John,
You said,"You must understand that it is hard to separate [sic] the facts from the unnessary [sic] information, however I will try." That's a good thought but quoting out of context is the favorite tool of a really convincing con artist. You are not a con artist but your edited explanations are certainly don’t give a full picture.
JK-"At the USCA Nationals in June 04 at Bean Blossom after the general meeting Jay jumped on top of a picnic table and accused Colby of selling a door-prize that Jay had donated, he yelled many not so nice things.
Colby confronted Jay and Jay had to get back on the picnic table and apologize it was quite a bad scene, perhaps this bad taste caused some to sign the petition,[sic}"
John, he part that you left out was pretty important. Before the door prizes were handed out, Jay made an announcement to the effect that he had been approached by a person (or was it two?) that NEEDED the tires in order to make the trip home safely. To provide for that Jay asked that whoever won the tires GIVE THEM to the folks who needed them to get home and he (Jay) would ship replacements to them at their homes at no charge. Now this seemed to me like a generally good thing, Jay was doubling his door prizes and helping out a sidecarist who could be stranded. The tires were awarded and when the winner offered the tire the person who needed it was standing behind the winner and the winner didn't see him. Colby raised his hand and took the tire. (Now just a bit more "unnecessary information", Colby arrived in an Airsteam motorhome pulling a double decker trailer. I'm pretty sure the tire didn't fit either the trailer or the motorhome so he could probably have made it home without the tire.)
After that happened and the prizes were all handed out as the meeting was breaking up, someone approached Jay and told him that Colby was trying to sell the tire. Jay DID NOT react appropriately. He did get up on the table and shout. Colby was in his face in a flash threatening bodily harm. Jay backed down and then apologized. Was Colby really trying to sell the tire? I don't know but I do know that he didn’t NEED the tire. I do know that BOTH of them reacted in a manner that was seriously out of line. I do know that John elected to side with one against the other although folks counseled you to admonish both bad actors. It looks like you’re still trying to paint Colby white in this.
As a side note, it was immediately after this ruckus (within minutes) that the “Larry Allen Petition” (to remove Jay as a Board member) was started. Does anyone still believe that this has ANYTHING to do with Jay being in the industry? Has anyone noticed that Colby Cousineau signed the petition KNOWING that there is no provision for removing a Board member? The whole thing SMELLS!
JK- “Back to the manufactures question, let us visit with Texas Sidecar company [sic]
in [sic] 2003 Bob Darden (owner of Texas Sidecar Co.) donated a sidecar to the National rally. Have you saw his adds [sic] on sidecar.com or in the sidecarist?
Bob tried to buy add [sic] space on sidecar.com and the then board would not sell him the same add [sic] Jay had on this site. I was at that board meeting as president-elect as a guest, he presented the board with a $500.00 check for 1year banner add on sidecar.com the board turned him down.”
John that was a very good account of the meeting and what happened but you did leave out the reason why the Board turned down the check. If you remember, the meeting was going VERY long and we started to talk about what the rates should be. The decision was taken that we didn’t have adequate information to set a rate and that we needed to do that before we took Bob’s check. Now Jim Cain took that as a task and he didn’t follow through but a few months later I presented a suggested set of rates and you refused to consider them so that the incoming Board could handle the tasks. I can outline them for you or you can simply go back on Racedis and look them up for yourself.
There is another si
I have been a member of the USCA for several years. We have made a lot of progress but still … more improvements can be done!! I just heard that Joyce Canfield is running for president of the USCA. I think our organization needs new ideas, renewed energy at the helm, and real willingness to stop of this deleterious finger pointing that has been going on for the last year.I was impressed by Joyce’s enthusiasm for our beloved sport and her technical competence as USCA’s Board member. I am sure Joyce will be an excellent choice to guide our organization through the next couple of years. By the way, I’ll support and vote for Joyce Canfield.
Good luck Joyce!
Piero Bassi
Minneapolis, Minnesota
I was very interested to hear Al's comments that some have suggested that were it not for Jay's involvement then the USCA would have had far more participation from ALL the other sidecar manufacturers out there. Historically, that is incorrect. Based on the past thirty years, almost all of the sidear manufacturers have helped the USCA to a greater or lesser degree. These include Vern Goodwin, Thompson Cyclecars, Sidestrider, Sidecar Imports, American Jawa, Lovegreen, Harley-Davidson, Arlette, and the Sidecar Connection. People in the trade who helped from time to time included Shirley Moline and Pat Sheey and Jon Sontag, and Tom Terning and Helen Paulos and John Gresh and Bob Odell and Stan Vorgias and Gary Pevey and Ron Russel, and others. Some gave more others less. SOme gave a sidecar for the rally. Others sold us a sidecar at cost, or at a discount. According to their circumstances. Like the USCA, their resources have been up, and they have been down. And it often depends on WHO from the USCA is doing the approaching the manufacturer - not all of us are smooth honey-talking salesmen.
In summary, this statement is neither true not is it false. It is an answer that is best answered by - well - it depends entirely on the circumstances. Yes, the manufacturers can and should provide more support to the USCA - but no, the USCA must also deserve this support. They must provide better place for the manufacturers to show their products, or a tent where their brochures can be displayed. The USCA must show they want to be sidecar manufacturer friendly. It is after all a two way street with much to be gained by both sides. As Jay says, he provides special packages about the USCA to his new sidecar buyers. Keep it up.
Hal Kendall, Co-Founder, USCA
Hal,
We're on the same page here but we are approaching it from different angles. John was the one who was implying that if we got rid of Jay the rest of the industry would immediately come forward with support. I'd love to have the support of all of the manufacturers but you've been around much longer than I and I've never seen the support of which you speak. Further, I'm not willing to ban the one guy who has supported us even if it meant we get the support of all of the others. I'm more impressed with a supporter that comes to us without preconditions.
The basic problem here isn't support or lack of. The problem is telling half the truth and expecting the membership to swallow it. Claiming progress that wasn't John's doing and the whole business of proxy voting have just brought me to a boil. I've been pretty quiet for almost a year but I won't stand by and watch while John tries to wrap himself in the flag. I'm most disappointed with the idea that every time things get rough for John, he trots out his relationship with Ed Johnson. Ed was a great sidecarist and his memory doesn't need to be diluted with this shameless tactic. John, don't cloud the issues by trying to associate yourself with Ed's memory, stand on your own two feet and tell the WHOLE story.
I need to add, or rather clarify something about Jay's advertisement on the original website. Jay's ad was on a cycling banner that was designed to show six or seven separate ads. Each time you clicked on a new message or page it would show the next photo ad. Alongside of it was something to the effect of "Click here to help sponsor our new site" or something similar. I don't remember the exact words. When anyone clicked there it would open a blank email message addressed to me with "Advertising" in the subject line. In the time I was webmaster I received four requests for information. Three from Adult Dating Services that I felt were inappropriate for a family site and the fourth from a Canadian Installer who only wanted to pay to have his name added to the list of Installers. His information was added at no charge, just as we didn't charge anyone else. Jay's ad repeated because there were no other ads to cycle through. If you want to blame someone for that ad appearing on each page, blame me! I had hoped it would encourage others to offer their own ads.
First of all, I never suggested to throw Jay out, I suggested that we make it an even playing field for all manufactures. Quite a difference!
Second of all, It is real easy for everyone to blame the president, and I am prepared to take any amount of blame that the members would like to bestow upon me.
Mr.Ome has tried since 03 to blame me for everything, and I suppose that he is correct in his own mind. As stated in earlier post, when I was on trial, open the racedis files to the public let them read and decide.
I have always stood on my own two feet, and will run on what I have done, good bad or indifferent, we will let the members decide with their vote, and will accept it gracefully. I will not attempt to debate with Mr. Ome hiding behind a computer screen, I will however stand physically before the general membership and debate any issue.
At the 04 nationals there were 150+ signs that said 'Kennedy 05'
I have never said that I was perfect, but from my other job I would like to quote 'let he who is without sin, throw the first stone'
YIC
Folks this should be turned into a mini series or maybe a soap opera.The monies collected for such a venture could really help the club's treasury.Of couse it is questionable as to what the board would want to do, or agree to do, or disagree not to do or to do with the money..but no matter.
What is being discussed in these recent threads is only a small portion of the whole mini series. Let me expound (big word for me)
Okay...There was the controversy of John being accused of stealing from the club because he gave away a couple of hats, the pseudo fear of going to bean blossom by some because of a lynching that was going to take place, the accusations of the FBI going to be contacted because of it,The possiblity of the lacrosse rally being sabotaged, the bogus report of Bob Anderson being fired, the efforts to get the sidecar.com site back from Doug Bingham's SIC control, The old sidecar.COM bulliten board site dying a slow death with little to no response from past president Jim Cain (Hey did he ever get that Motorvation on the road anyhow??), accusations of all kinds of crazy stuff from both sides ..blah blah. (note that the first one to mention that Jay's being on the baord was a possible conflict of interest that I heard was mr. Olme himself)
Then there was the accusation that the appointed chaplain manipulated someone into creating the position for his own agenda, the ongoing Al roach fiasco, the computer for Al Roach caper, the proxy vote situation, The corporate fraud comments,the thought that the SSP has resurfaced to help stack the deck for one side,the ever growing and lively thoughts of who is doing what with whom behind the scences...are we really hearing from a board member or are we listening to a puppet speaking for someone else?, the mystry of how the treasury grew so much in the last year or so with only a small increase in memberships...or..where did the bucks go before??. and so on..and on...and on..and on...and on........
Future episodes may be related to the, all of a sudden surfacing, of the SSP with David Hough at the helm....his apointment of Steve Woodward to be a voting member on the USCA Board allegedly approved by the so called constitution and bylaws (which have been under some kind or another of a revision process since the second Lexington National), This 'SSP' is one and the same as the USCA-SSP that was mysteriously sold , or so we thought, to the evergreen saftey council years ago but the USCA received no monies from the sale because it was later reported that the 'USCA'' in the USCA -SSP never stood for the UNITED SIDECAR ASSOCIATION but were ' MERELY LETTERS'...now it has been reported by Mr. Hough the 'president' of the SSP that the SSP was never sold and he desereves, per the USCA consitution, a voting place on the board of directors of the real USCA. The SSP IS THE ORAGANZATRION THAT ALSO GIVES OUT THE 'POP DREYER AWARD' TO 'KEY' PEOPLE IN THE SIDECAR WORLD. NOTE: WHEN HAL KENDALL RECEIVED THIS AWARD BACK IN '96 HE , HIMSELF, DID NOT EVEN KNOW THAT THE USCA DID NOT STAND FOR THE United Sidecar Association, likewise for many who supported the SSP prior to it's supposed sale with much of their time and effort!...Of course Dave Wendall of evergreen also received the award and also David Hough even gave it to himself one year..neat huh?
So stay tuned (organ music playing in the backgraound) to the on going episodes of 'As the BORED (OOPS should be 'board') turns. Sponsored by YOU the members ...not by the ones in the sidecar industry because they either never get billed or the bills are lost or whatever....
Oh one more comment though, knowing that many were missed: The 'wonderment' by board members of why people seem to join but do not ususllly stay as members for more than a couple of years.Heck folks, if this so called 'dirty laundry ' was aired in the open people would probably stay as members just to keep up with the storyline.
For what it's worth if I stepped on any toes get over it if the words were true...if they were in error I apologise in advance. Decide fo
John,
All you have to do is name one thing I said that was untrue. Facts are facts and your posts haven't done much to protray them accurately. I think that taking credit for the work of others might be in conflict with your other job.
Claude,
You said,"(note that the first one to mention that Jay's being on the baord was a possible conflict of interest that I heard was mr. Olme himself)". I think that is true, you heard it from me but it was brought up at the Board meeting in LaCrosse and I don’t know by whom. I was asked to look into what to do if it was decided that there was a conflict. Colby was the one who pointed out that there was no basis for excluding Jay and so the matter was dropped.
This is all happening now because it has been festering for so long. From this end of things I feel we can either run the club practically or we can do it "by the rules". The rules are out dated and cumbersome, so cumbersome that not even Colby can abide by them all the time. The previous Board tried to work practically with the idea of changing the rules as soon as it could be done. When things started to go against John and Colby, they demanded that things be done “BY THE RULES” and that’s when things started to fall apart. Remember Colby's old quote, "We're either going to do this my way or by the rules". I swear that's a real quote.
Even Hal Kendall, the most non-political guy in the club says that the proxy voting thing is illegal. We've provided citations from the Illinois Statutes and John chooses to ignore it because it doesn't suit him. If I did half the stuff he's done I would have been barbequed.
I was pretty quiet until John posted things that just didn't jib with reality. He still didn't retract taking credit for things he didn't do. Let's face it. He's in over his head and the best thing he could do is withdraw.
John is a personable and likable "good ole boy" (not a derogatory term) who could be a great asset to the club but he doesn't understand how to run the club and he takes counsel from bad sources. I've told you privately and now I'll say it publicly, we should make John Kennedy a lifetime Ambassador at Large for the USCA. His job should be to promote the club and our sport, both things that he could do really well. He just isn't equipped to run the club.
If John (or anyone else makes a post about the USCA) that I know to be untrue, I'll post the facts as I know them. Please note, I'm not running for office and I have nothing to gain other than the same thing that you do, a better, stronger USCA!
oH
Thanks for the reply.
Agree that John is probably one of the most well liked and respectable persons I have had the pleasure to meet. Also agree he would be the best darn ambassador at large that there ever could be for the USCA. He is IMHO a little out of touch in some areas connected with slick talkers and political agendas and, you know, stuff like that.
In a way I feel that all of this 'stuff' coming to light here is not a bad thing at all. At least there is comunication going on. From my perspective there is not a BAD person on the board. It is just a crying shame that every thing seems to get a 'spin' on it in one way or another whether intentional or not becaus eof personal feelings or whatever.
Yes LaCrosse was different to say the least. Overall it was a great rally. I went ther after just being asked back on racedis...I left there not on racedis any more...member? Joyce , Dave 🙂 LOL
>>YOU WROTE:
Even Hal Kendall, the most non-political guy in the club says that the proxy voting thing is illegal. We've provided citations from the Illinois Statutes and John chooses to ignore it because it doesn't suit him. If I did half the stuff he's done I would have been barbequed.<<
Hal can speak for himself but he told me he had no trouble with the proxy thing if it had been voted on and accepted..Also...Al, I just cannot picture you being barbequed...yikes...apple in mouth and all that...nope.
Claude
Claude,
Hal did speak for himself, I was just referencing it. Look at post #6705.
I remember the change that put you off racedis. All I can say is that at the time it looked like a good idea. Since you've now resigned from racedis, maybe it _was_ a good idea ;^)
I've been taking flack for stuff for a long time and it's good to get this all out in the open. It's ugly but it's factual and the membership should know. I'll always remember the guy at Bean Blossom who asked if the members would see less arguing from the Board. I said that I was leaving and that got a small round of applause. I wanted to say all these things then but since I was on the way out, I didn't see any reason.
I firmly believe that while I was on the Board I did what I thought was best for the club and went with the decision of the majority. If I thought the rest of the Board was wrong, I did my best to change their minds but I never just stonewalled. We broke a lot of eggs during that time but we also made a lot of progress. When it came time to run again I didn't do it for a number of reasons and the biggest is that my talents weren't needed by the club anymore. We needed a consensus builder, a person who would take up the work that had been done and make more progress. Instead, we got John and he wanted to turn back the clock. And no John, I'm not asking for sainthood but I wouldn't mind it if you'd tell the whole truth all the time. I'm not the only "spin doctor" on this board.
We all knew then that despite our best efforts some of the things we did would turn out to be wrong. But that's all you can do. You make the best decision that you can and you move forward. When you find out that you were indeed wrong, you go back and try to fix it. You don't try to substitute revisionist history.
You asked a question about where the money went before the club gained financial stability. It was outlined in an issue of The Sidecarist. I don't remember the exact numbers but you could look them up. We paid Bob Anderson between $400 and $600 an issue on top of the cost of printing and mailing. We paid (and are still paying) Al Roach $2,400 a year (which currently works out to about $3 a member or ~12% of our membership fees) for his services, plus expenses. We were also carrying a large number of Senior Members at a reduced rate ($10/yr). It cost us about $18 a year for each member to produce and send out the newsletter and keep Al Roach on staff. Our membership is getting older and more Senior Members were in the offing. We saw financial disaster on the horizon; our Senior Members were an annual loss of $8 each. That meant that it took about two regular members for each Senior Member to just get to break even and the club had no money to do anything. You've already heard the changes that were made and now with a seriously lower set of operating costs the USCA could conceivably REDUCE its renewal fees and still be solvent. We'd be even better off with a volunteer doing the Secretary's job.
There are a number of ways that we could spend some of this money to promote the sport. A bigger better Sidecarist is one. Maybe we could print more copies and send more out to dealers to give away in their shops. The club probably can't afford to sponsor rallies that aren't insured but we could easily help the Regional Directors stage regional rallies by helping out with the insurance cost. There are a number of folks who are not happy with the currently available sidecar training programs. This is a complex issue but we could certainly look into the idea of developing a lower cost alternative. Better support for the State Reps is also high on the list. Give them the tools they need to actually get out and promote both the club and the sport. If a bunch of folks got together at the National Rally or on this forum and started trying to come up with ideas I'm certain we could do better than this small offering. Giving the USCA back to the members should be more than a campaign slogan.
Thanks for that response Al, I am sure it has answered the questions posed by many.
For what it worth, I had been asked by more than one person to come back to Racedis by more than one person on the board since bailing out a few days ago. I just had to change the channel. I told John that if the board voted a yes for me to return I would consider it as well as taking the Chaplain position back. John then apologized to me for forgetting to bring it up at the board meeting. I don't kno where things will lead from here but do wish the USCA well. I trust the ones who have been elected by the people can lay their differences aside , rise above feelingS generated by all of our mistakes in the past and move foreward. The wrong of any act can be laid aside when real leaders are willing to humble themselves and admit they were in error and move on. We have all made mistakes and many of them. Most were made with good intentions but if the goal of bettering the USCA was put into the shadows by hanging onto a pet agenda based on personal pride then a great disservice to the members was the result.I t i sgreat to see some of the shackles formed by the past potentially be broken through this discussion. I trust that this theme will continue in a positive manner.
The following is a portion of a post I did a while back here I thought it would be approprite to repost it for some reason.
>>We have all heard.." it is not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country'. right? Well in the case of the USCA I think we ALL need to ask ourselves that type of question and it begins at the top. This is a club that is funded by the membeships fees. What do the members receive for joining? Well,first off, a National Rally. And it IS a good one especially now that the costs of attending one is less than in previous years. But..what about the ones who cannot journey to a National USCA Rally that is not close enough to them? Lets ask ourselves: What can be done for them?? What Service can their organization, the USCA, that they laid down good money to join and suppoRt do for them? We can say that there are enough rallies to go around already. And in saying that we may be correct but where can the USCA be of service to the members, and possibly more importantly the potential members, in these cases. There have been proposals of doing USCA regional rallies..well okay but are there not enough rallies already? Maybe so. Does the USCA feel that bucking an existing rally is productive? I certainly hope not! For the USCA to benefit as a whole and show it's support of sidecarists as a whole and make a statement that may encourage potential sidecarsts to join the USCA I BELIEVE IT NEEDS TO PROMOTE THE SPORT OF SIDECARRING OVER AND ABOVE PROMOTING ITSELF!! By doing this there will be a revived interest in the USCA and it's management that will benefit the organization by default. In other words instead of sowing seeds of 'look who we are' we would be sowing seeds in support of all sidecarists and potential sidecarists everywhere. How? How can a plan like this begin? It can begin by simple goodwill sponsorships or other rallies. USCA T Shirts,patches, stickers and hats as Door prizes, membership giveaways, possibly rally insurance assistance in some cases,
etc. In other words take a servants role with the sidecar world driving the motions. If the USCA can develope a profile as a supporting body whose intent is to promote the sidecar world as a whole I think the perception of many will change and the perception of newbies will be in a positive form and remain so. I am NOT being negative in saying this but it is human nature for folks to focus on the bad things and not the good . The way to overcome that is to overwhelm them with the good.
The other thing folks receive when joining is The Sidecarist. In recent times this magazine has risen from a cut and paste newsletter to a nice quality and well put together periodical. Can it be improved upon? Sure, what can't? It will take time for this to grow but it can. If the items spoken o
Al,
You wrote “ .. John is a personable and likable "good ole boy" (not a derogatory term) who could be a great asset to the club but he doesn't understand how to run the club and he takes counsel from bad sources. I've told you privately and now I'll say it publicly, we should make John Kennedy a lifetime Ambassador at Large for the USCA. His job should be to promote the club and our sport, both things that he could do really well. He just isn't equipped to run the club.”
I had exactly the same impression about John Kennedy. I was, as a spectator of course, at the USCA Board meeting held in Bean Blossom. John Kennedy seemed unprepared and “not equipped” to answer questions, make decisions, and, even worse, going along with the rest of the Board members. For example, I vividly remember his reluctance in accepting the fact that the Board had “voted” to remove Al Roach monthly salary.
Unfortunately. John Kennedy, a very personable man and sidecarist, does not believe that he is not cut for this job!! Worst of all, I had the impression that too many USCA members confuse John’s personal manners and enthusiastic behavior with his poor predisposition to get along with Board members and, therefore, to run the club.
However, all the “conflicts” and “bad mouthing” that occurred in the last couple of years within the USCA has left me dis-enamored ( or lack of amour) with this club to the point that I have decided not to renew my membership in it. For sure, my decision wont be a big loss for the club. I have never been an important asset to the association. Besides, I will still participate to sidecar rallies and meet with friends and sidecar enthusiasts.
Piero Bassi
Minneapolis, Minnesota
and for a hot blooded Italian to lose his "amour", things must be serious.
Off topic, again, Gust
Pierro wrote:
>>...........Besides, I will still participate to sidecar rallies and meet with friends and sidecar enthusiasts.<<
Pierro, my friend, we will all be holding you to that!!
Claude
