ITEM 10. DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE
REGISTRANT
Set forth below is information about the members of
our Audit Committee and our executive officers. Due to the fact that we are a
limited liability company, we are sole member managed by Golf Trust of America,
Limited Partnership through its general partner GTA GP, Inc.
Messrs. Jones, Reams, Wax, Loeb and Toor are
members of our Audit Committee and directors of GTA. Each is deemed to be an
independent director of GTA pursuant to the rules of the American Stock
Exchange. Their terms as members of our Audit Committee track their respective
terms as directors of GTA, unless they are removed by our sole member prior to
the expiration of their respective terms. Messrs. Jones, Reams and Wax were
appointed to our Audit Committee in 2004 and Messrs. Loeb and Toor were
appointed to our Audit Committee in 2006.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Term on GTAs
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Board of Directors
|
|
Name
|
|
Age
|
|
Position
|
|
Expires
|
|
W. Bradley Blair, II
|
|
63
|
|
Chief Executive Officer
and President; Director (GTA and GTA GP Inc.)
|
|
2008
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. Keith Wilt
|
|
54
|
|
Vice President
|
|
N/A
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Scott D. Peters(1)
|
|
49
|
|
Chief Financial Officer, Senior Vice President and
Secretary; Director (GTA and GTA GP Inc.)
|
|
(1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tracy S. Clifford(2)
|
|
38
|
|
Principal Accounting Officer, Controller and
Secretary (GTA and GTA GP Inc.)
|
|
N/A
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Raymond V. Jones
|
|
59
|
|
Audit Committee Member and Director (GTA)
|
|
2008
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fred W. Reams
|
|
64
|
|
Audit Committee Member and Director (GTA)
|
|
2009
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Edward L. Wax
|
|
70
|
|
Audit Committee Member and Director (GTA)
|
|
2009
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jan H. Loeb
|
|
48
|
|
Audit Committee Member and Director (GTA)
|
|
2009
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nauman S. Toor
|
|
38
|
|
Audit Committee Member and Director (GTA)
|
|
2007
|
(1) Resigned all positions effective
February 5, 2007.
(2) Formerly the Controller for GTA,
appointed Principal Accounting Officer of GTA on February 6, 2007 and Secretary
of GTA on February 20, 2007.
Biographical
Information
W. Bradley Blair, II
is our
Chief Executive Officer and President. He has been one of our officers since
2002. He is also the Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of GTAs
Board of Directors. He has been an officer of GTA since its initial public
offering in 1997 and has served as our Chief Executive Officer and President
since 2002.
Mr. Blair
has served as a member of the Board of Directors of NNN Healthcare/Office
REIT, Inc. since September 2006.
From 1993 until GTAs initial public offering in February 1997,
Mr. Blair served as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and
General Counsel for The Legends Group. As an officer of The Legends Group,
Mr. Blair was responsible for all aspects of operations, including
acquisitions, development and marketing. From 1978 to 1993, Mr. Blair was
the managing partner at Blair Conaway Bograd & Martin, P.A., a law
firm specializing in real estate, finance, taxation and acquisitions.
Mr. Blair earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business from Indiana
University and a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill Law School.
R. Keith Wilt
is our Vice
President, and has served as our officer since July 16, 2004. He has held
that position since we assumed control of the Resort, pursuant to the
Settlement Agreement entered into on July 16, 2004 with GHR. From
August 1999 through July 15, 2004, Mr. Wilt served as the Vice
President and Treasurer of GHR. From March 1997 through
29
July 1999,
Mr. Wilt served as the Chief Financial Officer of The Suncoast Companies,
a design/build real estate developer in St. Petersburg, Florida. From 1991
though 1997, Mr. Wilt acted as an independent financial and systems consultant
to a number of real estate development companies in the Tampa Bay area. From
1986 to 1991, Mr. Wilt was a Director of Information Services for TECO
Energy, Inc. in Tampa, Florida. From 1975 to 1986, Mr. Wilt was the
Assistant Treasurer and Corporate Tax Manager of Golf Host, Inc., the
parent company of GHR. Mr. Wilt earned a Bachelors of Science degree in
Accounting and Finance from Florida State University in 1975.
Scott D. Peters
was our Chief
Financial Officer and Secretary until his resignation on February 5, 2007. He
was been one of our officers since 2002. He is also the Chief Financial
Officer, Secretary and a member of GTAs Board of Directors. He has been an
officer of GTA since its initial public offering in 1997 and has served as our
Chief Financial Officer and Secretary since 2002. Mr. Peters has been a
board member of GTA since late 1999. In September 2004, Mr. Peters
accepted a position as the Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
and a member of the board of managers at Triple Net Properties in Santa Ana,
California. Mr. Peters had also served as President and Chief Executive
Officer of G REIT, Inc. since December 2005, having served as that
companys Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since
September 2004, and he has served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman
of the Board of NNN Healthcare/Office REIT, Inc. since
September 2006. From 1992 through 1996, Mr. Peters was the Senior
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Pacific Holding Company/LSR in
Los Angeles, developer of a master-planned residential community and country
club, from September 1992 to June 1996, and Senior Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer of Castle & Cooke Properties, Inc., a
real estate development subsidiary of Dole Food Company, from
February 1988 to August 1992. Mr. Peters received a Bachelor of
Arts degree in Accounting and Finance from Kent State University.
Tracy S.
Clifford
was appointed GTAs Principal Accounting Officer and
Secretary upon the resignation of Scott D. Peters, GTAs Senior Vice President,
Secretary and Chief Financial Officer, on February 5, 2007. Ms. Clifford has been GTAs Controller since
September 1999. Prior to her employment
with GTA in September 1999, Ms. Clifford was the Accounting Manager for United
Healthcare of Georgia, Inc. from May 1995 through February 1999 and Finance
Director from March 1999 until September
1999. From June 1993 through April 1995,
Mrs. Clifford was employed by North Broward Hospital District in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida initially as Senior Accountant (June 1993 through January
1994) and subsequently as Accounting Manager (February 1994 through April
1995). Mrs. Clifford is a Certified
Public Accountant and worked as an auditor with Deloitte & Touche in Miami,
Florida from 1991 to 1993. She received
a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from the College of Charleston and a
Masters Degree in Business Administration from Georgia State University.
Raymond V. Jones
has been a
member of our Audit Committee since 2004. Mr. Jones also serves as a
member of GTAs Board of Directors. From 1984 to 1994 he was Managing Partner
of Summit Properties Limited Partnership before it went public in 1994. From
1994 until retiring in March 1998, Mr. Jones was the Executive Vice
President of Summit Properties Inc. Summit was a publicly traded REIT
listed on the New York Stock Exchange and was one of the largest developers and
operators of luxury garden multifamily apartment communities in the
Southeastern United States. While at Summit, Mr. Jones oversaw the
development of 26 communities comprising nearly 6,500 apartment homes in
Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Ohio. Prior to 1984, Mr. Jones
served as General Operations Manager for both the Charlotte and Houston divisions
of Ryan Homes, Inc. Mr. Jones earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in
Political Science from George Washington University.
Fred W. Reams
has been a member of our Audit Committee since 2004.
Mr. Reams also serves as a member of GTAs Board of Directors. From 1981
until his retirement on March 31, 2004, Mr. Reams served as the
Chairman or President and Chief Investment Officer of Reams Asset Management
Company, LLC, an independent private investment firm which he co-founded. From
1967 to 1981, Mr. Reams was employed in various investment management
positions with the First National Bank of Michigan, Irwin Management Company,
and Cummins, Inc. In addition, Mr. Reams served as President of the
board of directors of the Otter Creek Golf Course from 1981 through 2003.
Mr. Reams holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts degree in
Economics from Western Michigan University.
Edward L. Wax
has been a member of our Audit Committee since 2004.
Mr. Wax also serves as a member of GTAs Board of Directors. Mr. Wax
is currently Chairman Emeritus of Saatchi & Saatchi, a worldwide
advertising and ideas company. From 1992 until his appointment to his current
position in 1997, Mr. Wax served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
of Saatchi & Saatchi. Mr. Wax had been responsible at Saatchi for
the operations of 143 offices in 87 countries. Mr. Waxs employment by
Saatchi & Saatchi began in 1982. Mr. Wax was formerly Chairman of
The American Association of Advertising Agencies as well as a director of both
the Ad Council and the Advertising Educational Foundation. Mr. Wax also
serves on the board of directors of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group.
Mr. Wax holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from
Northeastern University and a Masters in Business Administration degree from
the Wharton Graduate School of Business.
30
Jan H. Loeb
has been a member of
our Audit Committee since November 2006. Mr. Loeb is currently a portfolio
manager for Amtrust Capital Management, Inc., a position he has held since
February 2005. From February 2004 through January 2005,
Mr. Loeb was a portfolio manager for Chesapeake Partners. From
January 2002 through December 2004, Mr. Loeb was a Managing
Director of Jefferies & Company, Inc., an investment banking firm
which is based in New York City. From 1994 through 2001, Mr. Loeb was a
Managing Director of Dresdner Kleinwort and Wasserstein, Inc., an
investment banking firm based in New York City which was formerly known as
Wasserstein Perella & Co., Inc. Mr. Loeb also serves on the
board of directors of American Pacific Corporation, a chemical and aerospace
corporation and serves on the boards of numerous charitable organizations.
Mr. Loeb holds a B.B.A. degree from Bernard M. Baruch College.
Nauman S. Toor
has been a member
of our Audit Committee since November 2006
.
Mr. Toor has served as a Managing
Director of Jefferies & Company, Inc., an investment banking firm
which is based in New York City, since April 2001. As of December 31, 2006, Mr. Toor left Jefferies
to form his own registered investment advisory firm. Mr. Toor started his career in
investment banking with Kidder Peabody & Company in New York in 1990
and joined Jefferies & Company, Inc.s investment banking group
in 1994. Mr. Toor holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Ohio
Wesleyan University and a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard
Business School.
Committees
Audit
Committee.
The
board of directors has established an audit committee to oversee our financial
reporting process on behalf of the board of directors. Mr. Jones is the
chairman of our audit committee. Our audit committee consists of
Messrs. Wax, Reams, Jones, Toor and Loeb each of whom is independent under
the rules of the Amex. Each member of our audit committee also meets the
criteria for independence set forth in Rule 10A-3(b)(1) under the
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. None of the members of our audit committee has
participated in the preparation of our financial statements or those of our
subsidiaries during the past three years, and all are able to read and
understand fundamental financial statements. Our audit committees role is to
select the independent public accountants, to review with the independent
public accountants the plans and results of the audit engagement, to approve
professional services provided by the independent public accountants, to review
the independence of the independent public accountants, to consider the range
of audit and non-audit fees and to review the adequacy of our companys
internal accounting controls. Our management has the primary responsibility for
the financial statements and the reporting process including the systems of internal
controls. In fulfilling its oversight responsibilities, our audit committee
reviewed the audited financial statements with management including a
discussion of the quality, not just the acceptability, of the accounting
principles, the reasonableness of significant judgments, and the clarity of
disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit committee reviewed with the
independent auditors, who are responsible for expressing an opinion on the
conformity of those audited financial statements with accounting principles
generally accepted in the United States of America, their judgments as to the
quality, not just the acceptability, of our accounting principles and such
other matters as are required to be discussed with our audit committee under
generally accepted auditing standards. While financially literate under the
applicable rules of the Amex, the members of our audit committee are not
currently professionally engaged in the practices of accounting or auditing and
are not all experts in the fields of accounting or auditing, including in
respect of auditor independence. Members of our audit committee rely without
independent verification on the information provided to them and on the
representations made by management and our auditors, BDO Seidman, LLP.
Accordingly, our audit committees oversight does not provide an independent
basis to determine that management has maintained appropriate accounting and
financial reporting principles or appropriate internal controls and procedures
designed to assure compliance with accounting standards and applicable laws and
regulations. Our audit committees reviews, considerations and discussions do
not provide assurance that BDO Seidmans audit of our financial statements was
carried out in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, that the
financial statements are presented in accordance with accounting principles
generally accepted in the United States of America or that our public
accountants are in fact independent. Our audit committee operates pursuant to
a written amended and restated charter approved by our board of directors.
Audit Committee Financial
Expert.
Our audit
committee financial expert, as defined by the rules of the Securities and
Exchange Commission, is Mr. Fred W. Reams. Mr. Reams qualifies
as an independent director pursuant to the standards of the American Stock
Exchange. In addition:
(i)
Mr. Reams,
who is an audit committee financial expert, will not be deemed
expert
for any purpose, including without limitation for
purposes of section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933
(15 U.S.C. 77k), as a result of being designated or identified as an
audit committee financial expert.
(ii)
The
designation or identification of Mr. Reams as an audit committee financial
expert does not impose on him any duties, obligations or liability that are
greater than the duties, obligations and liability imposed on such person as a
member of our audit committee and board of directors in the absence of such
designation or identification.
31
(iii)
The designation or
identification of Mr. Reams as an audit committee financial expert does
not affect the duties, obligations or liability of any other member of our
audit committee or board of directors.
Other Committees.
We
may, from time to time, form other committees as circumstances warrant. No
additional committees existed or were formed in the year ended
December 31, 2006.
Directors
and Officers Insurance
GTA maintains directors and officers liability
insurance that insures our officers, managers and committee members from claims
arising out of an alleged wrongful act by such persons while acting as
executive officers, managers or committee members of our company, and it
insures our company to the extent that we have indemnified our officers,
managers and committee members for such loss.
Indemnification
Our organizational documents provide that we shall
indemnify our officers, committee members and managers against certain
liabilities to the fullest extent permitted under applicable law. Our
organizational documents also provide that our officers, committee members and
managers shall be exculpated from monetary damages to us to the fullest extent
permitted under applicable law.
Code of
Ethics
We have adopted the Code of Ethics of GTA. This Code
of Ethics applies to our principal executive officer, our principal financial
officer, our principal accounting officer, and our controller, as well as all
of our officers and other employees. GTAs Code of Ethics is filed as
Exhibit 14.1 to its Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on
March 30, 2004. You may also obtain a free copy of our Code of Ethics
by writing to our attention at 10 N. Adgers Wharf, Charleston, South Carolina,
29401.
Until its termination on October 31, 2006, our
management agreement with Westin provided that substantially all of the
employees of the Resort are our employees, but were managed by Westin. As a
result of this arrangement, we did not have direct control over these
employees. Each employee at the Resort was subject to the Worldwide Code of
Business Conduct and Ethics of Westins parent, Starwood Hotels &
Resorts Worldwide, Inc, or Starwood. The text of Starwoods code of conduct
may be found on Starwoods website. You may also obtain, without
charge, a printed copy of the Starwood Code of Ethics by writing to our
attention at 10 N. Adgers Wharf, Charleston, South Carolina, 29401
32