Thanks to all those offering to volunteer their time.

Jerome

Thank you for thinking of me for this role Linda. I have the following thoughts:

1. I can do this, but to do a super job (focus on good decisions involving key people and membership), I would have to devote a large amount of  time & effort.
2. In similar past roles (VP of Quebec association, Pres of Soboba) I had overall positive experiences, but also learned that one gets exposed to negativity (you cannot make everyone happy). It helps me appreciate past/current board members.

So I pass, but will gladly help when consulted on any situation. It’s a fun club, long live the CSS.  Jerome.

PS. I may vote for all the girls running for a position.

Linda Salamone , General Member said :

Jerome,

might I suggest you run for prez?

And Linda is a smart , and Voicetress person , who questions everything that happens within club business ; I think she would make a good president , for our club !!

Bille

March 10th has passed and no ballot has been sent out. When is the 30 days voting period?

we wait with ‘bated breath…

As you all have probably seen, I’ve thrown my hat in the ring for the Secretary position on the CSS board.  I thought it might be time to explain my reasons for this decision.  For those that don’t know me, I’m somewhat new to the CSS.  I moved to southern California about three years and have made Andy Jackson my home site.  AJX is a beautiful and unique site and I have fallen in love with flying here.  But, what I have seen over the past three years is club leadership that is somewhat dysfunctional and more importantly not transparent to the membership.  I served on the USHPA board of directors for more about 15 years and I’ve serve as the US delegate to the CIVL (the international governing body for hang gliding and paragliding competitions and records) for more than 10 years and one thing I learned over those years of service is that transparency is critical.  The pilots deserve to know what is happening with their site and they deserve to have a say in how things are run.

Many of the years working with the USHPA and CIVL I served as Secretary. I’m no longer on the USHPA board and I’m now a VP at CIVL, but I have a great deal of experience in the Secretary role.  I’ve attended several CSS board meetings over the three years I have been here, but not once have I seen meeting minutes distributed to the membership or approved by the board.  The meeting agendas that go out to the membership, at best 3 days before the meetings take place, provide almost zero information on what is going to be discussed or voted on.  If I am voted in as Secretary, pilots will get a clear picture, on a regular basis, of everything going on behind the scenes.  Detailed minutes of meetings will be taken, distributed to the membership and approved by the board.

The other thing I would like to bring to the board is the concept of a development of a plan for ALL that we do.  I’m for informed and well thought out short and long term planning for current operations and for moving the club forward in general.

A vote for me is a vote for transparency and it is a vote for a reasonable level of planning in all of our operations.

Only 17 more days left to vote!

I voted. How, you ask? Well…

Ed Wiggins in for President (write in) because of his experience on the board and his legal knowledge

Jana Pivkova for VP because she has no hidden agenda and was such an asset on the board in the past

Jamie Shelden for secretary for her knowledge of all things “secretary “ (the other nominee said he didn’t want the position – it’s on the video from the March 18 meeting)

Jeff Bether for treasurer because he performs this job perfectly

Luke Berger for site coordinator because he’s got IDEAS

Daniel Quick for communications because he’s very communicative

Tom Evans for safety director (write in) because we might get some info on incidents

and yours truly for events coordinator to get a fly-in and some gatherings on the calendar this year.

Its my understanding that our write-ins were inspired to volunteer due to some insight garnered at the last “executive board meeting “. You can watch Jana’s video of the revelations. I hope to have the opportunity to work alongside these individuals to preserve and improve our experience at Andy Jackson Airpark.

1. again- you can request a new ballot if you’ve changed your mind.

It was suggested by someone in a separate communication that my military background and work as a professional pilot is a strong negative to the free flight community because of their strict regulatory nature. I can certainly understand this concern because one reason I love hang gliding is the freedom from the long list of regulations I so long had to endure! I do not believe we need more regulation in our sport, what we need are pilots with good judgment. To create that we must start with good training; then provide honest and thorough communication of accident trends and potential dangers; and then lastly, encourage a culture of safety by example. The end goal is simply to help pilots make their own wise decisions for their own safety and that of others.

I was also asked what I teach. I teach specialized aviation courses at a charter school for high school students desiring a career in aviation. This includes ground and flight instruction in simulators as well as building an RV-12 kit plane. If you care for more information on this please visit the below link:

https://www.sjva.net/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=3432202&type=d&pREC_ID=2386609

Sincerely,

Tom Evans