AMYA Elections

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Just a reminder that the AMYA elections are here and you (if a member) should see the ballot as part of your quarterly magazine.

There still are plenty of issues needing to be addressed by the current executive board, some having been brought to their attention a year ago without any activity or resolution. It is time to review your regional directors if they are up for re-election, and I would strongly recommend your support of:

[COLOR=Blue]Rick West - Region 6 /COLOR
Ray Seta - Region 5 (Texas)
Frank Vella - Region 4 (Michigan/Wisconsin/Minnesota)
Jack Wubbe - Region 3 (Florida)

I would also suggest a NO VOTE on ByLaw M3 (BL-M3 - to combine president and vice president on the same ballot vote.)
The current method of each being voted on separately provides another level of checks and balances on the executive board. If approved, it would be an automatic two votes before anyone votes. Is is “suggested” that by having co-operative candidates, it would improve the ability to work together. MY VIEW - there already is a proven “clique” on the executive board - this by-law change would simply enforce that 2-person vote. Candidates for executive office MUST be able to work with all elected officers and directors, FOR THE BENEFIT of the organization, not for the benefit of the executive board.

It is time to remove some of the the incumbents as they simply aren’t doing their jobs - or communicating with members.

If, for some reason, you need to know more, simply visit the following threads on the WINDPOWERwebsite. A few of the posts, and views by other “senior” AMYA members offer a small snapshot of how the current administration manages the affairs of it’s members.

I know many just want to sail and not get involved in the politics, but apparent disregard for Bylaws and Constitution, questionable accounting practices, and in general poor communications and member relations all lead me to endorse the above candidates.

Please do your part, vote ONLY for the regional director where you live (your vote is nullified if you vote for someone out of your region), and let’s get back to a board that is responsive to the needs of the members - NOT the needs or egos of the current executive administration.

Please vote if you are a member of AMYA !

Some background discussion of why it is important to “clean house” and establish new directors willing to work on behalf of members - not the executive board.

http://www.rcsailtalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=2072

http://www.rcsailtalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=2077

If you are paying your dues, be aware of how the organization is being run - or not.

Thank you from me personally for your considerations.

Dick Lemke
Former member #11530

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well spoken Dick

I’m a member (begrudgingly) since I want to play at regional/national events I’ve got to pay…

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So Dick, you’re not an AMYA member but want others to vote your way. Interesting. Isn’t part of Civics 101 the idea of participating?

Here are my recommendations, I’m a member.
Region 6 Bob Eger (I find Rick’s communications confusing and disagreed with past actions in the EC12 class)
Region 5 Ray Seta (slight Vic bias, either candidate sounds great)
Region 4 either (both sound great)
Region 3 Jack Wubbe

BL–M1 - yes (sounds reasonable)
BL–M2 - no (the elected Treasurer needs to use what he thinks best. Understanding of the current system should be stated before the election but that’s as far as I think it needs to go.)
BL–M3 - no (too small of a group to be consolidating power)
BL–M4 - yes (keep up with your due dates)
BL–M5 - no (trivial, leave it to the BOD to honor exiting Presidents if desired)
BL–M6 - no (leave it to the classes)

I can’t actually vote outside my region but if a non-member can make recommendations…

Go vote folks or you forfeit the right to complain.

John

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John, as much as I hate to, I pay. If I could vote with my wallet, like dick, I would, But I like being to take part in regional an national events.

Just out of Curiosity, what is the AMYA doing to support the Nats your club is hosting in November? Any financial backing or other types of support? I’d venture to say unless you go out of your way to mention, You wont even be getting a byline on the web page or in the mag…unless you write one up, and then by the time its in the mag it 6 months after the fact…

Id sooner give your club or any club an extra $25-30 in entry fees to play at nats or regionals just so I don’t have to pay the AMYA.

At least when I give something to a club I know its going to a good cause. I don’t feel the same way about any $$$ I give to the amya

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Hey Marc,

I haven’t heard of any Nat support from AMYA. I can check. Is it really a big deal for racers to support their own habit? What percentage of AMYA members travels to regattas? I don’t expect nonracers to help pay for my racing addiction.

I like the mag. Sure the news is a bit dated. Big deal. I like reading about other classes but I don’t want to wade through the internet trying keep up with them. The mag gives me the right amount of coverage. The last issue has a great radial jib mount that you might want to try. I wouldn’t have found that idea otherwise. I don’t look at Soling 50 info much.

$25 for a mag, access to pond insurance, USsailing contact (leading to ISAF), regatta document templates (NOR & SI) and probably a few other things I’ve forgotten. Not bad. Could it be better? Sure. I think the best way to make it better is to stay with the organization. I lost patience with the “take my ball and go home” crowd when I was ten.

See ya at the lake sometime,

John

P.S. Did you mail your entry for the Vic Nats yet?

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John, thats just it…Its about more than just racing. its about model yatching.

Pond insurance…eh…I doubt they’d ever had a single claim…Most club now a days make you fill out and sign your life away on a waiver so they can’t be held liable anyhow…

Take my toys an go home…hardly…I’m all about pumping money into the organization, Like I said Id rather give the clubs I play with more money since they aren’t getting anything from the AMYA. I just don’t want the money wasted…Which by the looks of the financial report…its being wasted…I applaud those who have the time and fortitude to volunteer on the national level. Its a thankless job. Someone somewhere will be pissed off its a guarantee. So I will continue to send inmy money so I can play and I will continue to vote. as I feel sicne I vote, I can complain. Of coruse no one at AMYA listens or at least responds so its no purpose…

I did look at the radial jib fitting. I had seen it before…But with my plank on frame deck I don’t have enough clearance below deck ,I don’t think, to make it work… I will mock one up and see how it goes, but its one of the those designs that you really have to commit your self to. and I’m not sure I want to bugger up the planked deck…and it doesn’t look as free rotating in light air that it could be…

here are a few pics on the one I doing on my vic and simple variation on the odom…

the application nats and the check are in my hand right now with a stamp on the envelope for the mailman…are you doing an EC12 events int he future. There is one on MD if you wanted to come up and stay with me you are welcome to…and i was looking at the events in Charleston as well

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So John - what is it/which is it that you are saying?

Just because you have a multi-digit AMYA assigned number, it makes a difference in how/who can “recommend/suggest” for an election? This is exactly the message that is presented to us - and exactly why I elected NOT to renew and seemingly support Mason and his band of followers.

  • Perhaps you weren’t keeping up with suggestions and recommendations for AMYA improvement since last summer?
  • Perhaps you weren’t on the receiving end of “nasty” emails from current and recent past executive members?
  • Perhaps you see nothing wrong in a former Prez and VP being re-appointed as new VP who will have the ability to become President once again?
  • Perhaps you feel it is important to have an AMYA number to race - even if you paid entry fees?
  • Perhaps, reading printed material in a magazine 2-3 months (at best) after it has happened is the type of “latest, breaking news” you prefer?
  • Perhaps you know a reason why so many former AMYA members have “elected” not to renew?
  • Perhaps you want to belong to an organization that feels “mandated” paid membership is much more important to the organization than volunteered services (in my case ["Isn’t part of Civics 101 the idea of participating? "] - volunteered as MY Technical Editor – submission of technical articles for MY – a set of free MY published multihull plans – positive promotion on several web forums of AMYA before being kicked in the shins – inability to serve as a volunteer secretary of RG-65 Class Owners Association after a year of work to introduce and actually grow the organization to a point it met AMYA recognized class standards for number of members)
  • Perhaps you feel satisfied it has taken nearly 6 months and the RG-65 Class is still absent from various AMYA web pages.
  • Perhaps NOT knowing what the board does, how they vote, or where money is spent isn’t important to you?
  • Perhaps you feel it is in the best interests of AMYA to discriminate against those who build, sail, offer free advice and exclude them simply over a 5 digit membership number?
  • Perhaps you would like to correspond with foreign class members and (try to) explain why ANY membership would be mandated in order to race a toy boat?

If AMYA and current Board would put the organization before their egos, and begin to communicate with members, I have stated before and I will state it again, that my renewal check hangs on the wall next tot he computer. I just need to see a really good reason to overlook the above and rejoin. That’s my personal call - and wouldlike to point out that part of CIVICS 101, suggests elected officials are responsible for those who elected them - not the other way around.

Feel free to contact me off-line … or join the discussion if you think we are all wrong at the WINDPOWER site.

Sorry - I’ve been at this since 1999 and I see it’s time for a change for improvement.

Regards,

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Hi Marc,

First off, I never meant to place you in the go home category. I apologize if you thought otherwise. You and your fellow AMYC skippers are the best.

Claim or not, our city managed lakes won’t let us play without insurance. We’re probably not the only ones. I agree that it’s not all about racing. Model building is a function the magazine serves well. It also gives a place for history, club profiles, and other stories. The regatta news is minor. I still like reading the reports that give a taste of the event rather than dry stats.

Talk to Wubbe about your concerns, he’s a good guy. Heck, talk to Pete. If you don’t eviscerate him as an introduction, he’ll listen. He may not agree with you but we all get to experience rejection from time to time. A phone call may work better too. No matter how much we try to write clearly, a reader can always apply the worst tone when reading. Saying “thanks” might be nice too, it takes the edge off the thankless part.

My plans for sailing are all Vic related or club races. Time is limited and I can’t really travel with the EC12, too big.

Dick, I guess I did mix my idioms a bit. I guess I’ll stick with vote or shut up. In that light, I withdraw my recommendations for regional directors outside Region 3. That’s only my rule, you can do as you please. I think I know you well enough that trying to tell you what to do won’t work. Thank you for your efforts. I don’t agreed with the protest membership cancellation tactic and think throwing rocks from the outside is getting you nowhere. Better options may be coming back in and rattle cages or stay away until something changes to your liking.

I have been in contact with foreign skippers. Several countries are far more controlling than the AMYA. Footys are gaining in some locations because they are under the radar of the national authorities.

Thanks for the invite to Windpower but I’ll decline. Too much of this type of post and not enough sailing. My guilt-o-meter is now telling me to finish my RG65 so I can post something positive.

See ya,

John

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You may be right John -
but after trying to work inside of the organization to improve/change those and other issues not yet listed, and as I mentioned - receiving some emails “on behalf of…” I was left with little choice.

Things went “fairly well” for the first 8-9 years - with the exception of a few of the good old boys network fraternity, and it was only until I began to provide support to the “competition candidates” did I find myself on the “ignore list” - and I point out - at THAT time I was an AMYA member. So you see, I actually paid a membership fee to be ignored because I didn’t “agree” with issues and spoke out against them.

I would of course, be more than happy to work inside the organization, but it is, and has been made pretty clear “they” don’t want to change, nor do they want to hear suggestions counter to their own.

For those who pay their dues, and care for little else, I do question - what is your benefit (given the MY which should be elective, not mandated). I have no problem in someone electing to be a member but without an MY subscription. Take time to look at the posted proposed budget and note how much it costs to provide that quarterly - and then ask - what happened to the membership and where did they go - and more importantly “why”?

A referenced post - not mine:
To those interested enough to see AMYA’s budget, please follow link

http://www.modelyacht.org/pdf/Budget%2031809.xls

[i]Some interesting points I would like for you to consider…

  1. The club spends in excess of $52,000.00 to provide a black and white magazine 4x’s a year
  2. They are showing a[/i] net profit of $2,200.00 for the “entire” fiscal year. [i]However…
  3. However, Board vote 3-09 June 10, 2009[/i] http://www.modelyacht.org/presidents_message.html allows the additional expenditure of $300.00 month for online data expense which is $3,600.00 annually. These guys are spending more than they take in and membership is declining at an alarming rate. Where is the money going to come from when they realize they are running out?
    3a. What kind of software costs $300 a month?

Hey - it’s your (the member’s) money. Looks a little bit like someone is copying the current Federal Government spending effort - except the Fed’s get to print more money - AMYA doesn’t!

PS - a hint ---- don’t order your Racing Rules Book from the Ship’s Store. They are still advertising a 2005-2008 version - the 2009-2012 version (probably) came out the last quarter of 2008 - so here we are, almost 12 months later and the web page remains in need of updating - just another “benefit” to the paying members. :rolleyes: I guess everything takes a bit of time to update - [sigh]

Don’t vote if you approve of this type of fiscal and operational management!

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John - on a more specific and focused topic of your quoted post -

" My guilt-o-meter is now telling me to finish my RG65 so I can post something positive."

:cool: Whatever you do - Don’t even think about asking why the Executive Secretary approved and issued AMYA Club #269 to the RG 65 class in October of 2008, yet the club still remains unlisted as a “National RG-65 Club” even though all AMYA Bylaws were followed and complied with. :cool:

Sort of like asking about Area 51 ---- it doesn’t exist :scared: I made the mistake, as an AMYA member of “asking” ! See above post for results of one of my questions.

Cheers - hope to see you on the same pond some day with the RG-65

Cheers

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Let me jump in here and offer my 2 cents. Thank you Tallastro for the “great” complement, but I would like to offer my credential and perhaps I feeel just a tiny bit greater than my opponent.
I have been Commodore of Detroit MYC for the last 5 years. In that time we have hosted in excess of 15 National and Regional events, all under my chairmanship. (Read that as I organized the event. did registrationm, made site arrangements, brought rescue boat and tents to the pond, blah blah blah)
Last year I entered 5 National Championship class races and travelled to all.
I introduced Raceweek back to the Midwest so that our Northern brothers could participate. In former life, I was president of Pontiac Model Airplane club (www.pmac,us) that won the HiTec club of the year and 1500.00 We used it for Youth flying.
My opponent, as former member of my club, was the US1M, fleet captain for 3 years of a 6 boat fleet. I believe he was registrar of 1 US1M National.(???)
+AMYA dropped the stipend to host clubs. It used to pay 10.00 per skipper after the first 15. This was stopped under Maxson.

Thanks for your interest and comments. I enjoy the vibrance of these conversations.

Frank Vella