K S SWIGART katswig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Joe Long said:
> I didn't say people won't pay it ... I said I won't be a
> party to collecting it.
It is worthwhile to note, Joe, that the AERC does not charge
rider's anything. The AERC charges Ride Managers an assortment
of fees for putting on a sanctioned ride.
A membership fees (since ride managers must be members of the AERC)
A ride sanctioning fee (paid up front by the ride manager)
A per rider starting fee (paid at the time the results are submitted)
A per non-member starting fee (paid at the time the results are
submitted or when the AERC discovers that the Ride Manager hasn't
paid it)
How the ride manager allocates these costs associated with putting
on a ride (along with all the other costs associated with it) is
entirely up to the ride manager.
So....ride managers don't have to collect the non-member fee
that the AERC wants for the non-members that attend their rides.
Ride managers can pay the cost themselves or they can pass those
costs along to whoever else they think will pay it (it is possible
to bury the cost of possible non-member participation in the
overall entry fee to all riders.)
So, if Joe wants to charge ALL the members who ride in the ride for the
all the AERC fees (including any non-member fees that HE has to
pay to the AERC), he is welcome to do so. The AERC does not involve
itself at all in how a ride manager covers the costs of putting on
a ride (there isn't even anything that says everybody who rides
has to be charged the same price...and many ride managers give
discounts to all kinds of people that they want to encourage to
attend their rides: Juniors, vets, other ride managers, drag riders
and/or other ride volunteers, etc.
If Joe, as a ride manager, wants to encourage non-members to attend
a ride he manages, he can give a discount to all non-members.
Where the money comes from to pay the AERC is a different question
entirely. If Joe doesn't want to collect it from non-members, he
doesn't have to. He can collect it from the local Elks club if
he can convince them to cough up.
So, what Joe is refusing to do as a ride manager is to PAY the
non-member fees for the number of non-members who ride his ride;
and if he considers that an unprincipled expense, he should, indeed
refuse to manage rides as long as that is part of the AERC's fees.
As an aside:
I happen to think that he is right that the AERC shouldn't be
charging ride managers for the non-members they get to attend
their rides--nor that it is all right to do so since most ride
managers pass that cost along to non-members only
Nobody ever hears of the non-members who don't attend rides
because they don't want to be dinged with a non-member fee,
these people are invisible; however, it would be foolish to
think that such people don't exist. Just listen to the number
of enmdurance riders who don't SHOW their horses at rated shows
because they think that all the "fees" associated with them are
unreasonably high.
The AERC's non-member fee is twice as much as the CDS non-member
fee...and yes, that has kept ME away from CDS shows this year.
I cannot believe that I am alone when testing the waters of a
new sport, so I suspect that there are lots of would be endurance
riders who consider the AERC's $10 non-member fee to be unreasonably
high for something that they aren't all that sure they want to
do anyway.
So, you can bet, if I ever manage a ride, there will not be a
line on the entry form for non-member fee. I won't be charging
non-members more than members. If I haven't successfully allocated
all the costs of the ride to the riders (or collected sponsorships
from non-participants), then it will be just one more cost of putting
on a ride that I will have to eat.
kat
Orange County, Calif.
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