Your AMCA Board

[Steve Slocombe]

Dear Brian, Roger Smith and Dennis Craig are both AMCA Club members, but both sit on the Foundation Board rather than the Club Board. As mentioned earlier, Raymond Dhue is now the only Director who sits on both Boards.

[fillibuster]

Dear Phil, the AMCA Club and the Foundation are now set up as separate companies with separate Boards, goals, management, and funding. Dennis Craig is President of the Foundation Board, and Rocky Halter is President of the Club Board. It's taken me a while to understand the changes, and I've been pretty close to it. The Club is a not-for-profit membership organisation with the main income being membership dues, and the goals being around having fun with old motorcycles. The Foundation is a charity initially funded by the old AMCA treasury and aiming to educate the public about our hobby through museum and other activities. It is quite different from the old AMCA days of just a couple of years ago, and we couldn't go back even if we wanted to.

Good morning, Steve,( or are you ahead of that curve?)
Yes, we're all pretty familiar with that explanation now, and why it had to be so. But your answer didn't say anything about what $ where, when, etc. I think that many are demanding more than the politician's answer. Are we eligible to receive it? I've heard that it is forthcoming, and I think that it's advisable, let the chips fall. I personally have faith that the disclosure (maybe "revelation" would be more complimentary) will enhance some positive participation. .. Once I believe in the Foundation's purpose, what can I do for it, or for me? Maybe that's part of what I want, to be a participating part of IT. since I have some investment.. . and want to think positively about it. .. but am now kind of "locked out"??

[Edd]

I certainly agree with Phil. We need a detailed complete accounting of where are funds are spent. Who gets how much and what for.
The members deserve this not only because of the 30.00 membership fee but the countless number of hours spent working on swap meets and road runs. This also brings in a lot of money for the club. All from donated labor.

[bmh]

So then, Exactly how is it that two regular old dues paying members just such as myself should wind up listed as directors on the most recent annual report that was filed? See a copy attached to this post. By all rights, these folks can't even attend a board meeting without an invitation. Yet they are listed on legal documents that are required for the corporation to legally exist. I would have thought that a board of directors so concerned with internal politics and hasty changes to club activities that seemed to be working rather well would have had all their i's dotted and t's crossed first.

[Steve Slocombe]

Dear Brian, you've got to remember that the AMCA Club and the AMCA Foundation are now quite separate legal entities. Raymond Dhue, Dennis Craig, and Roger Smith, the three guys named on that routine change of address filing, are all Officers and Directors of the AMCA Foundation as stated. Dennis is President, Roger is Secretary, and Raymond is a Director.

The Foundation has been legally separate from the Club for two years. Those three guys are all AMCA Club members, like you and me, and as are all the Foundation Board, but they are not on the Club Board - except for Raymond who is now the only person on both Boards, and is Club Treasurer as mentioned before.

It's hard to get your head round I know. For you other guys, I recall the AMCA Treasury was about $900,000 at the time the company was wound up and the new Club and Foundation were formed with half each of the money. Since then the Club has been receiving dues, and paid out some of the money associated with setting up the Hershey museum operation. The Foundation initially had no other income, and is now seeking donations to sustain its operations. This whole division of the old AMCA into two was mandated by the IRS, and not a subject for wider consultation with the membership. Yes your Club Board might have done a better job of communicating the results, but speaking for myself it's been hard to understand the implications of the reorganisation until relatively recently. I hope Ray Dhue's article in the next magazine makes the financial situation clearer.

Keep asking questions if you need more info, but please remember I am on the Club Board and will not be able to give detailed answers about the Foundation.

[bikerdds]

OK Steve or Dennis, so where can we see the bylaws for the Foundation? I would imagine there has to be a legal document saying how the foundation is set up and how people are elected [selected more likely] to it's board? Is there even a requirement that foundation members must be AMCA members?
Since the Foundation has half the AMCA members money, we have just as much right to know it's makeup as the club. Let's get this stuff out in the open once and for all! If you want to get over the way this was handled by the board previously, show us. We have that right. No more politician's double talk. Again, the fact the club and foundation may have needed separation isn't really the issue. It is the closed mouth approach that does nothing but alienate members.
We can get club bylaws from the club secretary. How about the Foundation?
Time to let us know once and for all how it all functions.

[stevekleincustom]

Thank You Mr. Slocombe

Mr. Slocombe....
It appears that there are many consistant topics of concern from a number of AMCA members based on what I read here in this thread. Not being an active participant in the more political topics of our great club or being up to speed on all details of what happened when, who was apparently instrumental in making what happen when it did...I wish to simply take a high road viewpoint as only one member who just wants to be a good participatory member of the AMCA and thoroughly enjoy my quarterly magazine, access to the website for help on projects and knowledge from other members and information on events. Repeat...I am not trying to stir anyones pot here and create another series of comments.

Not unlike any organization whether private, public, profit or non-profit, liberal or conservative, the current administration (ie: our officers and directors) has to deal with amoung other things, the residual aftermath of any number of topics that were implemented by a previous leader or group of leaders. Change takes time, change is a normal result of necessity and change seldom occurs in the exact final package that any certain numbers of the membership had wished it would. With 10,000 + members how can any club keep everyone informed and happy at all times? With publishing of financials, explanations of board decisions past and present, the outcome would be certain members wanting even more detail and expressing such. Where should it be determined it is an acceptable level? I am not the one to answer this.

Because of this thread I have found out and am still amazed that for the size of our club and the amount of work it takes to operate a club that we do not have any physical permanent office or support staff. I know....it is an all volunteer organization..always has been... and should remain such, if the voices I am reading are consistant. Yes, I also know that road runs, swap meets and other events are volunteer organized and run by each chapter. But it costs little (per membership capita) to have a person(s) on the payroll to handle any number of routine items that must be handled every day, week and month. At what point in critical mass of membership size does a club need an administrative assistant to handle routine mail, memo's, answer members concerns that do not need the attention of any specific officer or President to handle etc... ? Communication would be improved, topics of more importance would be noticed faster and service to our members could be improved. Our club seems to continue voicing improved communication?

Any of our members who have served on any boards, commissions, councils etc... know that it takes alot of time to do a good job. If these indiviuals also have a job, career, own a business, manage someone elses business or a department or division of a larger company, then the extracurricular duties of a club are in logical priority behind those of daily work and family commitments.

In closing Mr. Slocombe, I wish to simply thank you as only one member for your additional time and extra effort in listening and attempting to answer the concerns of your fellow club membership this Forum. It matters not whether our members pay $30 or $100 a year. It matters not whether our members vote or not at this time. Right now it matters that you tried to make a positive effort towards improvement at the moment for all our club. And for that I believe the majority of our members are also thankful.

Steve Klein
AMCA Mmber 12176
Cherokee Chapter
Georgetown TX

[fillibuster]

300k in dues?

Hadn't rec'd the winter 09 issue, finally borrowed son-in-law's and read the minutes pages. See we have approx 10 k members, so at 30 each the club should receive about 300 k in dues annually, maybe a little less. Figure IRS scrutiny of our 900k bank acct in 07 sent us this way with starting a foundation, but it appears the Foundation is without a means of income, and with substantial overhead. The minutes made short mention of a proposed 117 k donation (at D-port), but it was voted down, so there must exist some fiscal struggles.
Some years ago, when discussion and plans included Pickerington Ohio, it seemed as though the board wanted to establish such a thing as the
Foundation, and there was grumbling then, about what it was for, and for whose benefit, etc. It seemed, then, as if we wanted to celebrate a national trophy case of our finest machines, or of our favorite machines, or someone's favorite machines. Today it appears that we are trying to establish the Foundation's purpose, its mission, as a function within IRS rules, and that adjustments will have to be made for a while until it gains firm fiscal footing. But of course, real estate costs can't wait. Things might rust.

I'll suggest that the sooner we understand things, the sooner we can pitch in and help. I am one who would gladly donate to a good cause, if I can believe in it. My dues are a great bargain for things like the meets, the people, and the magazine. The foundation, if its role is to be a benefit to members as well, should function FIRST as a benefit to its membership. But we are not really members, because the Foundation is SEPARATE from the amca. So I think that certain activities or privileges should be accessible through a donation to the Foundation, as a funding vehicle. The library, for instance, should belong to the Foundation, with a photo gallery, or movies, etc. (NETFLIX AT THE FOUNDATION!!). Since the library is in its infancy, it wouldn't be much of a change from what exists now.

I'll admit that my rambling is un-qualified, but it's difficult to coax folks into the details. Duhe's report is in the next issue, maybe 10 weeks away, and we don't know what he'll include in it.

[bikerdds]

Foundation By Laws

For those who are interested, Roger smith has put out the foundation bylaws in a separate thread listed under foundation.

[Britluv]

Steve Slocumb, thanks for that note on the AMCA 's treasury. I can't remember when any other AMCA director ever slipped up and mentioned how much was in the treasury. I'll bet $900,000 is a LOW estimate.

At $30 per year membership dues, plus donated free labor to put on the meets and judge them, I believe the members are entitled to a COMPLETE financial report, and to vote for the Club's directors.

[olddaze]

Thanks for the nice words.

About one third of the membership belongs to Chapters, and about one third of the membership are registered on this bulletin board. So we still have many members happy to enjoy the magazine and let us get on with it. So where should we go from here?

Chapters? How about when a member signs up a letter could be sent from the local chapter as an invite? Better than sending in your $30, a magazine in the mail, and the forum. The rest acts as a secret ghost club operating in the background.

[Steve Slocombe]

That's a good idea which has already been suggested and which we're working on. It's the Chapters rather than the National which are the heart of our Club, and we should be doing all we can to sustain and increase membership.

On the financials, don't expect to find out which Director ate the chicken and who had the fish, but a dozen line items showing the main contributions to Club revenue and costs. I've already given away the plot by saying the main income stream is dues and the main cost is the magazine.

[Steve Slocombe]

Dear All, here's a summary of the last Board teleconference from Rocky Halter:

The Board had a 90 minute teleconference meeting 9 May, with 100% attendance of the Club Directors, plus Pete Gagan from the Foundation and John Wendel our General Counsel.

Club Bylaws
I reminded the Board about our collective responsibility for decisions, then asked John Wendel to summarize Club Bylaws. John said the rules had been devised for a strong Board to run the Club, and there was no provision for the membership to elect Directors or alter the Bylaws. Directors can be removed by a two-thirds vote of the rest of the Board if the best interests of the corporation will be served thereby, and the Board also has the authority to discipline, suspend or terminate membership when the conduct of a member is determined by the Board to be detrimental to the purposes of the corporation.

Judging
Kevin Valentine agreed to hand over the old paperwork to his successor, Steve Dawdy, and this has now been completed. The Board agreed not to make any changes to judging fees before next year, and asked for an investigation into the cost of trophies. Various motions were passed on the changes in judging rules agreed at the Eustis Board:
- bikes must run five seconds at any rpm in order to be judged.
- an appeals policy and procedure was approved, giving owners 30 days in which to appeal after National Meets.
- reproduction cylinders/heads that do not accurately represent factory original will be subject to a 6-point deduction.
The revised Judging Handbook reflecting the new rules will be submitted by the Judging Committee in time for the Davenport Board Meeting.

AMCA Website
We approved a $24,000 redevelopment of the Club Website which should be completed end-August.

Club Trailer
The trailer has a full program for this year, and we are looking for volunteer drivers for 2011. Please contact myself or any Director if you are interested.

Best regards, Rocky Halter, President Antique Motorcycle Club of America.

[Northwoods_Maine]

After months of (sometimes heated) debate, the membership gets a three minute summary response from the Pres. and Board. This is only my second year in this club and I love the website forum, the magazine, the meets, and especially the great people involved in it - but I respectfully say that this club seems to be run by a small but well guarded "good old boy" network.

I read the bylaws concerning the B.O.D. and can only compare it to an employment situation I was in for 17+ years. The company was an ESOP starting about 2 years before I was employed there. We had a President, who had a lacky hand picked kiss ass Vice President who after a couple of years nominated the Pres. to also be Chairman of the Board. As Chairman, he then slowly but very deliberatly changed the board's composition to a group of old friends and/or small business owners who depended on our company for contracts and therefore would never speak up and debate or question the Chairman. One did and was very quickly removed from the board at the first opportunity. The 700+ men and women who worked there and had their 401K's tied to company stock got no voice in any important matters. They of course, like myself, lost most all of their retirements as the stock declined to the same value as used toilet paper over night. (Of course the officers had insurance policies - paid for by the company - that fully insured their total benefits programs).

The bottom line to this story is that the illustrious Chairman did everything 100% his way, unchecked, and what was a very profitable company with an 80 year history was forced in Chap. 11 , then Chap. 7 three years ago.

I don't know any of our Officers or Directors personally, but I do know that any company or club with this type of Board structure is very suspect and sets itself up for long term discord or ruination unless there is absolute transparency - which many of you feel is sorely lacking. Just one dues paying members thoughts.

[exeric]

It's been said many times and you said it yourself; you get 4 great magazine, an interactive website, national and regional meets all over the country and even Europe, free ad space in the mag., and free motorcycle judging. All of this done by volunteers for our benefit. I would say that's the best $30 you've spent this year. I've been in this club since the mid 70s and they have never missed a magazine or cancelled a meet. . . Regardless of the administrative structure; they must be doing something right.