for our investments.