Request To Remove Chip Cataldo From The HOS 7 7

[Cat]

Some years ago the forum became aware of a repeating pattern of abominable behaviour by Chip Cataldo, stretching back to the late 90's. Action was taken, and he was appropriately placed in the Hall Of Shame. 

I had known of Chip since before these forums, having known him since the 2000's, when he had scammed a deceased person's collection and hadn't paid the funds owed for it on time. He eventually did, but it became a big thing on the Rebslscum forums, where I was a member. My memory is playing up, but I believe it was Andy who had passed away, a good guy, well known in the scene. I had no idea of the length of his behaviours though. After that and what he did here, I wrote him off.

Approximately 2 and a half years ago, my aunt passed away. In my grief, I posted about it here. I received a PM about it from, of all people, Chip. I didn't know what to say or do, so I basically told him thank you, but to please  off. He apologised and did so. Quite some time later I felt bad about my response so I reached out and just said I was sorry for being so harsh to him, but that while I appreciated the sentiment, I couldn't handle talking to someone like him. He apologised, and said he understood. He then mentioned that, not that it matters, and began describing to me what actions he had taken since certain things in his own life had happened. 

In short, we slowly started to communicate, and I slowly started to learn that, to my wonderment, Chip had actually changed. This wasn't an act, this wasn't a scam, he wasn't after anything from me, he was a genuinely different person from the Chip I had previously known. He was conscientious, alert, and interested in my life, not just in himself, a marked change for the better. He remains so to this day. It is not appropriate for me to go into detail of exactly what he has done to get where he is today, but suffice to say he has taken definite and actual steps to get help for his behaviour. All things we thought he would never do. 

What he did was horrendous. There's no taking that away. However, I don't believe there is any value served in keeping him on the Hall Of Shame right here, right now. I believe he has something to offer the community, and deserves another chance. I'm willing to stake my own name on his sincerity of change. 

I'm not sure what happens from here. Is there a vote? Does it even go that far? All I know is that Chip Cataldo has reformed himself, and serves no further purpose on the HOS. 

Thank you for your consideration. 

I'd also add I have nothing to gain from this personally. I'm simply doing this because I believe it is the right thing to do. 

 

[Funnybooks]

e) Removal from the Hall Of Shame must be decided by a poll.

 

HoS also follows rules from PL

 

5) Probation List versus Hall Of Shame

a) The Probation List is for transactions that have not been fulfilled as promised.

 

b) The Hall Of Shame is for serious transgressions. For example, selling a book/books and sending nothing of value in the package. Interfering with someone's business. Being a multiple offender.

 

c) The Hall Of Shame candidate is subject to all of the above rules.

 

d) Inclusion in the Hall Of Shame must be decided by a poll.

 

e) Removal from the Hall Of Shame must be decided by a poll.

 

4) Removal From The PL

a) If the accuser requests the accused be removed form the PL, the accused will be removed.

 

b) If the accused makes full restitution to the satisfaction of the accuser, the accused will be removed from the PL.

 

c) If multiple accusers are involved, and full restitution is satisfactorily made to all accusers, the accused will be removed from the PL.

Edited November 22, 2023 by Funnybooks

[CAHokie]

No

On 11/21/2023 at 7:30 PM, Cat said:

. However, I don't believe there is any value served in keeping him on the Hall Of Shame right here, right now.

Sure there is. It keeps him from selling here and people are aware of what he did.  It’s not a prison sentence. He can still get a job, go to the movies and enjoy life. He just can’t sell here anymore. 

On 11/21/2023 at 7:30 PM, Cat said:

believe he has something to offer the community, and deserves another chance

Another chance at what? He can post anytime he wants, but just not sell. You are advocating for him to be able to sell here again?

 

On 11/21/2023 at 7:30 PM, Cat said:

I believe it is the right thing to do. 

 

The right thing to do? I don’t understand this part.  The right thing to do is leave it alone and  if he wants to post let him do so…..outside the selling thread. He is welcome to join any conversation he wants and share his thoughts.

 

[Cat]

On 11/22/2023 at 12:45 PM, CAHokie said:

No

Sure there is. It keeps him from selling here and people are aware of what he did.  It’s not a prison sentence. He can still get a job, go to the movies and enjoy life. He just can’t sell here anymore. 

Another chance at what? He can post anytime he wants, but just not sell. You are advocating for him to be able to sell here again?

 

The right thing to do? I don’t understand this part.  The right thing to do is leave it alone and  if he wants to post let him do so…..outside the selling thread. He is welcome to join any conversation he wants and share his thoughts.

 

I don't believe he'd sell here again anyway. It's more the social stigma of being in the HOS, and what it does to one's mental health. I believe he's reached the point where it serves no further purpose to include him on that list, as he really is a changed man now, after a lot of hard work on bettering himself. I of course respect your opinion and your concerns, though. 

 

[Dr. Love]

I would take a different view.   To a person who had trouble with the causal relationship of actions and consequences, a reminder of where that dark path leads is a good moral guardrail.  For himself, and as an example to others.  

But our system does allow for "redemption", it isn't absolute.  A vote can be taken to reverse the decision.  But if he's interested in selling, which is what it pertains to, then Chip should ask for it himself and convince us of the rightness of that.

 

[VintageComics]

On 11/22/2023 at 12:22 AM, Dr. Love said:

I would take a different view.   To a person who had trouble with the causal relationship of actions and consequences, a reminder of where that dark path leads is a good moral guardrail.  For himself, and as an example to others.  

But our system does allow for "redemption", it isn't absolute.  A vote can be taken to reverse the decision.  But if he's interested in selling, which is what it pertains to, then Chip should ask for it himself and convince us of the rightness of that.

 

As someone who was involved in the conversation at the time, and has stayed in contact with Chip over the last 10 years, I can definitely say he is a different person now than he was 10 years ago. 

Time does change us but I think he has actually, proactively "put in the work", which is not something everyone does. 

I'm not going to comment on whether he should buy or sell, just like I didn't then - my concern was just for his wellbeing, but I do think he's a new man and that in and of itself is a beautiful thing and worth commending. 

[CAHokie]

On 11/22/2023 at 11:41 AM, VintageComics said:

my concern was just for his wellbeing, but I do think he's a new man and that in and of itself is a beautiful thing and worth commending. 

That’s truly the only thing that matters and great to hear.

[comix4fun]

On 11/21/2023 at 9:21 PM, Cat said:

I don't believe he'd sell here again anyway. It's more the social stigma of being in the HOS, and what it does to one's mental health. I believe he's reached the point where it serves no further purpose to include him on that list, as he really is a changed man now, after a lot of hard work on bettering himself. I of course respect your opinion and your concerns, though. 

 

Nothing about being on or off a list on a message board should impact a person's mention health unless 1) they allow it to, and 2) they were forced to be a member of of that message board and forced to face the consequences of their actions on a daily basis. 
There are thousands if not millions of websites, groups, message boards, and other social media areas on the internet.....and he can join and be a member of any one of them. What he did here, and the consequences of those actions, reside here and remain here. 
You'll excuse me but, varying dishonest and unethical actions, stretching multiple decades, and multiple hobbies over multiple forms of gathering and internet selling and transacting and after the others...he'd "changed", "grown" and a "different person". 
Here he is again, convincing good-hearted people to advocate for him because of nothing more than words and time passing. 

No thanks. If his "mental health" is suffering because of the "stigma" brought on by having to face a permanent record of his own actions on this board then there's an easy solution to it....go somewhere else, where they don't know him, and stay there....for as long as he can maintain his unstained status there. 

[comix4fun]

On 11/22/2023 at 10:51 AM, CAHokie said:

That’s truly the only thing that matters and great to hear.

Words words words words words. 

You and I both know that all those words and a quarter used to be worth enough buy you a phone call. 

[seanfingh]

This makes absolutely no sense.  If Chip has turned over a new leaf, that is awesome. Anyone here that is friends with him, that is delightful. I hope nothing but the best for Chip and his cohort of friends, with one caveat - the buying and selling of comic books on the Internet. His name should be associated with his misdeeds so that all of the potential buyers and sellers can beware. We owe that to the comic collecting world at large, else we become silently complicit to future misdeeds.

And it is frankly offensive to suggest that an anonymous poster lauding his change of heart can somehow wipe that out. 

[Jeffro.]

There's nothing better than a good redemption story but it's going to take a lot more than this before we should ever think about removing Chip from the HOS list. His transgressions were not a one and/or two time thing. There is a pattern of behavior here that goes back decades. If he has truly changed, I applaud that but it doesn't erase his past.

[thehumantorch]

On 11/22/2023 at 12:31 PM, seanfingh said:

This makes absolutely no sense.  If Chip has turned over a new leaf, that is awesome. Anyone here that is friends with him, that is delightful. I hope nothing but the best for Chip and his cohort of friends, with one caveat - the buying and selling of comic books on the Internet. His name should be associated with his misdeeds so that all of the potential buyers and sellers can beware. We owe that to the comic collecting world at large, else we become silently complicit to future misdeeds.

And it is frankly offensive to suggest that an anonymous poster lauding his change of heart can somehow wipe that out. 

I agree.  If Chip has become a better person I'm thrilled, life is about learning and growing.  But his years of serial cheating earned him a spot in the HOS and it serves as a warning to all .  If the HOS is now causing him mental health issues I could care less, if you do the crime you should do the HOS.

I would encourage Chip to post here more because he does have a lot to contribute and I would encourage boardies to treat him fairly

[Chip Cataldo]

Please don't worry about it, guys. My selling status here is not important. I appreciate Cat posting this about me. I didn't ask him to do that at all, but he's a nice person.

On 11/22/2023 at 3:24 PM, thehumantorch said:

I would encourage Chip to post here more because he does have a lot to contribute and I would encourage boardies to treat him fairly

I really do appreciate that. I love talking about comics, toys, movies and stuff like that and there isn't a forum completely like this on the internet. I enjoy a lot of the people on here since I still read the forum often.

There are several people here like Buzzetta that make me upset about how I've been in the past. I think we would have been friends otherwise.

Repairing my "relationship" with this place is important to me since it's part of my failings in the past but like comix4fun said it's just "words" and there are no actions I can immediately provide to show anything that's been going on in my real life over the last 5+ years. If anyone wants to reach out, feel free to PM. I'd love to have a conversation.

[Number 6]

As others have said, there's nothing actually stopping him from posting.

IIRC what landed him in hot water last time wasn't even anything with buying/selling here, it was him telling a sob story to get people to contribute to his GoFundMe and then misused the funds to buy more stuff.

There's always been a sad story and there's a long history of using that as a foot in the door.  There's probably been a fair number of new members who've joined since he was added to the HOS (or were here and weren't aware of what was going on) and wouldn't be aware of the history. 

At this point, there's a sufficient track record that I think he needs to stay on just to keep everyone on a level playing field.

[Math Teacher]

On 11/22/2023 at 10:53 AM, comix4fun said:

Nothing about being on or off a list on a message board should impact a person's mention health unless 1) they allow it to....

Who are you to decide how being on or off a list on a message board impacts Chip's mental health?

As a person who suffers from depression, it's not as easy as you think to not allow things to bother you. Trust me, based on 40+ years of experience, it's not like you can turn things off and on like a light switch. I have gone around and around with various counselors regarding how I need to change how I react to things. It always revolves around how I need to change my behavior, and it's never about the person who's causing the problem changing his/her behavior.

We all have our own idiosyncrasies, and something that bothers me might not bother you at all, and vice versa. I don't know how many times someone has said to me, "Why are you making such a big deal about this?" Here's why - because it IS a big deal to me, and no one has the right to tell me how I should feel about something.

Mental health is a terribly misunderstood problem in this country. I sincerely hope you have not had to deal with your own mental health issues, but even if you have, I don't think it's appropriate for you to comment in any way regarding another person's mental health issues.

I wasn't even a board member when all this brouhaha with this Chip occurred. But if taking him off this "list" helps him feel better about himself, then I think taking him off this "list" is a good idea. As it is clear that this really bothers you, you can become the "Chip is not allowed to sell on this board" sheriff.

As you can tell, it bothers me greatly when people make light of other people's mental health issues. And no, I have NO intention of changing how I react to this.

[Beige]

FWIW - Chip reached out 18 months ago without preamble and made me 'whole' after a less than stellar deal a few years back.

 

I didn't comment publicly, nor was I encouraged to by Chip.

 

As a couple of you know, my wife has been fighting the good fight against 4 bouts of cancer.

She has the type that will never go away from the multiple parts of her body ravaged by it.

 

She also had a moderate stroke 14 years back as a result of chemotherapeutic agents going awry.

 

I mentioned in a post that she was unwell again, and to my surprise, Chip reached out with kind words. I thanked him and that was that.

 

Can people change - I guess so, but as others have said, Chip has probably the worst history of scams and dodgy deals going back over a decade.

 

That can't be ignored.

 

Chip would need to be posting regularly for at least 6 months to rebuild relationships, posting about comics, not a monotonous regurgitation of 'mea culpa' in every post, but of value to the boards before he is allowed to sell or buy on here again.

If he shows a history of completed transactions without fault over the next 12 months, then I would consider a vote.

 

18 months sounds a long time - but Chip robbed an awful lot of people over a long period of time.

 

He certainly seems a different person.

 

Lets see if he still is in 18 months.

[Number 6]

On 11/22/2023 at 2:12 PM, Math Teacher said:

 

I wasn't even a board member when all this brouhaha with this Chip occurred. But if taking him off this "list" helps him feel better about himself, then I think taking him off this "list" is a good idea. As it is clear that this really bothers you, you can become the "Chip is not allowed to sell on this board" sheriff.

As you can tell, it bothers me greatly when people make light of other people's mental health issues. And no, I have NO intention of changing how I react to this.

While those unaffected may not completely comprehend what's it's like to struggle with depression, conversely, because you weren't here for all the "brouhaha" you may not fully appreciate how your sympathies might possibly be played upon and manipulated.

 

Again:  no one and nothing is stopping him from participating in discussion.  

 

[comix4fun]

On 11/22/2023 at 4:12 PM, Math Teacher said:

Who are you to decide how being on or off a list on a message board impacts Chip's mental health?

 

You're not responsible for his mental health, and neither am I.....and no one on this board is responsible for eliminating his earned status on the Hall of Shame by leveraging whatever bad feelings he's having which were the result of his own actions. 

He doesn't have to be here, doesn't have to see his status, doesn't have to engage in anything to remind him of that status. Not now and not ever. 

These are his choices. His. His choices led to his actions, which led to his hall of shame status, which brought him to this point. And if he chooses to remain here then he chooses to remind himself of that status. If that causes him mental health problems then they, again, self-inflicted....and entirely avoidable. 

[comix4fun]

On 11/22/2023 at 4:12 PM, Math Teacher said:

 

I wasn't even a board member when all this brouhaha with this Chip occurred. But if taking him off this "list" helps him feel better about himself, then I think taking him off this "list" is a good idea. As it is clear that this really bothers you, you can become the "Chip is not allowed to sell on this board" sheriff.

As you can tell, it bothers me greatly when people make light of other people's mental health issues. And no, I have NO intention of changing how I react to this.

Your lack of knowledge of how he came to be on the list and your personal experiences in other areas have resulted in your deciding that someone with decades of unethical and scamming behavior should be taken off a list because it might help him "feel better about himself". Well, that's great for him. It's not so great for everyone else. Everyone who got taken by him either in the distant past, the somewhat distant past, the near recent past....etc etc.

This wasn't one action that got him there and for someone who's taken offense to my treatment of Chip's issues, you're being extraordinarily flippant with the problems he created for others that resulted in his placement on the Hall of Shame. Do they not rate anything to protect or recognize what was done to them? Do the people on the boards who were not here when he was dealing here and don't know what went down deserve less protection and less information so that he can "feel better about himself? 

Are only his feelings at issue here? It's a shame your empathy doesn't extend to the victims. 

Because you're taking a third hand side comment regarding "what being on a list can do to your mental health" and running with it like it's a medical diagnosis. That seems less than responsible, doesn't it? Projecting onto Chip what you deal with isn't any more accurate or on point that what you're complaining about. 

I don't need to be condescended to with the "sheriff" comment. This community placed him where he is, and for good reason, with full knowledge of his actions. If he can't bear to see his name on the list there are many other message boards where he's not yet known. 

Edited November 22, 2023 by comix4fun

[Cat]

Please forget I bought up mental health, that was rather careless of me. As long as Chip can post comfortable here, which he obviously can, that's enough for me. I just want people to know that the man has genuinely changed. I understand that many of you are justifiably skeptical. That's fair enough. I'm not someone whose name carries weight around here. But please, just be open to the idea. I wasn't, and look where I am now, asking for another chance for the guy. 

He is a genuinely different man to the guy who did all those horrible to this forum and the others. That's the message I want put across.