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[RC] The Thankless Job - Joe Long

Some of us who have criticized the recent Board of Directors actions in raising
ride fees have been taken to task for doing so, and reminded what a "thankless
job" being a Director is, and how much we owe them for their dedication and
sacrifice.  It's implied that criticism of them or an action taken by them is
unappreciative of this, and unseemly.

Well, yes, it is often a "thankless job," and there is a lot of sacrifice
involved.  I served on the Board from 1980 through 1993, which cost me thousands
of dollars out of my pocket, many vacation days from my job, and countless hours
of work.  It isn't exactly fun sitting in a meeting room while others are out
riding their horses or going to shows.  Let know one think that I do not
appreciate the dedication and sacrifices of our Directors, or the great job they
do (most of the time!).

I will praise and thank the Directors when they do good,  which is most of the
time.  But I will speak out when they do wrong, as they did -- BIG TIME -- in
rushing through the fee increases.  Especially when it was all so unnecessary; I
can't count how many times during my tenure on the Board we passed something
without member input only to rescind it at the next meeting after an ensuing
bruhauhau.  In the matter of rules changes, we wisely decided to not vote on any
rule change until AFTER the proposed change had been published in Endurance
News.  I would have thought the Board would have anticipated the reaction that
would follow their "Midnight vote" on unnanounced fee increases, but I guess
some lessons don't seem to get learned.

I've seen it suggested that they had to act quickly so that the changes could be
announced in EN in the November issue before taking effect Dec. 1st.  Of course,
unlike rules changes, there is no need for a ride fees increase (or even a dues
increase) to coincide with the start of a ride season.  Dues and fees changes
can take effect at any time.  So they had the time to publish proposed dues and
fee increases in EN prior to voting on them, to allow for responses from the
members before voting.  IMO the best procedure, by far, would have been to
announce the proposals in EN, have them on the agenda at the Membership Meeting
at the Convention, then vote on them at the Sunday open Board meeting.  The AERC
cash reserves are more than sufficient to allow for this timeline.

My saying this publicly does not mean that I do not appreciate the hard work of
the Board!!!  I left the Board in 1994 largely out of fatigue, I figured it was
someone else's turn to do the work.  In recent years I've considered running
again, but so far I haven't gotten up the gumption to do it.  It IS a difficult
job, to do it right takes a lot of time and effort, as well as cost, and let no
one doubt:  I apprecate and THANK all of those who are doing it!

-- 

Joe Long
jlong@xxxxxxxx
http://www.rnbw.com


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