|
The following article appeared in the April 2005 issue of Vintage Views
What's it all about?
By David Janiec, Chairman Well, it's not about "Alfie," even if you're old enough to remember the Hal David/Burt Bacharach song. For AHRMA, it's all about communication! Do you have a question about AHRMA, its philosophy, operations, goals or objectives? Well, you are not alone, as we hear from some of you at the races, board meetings, Town Hall meetings, or in e-mail or phone contacts. We would like to hear more, and therefore we added the Town Hall meetings in 2004. Based on feedback from the Town Hall meetings and personal contact, we are now adding this new column to Vintage Views, the one form of communication that reaches ALL of our members. Each month, a trustee or official will address a current or popular issue or question that members have brought to us. We have done this in the past on key issues, but somewhat infrequently. We believe that regular communication will improve our interaction with our members and lead to the continuing advancement of AHRMA in a positive direction. Also, toward open communication, your board voted at our DeLand meeting to alter the approval timeline and content of our board minutes. Full board minutes had always been approved as the first agenda item at the next board meeting, resulting in a long time delay. We will now conduct our review and approval via e-mail, mail and phone, with the objective of having approved minutes within 30 days after the meeting. The complete, public release version will then be available on our website (in a new area named "Member Resources") or by request to the AHRMA office. A summary version will be published in the next VV. Both will include the voting results, by name, where not unanimous. Recently AHRMA received a list of 23 questions, compiled by a member via solicitation on an Internet bulletin board. We have several methods for members to express their views and ask questions: 1. Two board meeting open sessions each year, one east and one west, held in the area of major venues (Daytona and Chehalis this year). 2. Town Hall meetings several times a year at major venues, held in the pits. Three were conducted during Bike Week. 3. Contact at any event a trustee or the executive director attends. Trustees in attendance are usually announced at the riders meeting to facilitate this contact. 4. Contact our main office (ED) by phone, e-mail, letter or fax. 5. Contact the trustees individually. Contact information is published in the AHRMA Handbook, in each issue of VV and on our website, www.ahrma.org. We encourage communication and expect to hear directly from members. And although well intentioned, in the future we will not accept compiled questions through an intermediary. In the spirit of communication the board did answer these questions (several were rule-change proposals). However, space prohibits printing the answers to 23 questions in this column. The answers from the board have been made available to all members on our website in the new Member Resources area, and were also posted on the BBS where they originated. Some will likely be parts of following columns here. We look forward to hearing from you (even Alfie)! The questions below were published early in 2005 on the AHRMA Racing Discussion Board. Responses were formulated by the Board of Trustees and finalized at the board's March 2005 meeting in Deland, Fla. The board's responses are shown in italics.
Questions for AHRMA trustees from current AHRMA members List assembled and edited by Roger Kenyon, AHRMA #214: All questions are from AHRMA members as noted next to question. As editor, I will not interject my own opinion into the questions. I may or may not agree with the question, but I will do my best to reflect exactly what the author wanted asked. Almost all questions are MX related. * These comments and/or suggestions should follow the Eligibility Request or Proposal for Rule Change process. 1) Are MX number assignments retained by members even though that member may not be actively competing for an extended period of time? If so and since there are a limited number of two digit numbers, could an inactivity limit be put on retaining a number? (Scott Brophy) * MX numbers are retained without a time limitation as long as a person is a member in good standing and for 90 days after membership expires. A time limit before a rider loses his/her number could be considered (possibly two years?), as we are nearing our limit of number and letter combinations. A two-year limit would protect a rider who might be recovering from injury/illness. 2) Are trustees required/suggested to attend a certain number of race events? Can they be required to attend a finite number of events so as to have a certain amount of competitor exposure? (Scott Brophy) Trustees are not required to attend a certain number of events. However, trustees are encouraged to attend events in their region, and are expected to be available to the membership. Contact information for all trustees is also available in the AHRMA Handbook, in Vintage Vies and on the AHRMA website. 3) Would AHRMA trustees support the creation of a 100cc MX Sportsman class? (Randy Smith) * This question should be a proposal that should come through our normal rules change process. 100cc bikes are currently eligible to run in the applicable Sportsman or Classic 125 classes. Any new classes in vintage MX would be fighting the perception/reality that we already may have too many classes. 4) Would AHRMA trustees support the creation of a 100cc MX post-vintage (probably Historic) class? (Randy Smith) * See #3. 5) Can a "full" disclosure of AHRMA's financial statement be made available for member viewing? This statement could be in the Vintage Views or on the AHRMA website. (Gordon McCaffer) AHRMA's financial statement summary is published annually in Vintage Views after the board approves the audited financial statements of the prior fiscal year. This approval is done at the first board meeting of each year and the financial summary is typically in the next issue. Be on the lookout for this information for the Fiscal year ended 11/31/04 in an upcoming issue of Vintage Views. The 2003 financials were published in the June '04 VV (and on the website). The financial summary is typically shown in a comparative format to the prior years so the membership can see multiple years information at one time — which is very helpful. This is done for both the balance sheet and the income statement. Additional detail is available by request to the executive director. We would be reluctant to post these on the web or in VV because it is proprietary information that should not be made available to the general public. 6) Has the possibility of AHRMA being set up as a limited liability corporation been investigated by AHRMA? This is a possible way to offer 12-15-year-olds to compete in MX and reduce the risk of financial loss in the event of a lawsuit. (Gordon McCaffer) LLCs are a hybrid of a regular (for-profit) corporation and a partnership, both of which are taxed entities. AHRMA is a nonprofit, 501(c)(4) corporation, and thus not taxed. As we understand it, LLCs pay income taxes (with tax liability to the partners or members, rather than a corporate rate — that is their primary advantage). Most importantly, regarding the thrust of the question, we are informed that an LLC has no legal advantage over a corporation (nonprofit or for-profit) for the purposes of exposure to liability from lawsuits. 7) Can the collecting of and counting of election ballots be done by an independent auditing firm (or the like) so as to ensure that there is no conflict of interest during the election process? (Gordon McCaffer) This can be done, and was done once, in AHRMA's 16-year history. An independent auditing firm is expensive. If AHRMA membership feedback indicates a collective lack of confidence in the integrity of the election process, this can be reconsidered. 8) What was the reasoning for allowing ‘77 Montesa VBs into the Historic class but not ‘78 Montesa VBs? (Gordon McCaffer) * The rule change proposal addressed the ‘77 VB. The Post-Vintage MX Rules & Eligibility Committee received additional information and has allowed the ‘78 for this year, subject to the full process review in the next annual rules cycle. 9) Would the trustees support the change in VMX rules of the rear wheel travel limitation of the Sportsman (only) class from 4 inches to 5 inches to more accurately replicate the original designs of this era? (Gordon McCaffer) * 7-inch/4-inch accurately represents the vast majority of the pre-‘75 bikes, and is also recognized as the international standard among other vintage racing associations. 10) Why is the 1975 CZ 125 allowed in the Classic class, and is this really historically correct? (Gordon McCaffer) * This question is most appropriately answered by the PVMX R&E Committee. The intent of this was to allow the standard frame 125 CZs (like-design, standard vintage swingarm shock mounts). The intent was to EXCLUDE the Falta replica frame, as that is clearly NOT Classic era. There is some confusion in that apparently both models were offered in 1975. 11) What is the view of the trustees on having trustee term limits? (Rick Doughty) The balance of fresh ideas and energy with continuity, experience and stability is a key factor for any nonprofit board, especially one dedicated to preserving and educating the public on historic motorcycle racing. To that end, trustees serve a three-year term, and an open vote of members determines one-third of the board membership each year. We have full confidence in our membership to determine the trustees to best represent them. 12) Is it possible to have three "open to the members (or at least mostly)" trustee/board meetings a year? One in the eastern, middle and western parts of the country. (Rick Doughty) AHRMA currently has three board meetings per year, two of which have open sessions for members. The first two meetings of the year are scheduled in conjunction with large AHRMA national events in each region, in order to encourage and allow member attendance and input (for 2005: DeLand, Wednesday, March 9, and Friday, Aug. 12 at Chehalis, Wash). Board meetings are announced well in advance in Vintage Views and on the AHRMA website. Additionally, in 2004, the board added several “Town Hall” meetings to take place at major racing venues in each region, in order to get increased exchange with our members. We are continuing that for 2005. Three were held during Bike Week. 13) Can specific votes cast in trustee meetings be displayed for public viewing? This would be a tabular format with each issue listed and how each trustee voted on each issue. (Rick Doughty) Yes, just not in tabular fashion. Changes in the timing and content of the board minutes were approved at the DeLand board meeting on March 9. Watch VV and the website for more info. 14) Can new positions be created for rider representatives from each competition discipline within AHRMA? These reps would be elected and would gather input and suggestions for the board's consideration. (Rick Doughty) We already have something similar in the form of coordinators (MX, DT, RR), as well as the R&E committees for each discipline. All have current competitors on them. Additionally, trustees are elected to represent ALL disciplines and are accountable to that standard by membership. 15) Can the input and output of the "Benevolent Fund" be made available for public viewing? This could be listed with the financial statement. (Rick Doughty) Yes, in general terms. However, we cannot give specific names and amounts due to health care and confidentiality laws. Accounting for the Benevolent Fund is separately covered in our financial statements. 16) Is there a person(s) responsible for seeking out sponsorships for AHRMA and/or for an Event series? What is the process currently used for this search? What is the evaluation criterion used to determine if a sponsorship is accepted or rejected? (Rick Doughty) Our Executive Director, Dave Lamberth, is responsible for this. We have formed a small task team to look at this (November '04 board meeting). Primary criteria for series sponsorship is contribution to AHRMA, its financial position, publicity and membership benefit. 17) Do all Executive Board meetings have a required attendance of the remaining trustees? If not, can this be made a requirement? (Rick Doughty) The Executive Committee is elected by the trustees to oversee operations of AHRMA between board meetings. The executive board has specific limits as to its authority in this capacity. If normal operational issues exceed these limits, a full board meeting can be conducted (usually by conference call). This is clearly called out in the AHRMA bylaws, available on the AHRMA website or from the AHRMA office. 18) Is it possible to further divide the regions into divisions and have one trustee elected from each division to dilute the over-representation of any particular region? (Rick Doughty) Under the law, according to the American Bar Association’s "Guidebook for Director of Nonprofit Corporations," a nonprofit board member MUST act in the interest of the organization as a whole, rather than any particular group, discipline or region he/she may represent. Again, we have full confidence in our membership to determine the trustees to best represent them. 19) Can AHRMA develop a "mentoring" program for new rider classification? This would help to properly classify rider ability and welcome the new member into AHRMA. (Rick Nicholson) Excellent idea! This should be a grassroots initiative taken on by the member with the initial idea. That way he/she would get credit for its success and it would not encumber the present volunteer base. 20) Is there an official plan to split the Northwest Region, or is it just a rumor? (Roger Kenyon) A proposal was brought forward at the DeLand board meeting. It was received positively, and the proponents were invited to attend our next board meeting at Chehalis for update and further consideration. 21) Would AHRMA trustees consider a "better" method for new MX member rider skill classification? The current one can be perceived as somewhat negative and may deter new members from joining or actually racing after joining. (Roger Kenyon) * Of course! But keep in mind that the "better" method must not only be "better" in a majority opinion, inexpensive and automatic, and it must have minimal impact to our volunteer base. Initial feedback at the first AHRMA National of 2005 at Speedworld, Ariz., was generally positive, with some learning points and tweaking to be done. A specific proposal would be reviewed by the R&E committee and the board. 22) The Northwest Region is splitting vintage events from post-vintage events, having separate race weekends, different tracks, etc. Is there any plan to implement this format for AHRMA nationals? (Roger Kenyon) Our national format conducts the PVMX and VMX on separate days due to larger turnouts and bike era track preferences. There is no "absolutely" fixed format. In general, we have PVMX and VMX on the same weekend. Sometimes there are separate tracks or extensive prep differences for the different eras of bikes represented in each classification, even at the same facility. 23) Is it really a "requirement" that all VMX and PVMX bikes must display an AHRMA sticker on both side of the bike? Can this be voluntary? (Roger Kenyon) Rule 3.2.6. requires this. The intent is to help market AHRMA and add to our gates (everyone likes competition). Every time someone sees an AHRMA race bike — in your garage or driveway, in the back of your truck, at a practice day, in media coverage, etc., we have provided an opportunity to expose the existence of AHRMA racing to a whole new set of potential members. We assume AHRMA members are proud to race with AHRMA, and would like to have more members on the line to race with. << Return to the Member Resources page [AHRMA Home] [News Flashes] [Events & Results] [WebMart] [Rulebook] [E-Mail Directory]
|