Dear Members,

Sometimes out of trust and in our haste to support our club we may not look at the details of what we are agreeing to when our board makes urgent requests. Likewise, sometimes those we trust to run our club may make requests with the best of intentions but in the haste accidentally include provisions that could have long-lasting detrimental effects to the club.

I believe this is the case with regard to the recent Urgent Vote. For your consideration I have placed below the provision in the change to the bylaws so you that may determine on your own if this was in fact what you intended to vote for.

Our clubs’ bylaws have always allowed members to play a role in determining if justification for raising membership dues existed and how the increased revenue would be spent. Although our current voting process is not optimal, it can easily be updated to accommodate online voting for speed and convenience. The objective is to preserve the ability for club members to have a voice and stimulate fresh ideas on how best to proceed.

In the way the newly adopted bylaws are written, club members are no longer allowed to have representation with regard to the need to raise dues nor on how the increased revenue will be spent.

Here is the provision in the new bylaws that makes the change:

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Section 3.
Dues:
D. Cost of all dues shall be set by the SOCIETY Board to ensure the continued operation of the SOCIETY and the facilities and operations for which it is responsible and to support its purposes as outlined in this document.

Section 1.
The Executive Board:
C. The executive Board shall be empowered to adjust membership dues as needed to ensure the continued successful operation of the SOCIETY.
Any changes to membership dues, including, but not limited to, general, associate, and limited memberships, must be passed by a majority vote of current board members, either at an in-person meeting or via online voting tool.
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It could be argued that a change as momentous as this should be a single line item to be discussed openly and voted upon by club members. The intent of this letter is solely to ensure that all those who voted in favor of the Urgent Request are fully informed as to what they voted on. It may be the board simply did not think through the full ramifications of the provision’s wording when asking us to give them the authority to address an urgent issue.

I believe there are those of us that voted in favor of the Urgent Request without understanding the full scope and effect of what they were voting for. If that is the case, you have a right to rescind your vote.

It may be that the board offers their plans so we as members can remedy the current urgent matter in a timely way.

To rescind or change your vote simply place your name and the word ‘rescind/change’ in an e-mail and send it to

info@crestlinesoaring.org

There are only a few days remaining to do so (on, or before April 4th).

Feel free to voice your opinion on the CSS bylaw change discussion board:

https://crestlinesoaring.org/topic/2020-bylaw-changes-vote-discussion

Thank you,

Jimmy