I am trying to follow this thread on the
ride fee increase for next year. Are those that are against the fee
increase upset because of the actual $1.00 per ride increase or are they
upset because of the way they feel the board went about voting on the
increase? I have seen it requested that the proposed budget be
available and I have not seen this addressed by any board members that
post. Is the budget available for members at this point? If it
is not when will it be available? It seems there is a lot of grumbling
with how the board is being run (meaning the directors e mail list and
disclosing a budget) that have nothing to do with the actual fee increase
yet this fee increase seems to be the lightning rod that set many
off. Do many discussing this on this list and the AERC list really
feel that the fee increase is not necessary? Or is this just an
accumulation of animosity with some about the manner in which the
board conducts its business?
I keep seeing references to how the board
voted. Is that public record now and if it is why hasn't that been
posted to the list? If how the board voted hasn't been made public
why is there reference to how the vote was split? Now I am really
curious with all the references made to this vote on ridecamp. I
guess it would be nice to see how all the directors voted especially since
we have regional elections coming up. For those that are
strictly against a fee hike it will be simple enough to find out how your
regional directors voted and you will be able to take that into account
with the upcoming election. With DAL elections two years away,
keep track of their voting record on issues that concern you so you can
make knowledgeable decisions on how you want to be represented.
The matter of how business is conducted by
the board is a much trickier issue but certainly does deserve discussion
by membership. I just don't think that combining the fee increase
debate and the way the board conducts itself does either issue much
justice. It seems to make each issue a little more blurry instead of
bringing clarity to the discussion. I do find it distressing when I
read from a former director that she was discouraged from sharing
information with the membership she represented. Of course, there
may have been a reasonable explanation which we haven't heard and
this was with a past slate of directors so perhaps this would not
happen with the directors we have today. But it is a topic that is
worthy of discussion on an endurance riding list and in my opinion is
certainly a more welcome topic then some of the silly threads that have
taken off in the past. I must say that I do find it a little
distressing that some of the posts insinuate that there is some big
conspiracy going on within
the board. These are all basically people we see at rides every week
end as fellow riders, RMs, or ride vets that volunteer a lot of extra time
to the sport as directors. I am not a Pollyanna as I am sure a few
individuals are on the board for more than altruistic reasons BUT
I am willing to assume that the majority are working for the good of
the sport. I do believe that it would be much easier if the board
were more willing to discuss issues brought forth by members and I will
say that it seems that many on this year's board have been more open and
more willing to post and discuss on the two main endurance lists, Ridecamp
and AERC list then in the recent past. Thank you for that! But
perhaps because of the recent past when numerous posts like the "budget"
thread are ignored, it does give the impression that those on the
board are not willing to publicly discuss a particular issue or a
controversial issue and hope that thread will just die down. How
hard would it be for a board member to answer John Teeter's request on
viewing the budget? It is either available or it is not....pretty
simple....
Just as I assume that the majority of
board members are working for the greater good of the sport I am also at
this point going to assume that the majority of posts criticizing the
actions of the board are being fueled by the same concern of doing what is
best for the sport of endurance and not personal vendettas and wars that
are being aired in public. I hope that some of those that are the
most vocal are running for a slot as their regional director or will
consider running for a DAL position next year. I have read some
great ideas on alternatives to fee hikes like opening up lifetime
memberships, etc.
