The nature of Bromwell's second bailout has been the source of heated debate. He maintains that his $60,000 was purely and simply a loan — and has the contract, with its 7.75-percent annual interest, to back him up.
Others say that Bromwell knew the score and was motivated by Pillage & Plunder's profit potential. "He understood the risks when he put the money up; he invested in a business and the business lost money," says Walen, the former treasurer. "Now it's sour grapes. What happened to taking your lumps and moving on?"
But was the profit potential misrepresented? Bromwell contends that Bentz told him months before launch that the ship was already half full. It was actually more than half empty. Pillage & Plunder left port in November less than 50 percent booked. Result: another six figures in the debit column ($158,000 to Regal). And Bromwell was out his $60,000, with no post-dated check in his pocket. "As far as I'm concerned, Don Bentz defrauded me and my [life] partner out of that money," Bromwell states.
Why 2002 was the year Pillage & Plunder bombed is up to debate. Some people maintain that big gay-themed soirees have a fleeting shelf life. Others say the jaunt suffered without Garciga Travel's expertise and buying power. Bromwell and Johnson insist that at least some of the failure falls at the feet of Bentz, who lorded over the cruise bookings.
He pulled another vanishing act at crunch time. Bromwell says he took to checking voicemail messages from prospective Pillage customers. "People would call screaming, 'I've called 12 times,' and things like that," Bromwell recounts. "After awhile it became, 'Return my deposit!' I transcribed the messages and would get them to Don, but nothing happened."
"Don wouldn't answer the phone or return e-mail," Johnson says. "You might reach him at midnight, but you could never get him at 10 a.m. You cannot run an organization at midnight unless it's a bar."
There are murmurs in the gay community that Bentz had, and perhaps still has, a cocaine problem. Johnson chalks up Bentz's erratic work habits to drug abuse. "I did coke with Don," he says flatly. "Thing is, I didn't have a problem."
Bentz emphatically denies a drug dependency. While he admits to being hooked on crystal meth in the late '80s, he says, "I haven't done coke in quite some time. This has been one of the worst years of my life. I'm an emotional mess. With the stress, I can't sleep. People assumed I was up partying. I'd take a Xanax or Paxil to help me sleep and then crash, I was out."
Community Fallout
Bud Bromwell, while lacking proof that Bentz diverted funds to himself, has gone public with his suspicions. Most others don't buy it. "I'm comfortable with the fact that Don is not a thief," says Johnson. Walen adds: "Bud can scream and yell all he wants; there was no impropriety whatsoever. I saw every penny. There really wasn't money to embezzle."
Through pressure from talk radio and the gay community, Bentz says he has agreed to an independent audit of Greater Tampa Bay Pride's books. It's likely to hang over him, his new committee and PrideFest '03 for weeks to come.
Because of all the controversy, Bentz had considered canceling PrideFest this year. At a meeting last week, the new board decided to forge on — tentatively. Bentz said he would like to hold an expo and rally at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center or University of Tampa if he can bring in enough sponsors. He expects several parties to take place at different clubs, and looks to move PrideFest's premiere event, the Wet Party, to Adventure Island.
"We're going to do everything in our power to make sure Tampa has a Pride celebration," Bentz says, "but one that suits the financial reality of the community."
But the Wet Party itself is under a cloud. While the new group wants to continue it, Johnson and Bromwell, who each own a third of the trademark, vowed to sue if Bentz uses the name without properly compensating them. Bentz says he wants to cut his former partners in, but he's willing to change the name if the demands are too dear.
Meanwhile, Bromwell has some plans of his own. He has announced Gay Days Tampa Bay to be held in October at Busch Gardens. He's modeling the event after the hugely successful Gay Days at Disney World.
