A Last Word About Gerry Otimi (I promise!)

The Gerry Otimi story seems to have died in the media (even though today the Police came to his house and took him back to the station for a 'voluntary interview') and that's fine by me. I've unburdened myself (twice) of the angst I've been carrying for 25 years. Some have asked 'why is it such a big deal?' and I guess it's not. To anyone but me.

My main beef is that Gerry attacked me personally, claiming to the media that I was exploiting kids. Why? Because I spent my own money booking venues (at commercial rates), advertising contests, and giving away big cash prizes -- and if I made a profit at the end of the night then good, that was my wages.

Gerry on the other hand held himself out as a Youth Leader, got given a lot sponsorship money to run his contests (at 'community' rates), sold a lot of tickets, and then put all the money in the United Youth Society -- promising to dole it out as required for the kids. He also went around badmouthing me to various communities, telling them they shouldn't be involved with me, and that they should deal with his United Youth Society instead.

Oh well, it was 25 years ago.

Since I promised I would publish a letter I wrote to the NZ Herald about Gerry Otimi 25 years ago, here it is [page 1 , page 2] and a transcript follows.

The letter was not published because I had written "Not For Publication" on the top, because certain Maori I was interacting with at the time told me that going to the media was not the Maori way - it would be handled on the Marae. I was hoping however that some crack reporter at the Herald would be so enthused by my revelations they would call me and do a 'proper' story. LOL - I was 21 and had no idea then how the media work.

Anyway, here's a transcript for those too lazy to click on the link:

Dear sir,

I am writing in relation to the article in this mornings newspaper headed "Dance Only That Breaks" (August 20, 1984). The article stated how in NZ breakdancing injuries are rare. As manager of one of NZ's top breakdance teams The Megazoids (winners of NZ and Pacific Championships - and TVNZ's Street Dance 84) I can only agree that kiwis are more cautious and not as dumb as some Americans!

My reason for writing however is your reference to Mr Gerry Otimi as 'an Auckland Youth Leader'. It is true that he has organised several breakdancing competitions and is therefore qualified to comment on injuries, but he is certainly no 'youth leader'.

This letter is confidential and not intended for publication but merely an attempt to give you some insight into the breakdancing scene and hopefully deter your paper from using Mr Otimi as your source for breakdancing.

You are probably aware that Mr Otimi set up the United Youth Society and with the City Council got a breakdancing stage set up in Aotea Square. This was a good thing, as was his United Bop Break Tour of the North Island in January. The Megazoids went on this tour, playing to capacity audiences, not receiving a cent, even though Mr Otimi was charging $4 a head in some venues. The team did not mind because all the money was supposedly going to The United Youth Society for the benefit of everyone.

Problems arose after the tour when the estimates of how much money raised differed. I was not manager of The Megazoids at that stage, but I have enough faith in team captain [REDACTED] to believe him when he says there was a fiddle going on. Mr Otimi, when questioned, 'threw open the books' but by his account the tour only grossed $30,000.

We (several teams involved) then went to The United Building Society who sponsored the tour and were supposedly in sole charge of The United Youth Society Accounts. They denied this and said that Mr Otimi had merely set up an account with the Building Society. They were extremely unhappy with Mr Otimi for charging spectators while on tour, as they had provided all the money needed to run the tour and specified he was not to charge for it.

Mr Otimi set up branches of The United Youth Society all around NZ - anywhere he had family to run it. By this stage the Auckland branch had folded up, the attitude being 'Gerry's a crook'. Mr Otimi had run too many competitions without giving the specified prizes. The Hamilton branch went [folded] next - with Mr Otimi threatening the Hamilton kids with legal action if they did not give him the money they had raised.

After that Mr Otimi seemed to lie low having been (we thought) exposed for what he was. His name cropped up in the newspapers when he was sued for a $9,000 debt. Mr Otimi again claimed to be a youth leader, telling the Auckland Star that "the kids look up to me as the Pied Piper". Utter rubbish.

Some time after this [REDACTED] telephoned me to apologise for everything. [REDACTED] was Mr Otimi's business partner and Treasurer of the United Youth Society. [REDACTED] had split with Gerry because of the way Gerry was spending all the money. He also said Gerry had gone too far. I will explain:

Your article featured a photograph of The Boppalympic Crew, an organisation set up by breakdancers disgruntled with Mr Otimi. The Boppalympic Crew (a.k.a. Mana Ranga-tahi O Aotearoa) organised a fundraising tour of New Zealand during the May holidays - paid for by themselves. They played to small audiences because Mr Otimi had written (and been to) each area a week before, warning them against 'exploitation' by The Boppalympic Crew - and had successfully arranged boycotts. Those areas now regret their mistake - not that it will help Mana Ranga-tahi O Aotearoa who face massive debts.

Mr Otimi is very keen on the word 'exploitation' having used it both on myself and the team. [REDACTED] explained this as a business tactic [used by Gerry].

I think it is reasonable to say that your article portrays Mr Otimi in a positive light. Many of us involved in breakdancing hope that you will cease to use Mr Otimi as your source because he uses it as propganda. He flashes around these newsclippings [to] show what a wonderful guy he is. He still shows people (when trying to get something) a photo-copied letter of introduction written last year by Auckland Mayor Cath Tizard - with the date twinked out!

If your reporters need information on breakdancing I urge you to call either Tainui Pene or myself - anyone but Gerry Otimi! Also, please contact me before discussing this letter with others - I have long wanted to see Mr Otimi exposed in public but I am told it is not the Maori way - I do not wish to offend anyone (or get sued!).

Your faithfully,

Gerry Otimi Was Taking People's Money 25 Years Ago

In yesterday's blog I discussed how I came to cross paths with Gerry Otimi, currently in the news for what the media are calling 'an immigration scam'. Today I will explain how Gerry took money for Breakdance contests way back in 1984, claimed it was all for the kids, but the kids never seemed to see much of it themselves.

25 years ago I was running the nation's first Breakdance contests at Auckland's YMCA, charging $4 entry, and giving away $1,000-$1,500 in cash prizes EACH NIGHT. Around the same time Gerry Otimi convinced the Auckland City Council to spend $4,000 on a mobile stage that would be wheeled out onto Aotea Square on Friday nights so the streetkids could "do their Bop". I had no problem with that, but Gerry seemed to have a problem with me.

Every week Gerry was running heats on his Aotea Stage with teams competing for the mana of winning, and a trophy (the Otimi Cup!) that they had to give back at the next contest final. So pretty soon the breakdance crews were all coming to my bi-monthly contests to win cash money. Gerry then told the crews involved in his thing that they couldn't be involved in my thing, and that if they did they would be banned from his thing.

It got quite heavy, because there was a Church angle involved. Which Church I'm not sure but some of the kids were very conflicted. I vividly recall one kid telling me that he knew I was not the devil (because he knew me) but that he'd been told I was evil and warned to keep away from me. He was so angst-ridden he was almost crying.

It was silly.

So it kind of developed into an 'Us & Them' situation, with us (those not alligned with Gerry) promenading up one side of Queen Street and them on the other. (By way of backround: I was hanging out with the various crews on Queen Street every Friday and Saturday night, at any given time there were also 200-300 kids wandering around waiting to see if there was going to be a b-boy battle or not. They were f@#king good times!!)

Gerry told The Sunday News (26/2/1984) that I was 'exploiting the bop kids'. Funnily enough he went to the media with these accusations at the very same time that he decided to run his own breakdance contests at the YMCA and to also charge admission. But Gerry was doing it for altruistic reasons! He told the Sunday News that the money raised from his bop contests went into the coffers of the United Youth Society, an organisation he set up with a building society. (The United Building Society, now defunct).

"All the money we raise goes in there and it's controlled by the building society. It's only spent on helping the kids - if they need uniforms for their bop teams, we get money out" said Gerry in the Sunday News article.

Well, that's not actually how it turned out. A few months later I joined* a group of about 30 people (breakdancers and their parents) at the Head Office of the United Building Society in Greys Avenue, Auckland, as answers were sought about the finances of the United Youth Society. Everyone wanted to know where the money was, since they felt Gerry owed them for all the contests, shows, and tours they'd been on.

We were ushered into a conference room and some big-wig at the United Building Society explained that all they had done was set up a Savings Account for the United Youth Society - they had NOT set up any sort of charitable trust and certainly weren't in charge of administering it. They said they had given him $30,000 in sponsorship for his National Breakdance Tour. They were disappointed to learn that Gerry had charged admission into these contests since they had been under the impression these were to be free community events. They said they had no control over the account, they were not Trustees, it was just a simple Savings Account and it was Gerry who had authority to deposit and withdraw monies. Which he had, since there was nothing left in the account.

And that was pretty much the end of it. We left the meeting even more disgruntled but with little option for redress. Gerry had packed up his tent and gone. Where the money went no-one knew, but as far as the various Crews were concerned it hadn't been spent on them. They'd been taken to various parts of NZ (anywhere Otimi had family to run the events for him, I was told), stayed on Marae, watched Gerry collecting loadsa money at the door, and listened to his assurances that it was all going to the United Youth Society and they would all benefit at the end of the day.

I have no doubt that Gerry would say (yes, I'm making assumptions) that the monies received were all koha (donations), that he never benefited personally, and that most of the money was spent on 'administration'. (How much of that 'administration' was spent with relatives staging the various competitions around the country I guess we'll never know). It's the same line he's using now, to explain the money he's taken from Pacific Island overstayers.

I'd also agree that Gerry gave a lot of kids an opportunity to get up on stage and do their thing, and receive the mana and accolades that came with it. I felt I was doing the same with my competitions, the difference being that I was handing out big cash prizes on the night (something the Crews wanted) rather than holding onto it and promising to dole it out later thru some 'Youth Society'.

I kept various Newspaper clippings about Breakdancing, and if you're interested click on the links above. (BTW - back in the 80s we had two daily newspapers: The NZ Herald in the morning, and The Auckland Star in the afternoon). One clipping you won't see is the letter I wrote to the NZ Herald detailing concerns about Gerry Otimi, because it was never published. I'll post that letter in my next blog, it makes interesting reading.

*NB: I was at this meeting because I had just become the manager of The Megazoids (NZ Breakdance Champions) who had been taken on tour by Gerry and returned home with nothing. They had felt hard done by.

Gerrard Otimi - I knew him first!!

From Gerry Otimi 19/06/09 1:30 PM

Gerrard Otimi was the top story on the Evening news on both TV networks last night, when it emerged he was the man charging Pacific Island overstayers $500 to stamp their Passports to give them New Zealand citizenship - thereby allowing them to stay in this country.
Well, that's what they thought he was doing but Gerry says otherwise. He says he was merely 'adopting' them into his 'whanau' and offering to help them in their quest for citizenship. Stamping their passports and issuing them with an official (but not) looking citizenship certificate was merely ... Well, I didn't hear his answer on that.

I'll let the Police decide whether he's broken any laws, but knowing Gerry as I do, I'm pretty sure he'll wriggle his way out of it.

My run in with Gerry came back in 1984 when I was promoting Breakdance competitions in Auckland. I held the first competition in 1983 at the Auckland YMCA in December and it was huge success. Up until then kids had been breaking/bopping (yes, that's what it was called back then despite revisionists now claiming they were always B-Boys) in the streets and in Auckland there was much consternation from Queen Street retailers about the kids dancing in shop fronts.

I solved that problem by booking the YMCA, putting up $1000 in prize money (a huge sum back then) and charging kids $4 entry ($15 for families of 6). It was MASSIVE!! We packed the place out and it was a great night. History was made, you should have been there. But you were white so probably missed it, right?

Anyway, I was clearly on to something and started organising more competitions. Gerry knew I was on to something too, and started a rival competition. But by virtue of being Maori and calling himself a youth worker (but he ran a calendar business) he went one better. He bent the ear of Auckland Mayor Cath Tizzard and got the council to fund a special stage for breakdancing in Aotea Square.

Good on him, I thought, and off he went -- holding free competitions every Friday and Saturday night in Aotea Square on his council funded stage. I continued with my plans to hold further competitions, and even a national competition.

The problem came in February 1984 when The Sunday News rang to tell me that Gerry had called me a Pakeha rip-off merchant and what did I think of that? Turns out Gerry had decided he too wanted to run competitions at the YMCA and charge people admission; but he had a problem: me.

By now I was giving away $1200 a night in prizemoney (and later $1500) but he was only giving away a trophy. A trophy named after him, and one you only got to keep until the next competition he held. With his new competition he would give away some cash ($350) but the rest would be for The United Youth Trust. We were all led to believe this was a charitable trust but as it later turned out (see Part Two) that was not correct.

So naturally I had to defend myself to The Sunday News and they got their story. There is a snap shot of it below but you can read a full page copy of it by clicking here. (Oh, BTW, I went by my real name back then, so now you know). Obviously there's a lot more to this story (complete with clippings about Gerry Otimi and the money he took from the breakdancers) so come back tomorrow for Part Two....

From Gerry Otimi 19/06/09 1:30 PM