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I am going to respect Mr. Brewster's request from the other thread about the effect of what happened at this year's annual meeting. However, I will give you my account of what occurred. You can draw your own inferences from what it means. I have my opinion about what it means, but I'll withhold it until Mr. Brewster believes it's appropriate. Nevertheless, here is what I remember happening.
1) At the 2012 Stock Outboard Nationals, Matt D'Agostino was declared the National Champion in ASH. The inspector then DQ'ed him and he appealed that DQ to the SORC. The SORC voted to uphold the appeal and reinstated D'Agostino. Jean Mackay Schwartz then appealed the decision of the SORC to the APBA National Commissioner. The NC then decided to uphold Schwartz's appeal. Most everyone already knows all of this.
2) At the 108th Annual Meeting in Dallas, item number 14 on the agenda of the meeting was the "Approval of actions..." of all of the officers, directors, etc. of APBA for the prior year. This item is ALWAYS on the agenda. By the way, at the Annual Meeting of the Members, all members are entitled to vote. The Board of Directors attend this meeting and they sit up front but their votes count no greater than any other member at this meeting. This is THE MEETING where the members reign supreme in a membership organization such as the APBA. They may change the By Laws, amend them, replace them, fire the Officers, fire the Directors, fire the employees, hire other ones, etc. This is the meeting of an association where the owners decide how to run things.
3) When we came to that item on the agenda, President Wheeler asked for such a motion to be made. One was so made and seconded. During the discussion phase of this motion, I moved to divide the question so that the members could have a separate vote on the decision of the National Commissioner on the ASH appeal and all other decisions of the Association. My motion passed. Therefore, the question was divided so that first we would vote on whether to approve all decisions of the APBA for 2012 EXCEPT the decision of the National Commissioner on the ASH appeal and, once that motion was voted on, we would vote on whether to approve of the decision of the NC on the ASH appeal. Thus, the items were separated for voting purposes.
4) Next, the vote was called on the motion to approve all of the decisions from 2012 except the one of the National Commissioner on the ASH appeal. That motion easily passed.
5) Next, the members considered the motion to approve the decision of the National Commissioner on the ASH appeal. As you can imagine, there was a lot of discussion on this item. There were questions on who could vote. Mr. Wheeler explained that any APBA member could vote. Some questioned whether they could vote if they had not yet renewed their membership for 2013. Mr. Wheeler explained that anyone who was a member in 2012 but had not yet renewed could vote because we have a By Law that carries the membership through the annual meeting immediately following the year of membership. Several members questioned whether there was a quorum. It was confirmed that there was a Quorum. Several members questioned how the Chairman (President Wheeler) could determine if someone was a member. I stated that there was a way to challenge a particular vote if someone didn't believe a person was entitled to vote. No one challenged any vote officially (comment about this later). No one asked for a roll call and the Chairman (Wheeler) didn't take one. However, he did call for those who were in favor of the motion to hold up their hands. He then went around the room counting hands. Lisa Jennings also did the same thing for all of the votes and I overheard her comment that she agreed with Mr. Wheeler's vote count for all the counting he did. Wheeler then asked for those who opposed the motion to hold up their hands. He then went around the room and counted the hands. President Wheeler then announced the motion had failed. Thus, the motion to approve the decision of the National Commissioner on the ASH appeal failed.
6) Next, Member Steve David moved to have a re-vote of the matter. There was then some short discussion about whether this could be done (ie: a re-vote) and it was confirmed that, since David voted against the motion the first time, he could make the motion to reconsider. It was seconded. There was a lot more discussion. The Chairman (Wheeler), then called for the vote and tallied the votes just like he did before by walking around the room and counting hands. There were a few more votes this time around on both sides but the result was the same: the motion failed.
7) Next, there was a lot of discussion that was, in my opinion, totally out of order because there was no motion on the floor to discuss. After a few minutes, I held up my hand and gained recognition from the Chairman. I then moved to Adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded. Chairman Wheeler then called for a voice vote on the motion to adjourn and that motion carried. The meeting was then adjourned.
In summary, the APBA members voted to approve all decisions made by the APBA in 2012 except one, that being the decision of the National Commissioner on the matter of the SO Nationals ASH appeal. The motion to approve the decision of the National Commissioner on the ASH appeal did not pass.
BTW: For those who think that the APBA is not run by the members, they are just dead wrong after this meeting. Even those who vigorously and vocally disagreed with me about how the ASH matter should have come out have expressed their agreement that the members still reign supreme in the APBA.
1) At the 2012 Stock Outboard Nationals, Matt D'Agostino was declared the National Champion in ASH. The inspector then DQ'ed him and he appealed that DQ to the SORC. The SORC voted to uphold the appeal and reinstated D'Agostino. Jean Mackay Schwartz then appealed the decision of the SORC to the APBA National Commissioner. The NC then decided to uphold Schwartz's appeal. Most everyone already knows all of this.
2) At the 108th Annual Meeting in Dallas, item number 14 on the agenda of the meeting was the "Approval of actions..." of all of the officers, directors, etc. of APBA for the prior year. This item is ALWAYS on the agenda. By the way, at the Annual Meeting of the Members, all members are entitled to vote. The Board of Directors attend this meeting and they sit up front but their votes count no greater than any other member at this meeting. This is THE MEETING where the members reign supreme in a membership organization such as the APBA. They may change the By Laws, amend them, replace them, fire the Officers, fire the Directors, fire the employees, hire other ones, etc. This is the meeting of an association where the owners decide how to run things.
3) When we came to that item on the agenda, President Wheeler asked for such a motion to be made. One was so made and seconded. During the discussion phase of this motion, I moved to divide the question so that the members could have a separate vote on the decision of the National Commissioner on the ASH appeal and all other decisions of the Association. My motion passed. Therefore, the question was divided so that first we would vote on whether to approve all decisions of the APBA for 2012 EXCEPT the decision of the National Commissioner on the ASH appeal and, once that motion was voted on, we would vote on whether to approve of the decision of the NC on the ASH appeal. Thus, the items were separated for voting purposes.
4) Next, the vote was called on the motion to approve all of the decisions from 2012 except the one of the National Commissioner on the ASH appeal. That motion easily passed.
5) Next, the members considered the motion to approve the decision of the National Commissioner on the ASH appeal. As you can imagine, there was a lot of discussion on this item. There were questions on who could vote. Mr. Wheeler explained that any APBA member could vote. Some questioned whether they could vote if they had not yet renewed their membership for 2013. Mr. Wheeler explained that anyone who was a member in 2012 but had not yet renewed could vote because we have a By Law that carries the membership through the annual meeting immediately following the year of membership. Several members questioned whether there was a quorum. It was confirmed that there was a Quorum. Several members questioned how the Chairman (President Wheeler) could determine if someone was a member. I stated that there was a way to challenge a particular vote if someone didn't believe a person was entitled to vote. No one challenged any vote officially (comment about this later). No one asked for a roll call and the Chairman (Wheeler) didn't take one. However, he did call for those who were in favor of the motion to hold up their hands. He then went around the room counting hands. Lisa Jennings also did the same thing for all of the votes and I overheard her comment that she agreed with Mr. Wheeler's vote count for all the counting he did. Wheeler then asked for those who opposed the motion to hold up their hands. He then went around the room and counted the hands. President Wheeler then announced the motion had failed. Thus, the motion to approve the decision of the National Commissioner on the ASH appeal failed.
6) Next, Member Steve David moved to have a re-vote of the matter. There was then some short discussion about whether this could be done (ie: a re-vote) and it was confirmed that, since David voted against the motion the first time, he could make the motion to reconsider. It was seconded. There was a lot more discussion. The Chairman (Wheeler), then called for the vote and tallied the votes just like he did before by walking around the room and counting hands. There were a few more votes this time around on both sides but the result was the same: the motion failed.
7) Next, there was a lot of discussion that was, in my opinion, totally out of order because there was no motion on the floor to discuss. After a few minutes, I held up my hand and gained recognition from the Chairman. I then moved to Adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded. Chairman Wheeler then called for a voice vote on the motion to adjourn and that motion carried. The meeting was then adjourned.
In summary, the APBA members voted to approve all decisions made by the APBA in 2012 except one, that being the decision of the National Commissioner on the matter of the SO Nationals ASH appeal. The motion to approve the decision of the National Commissioner on the ASH appeal did not pass.
BTW: For those who think that the APBA is not run by the members, they are just dead wrong after this meeting. Even those who vigorously and vocally disagreed with me about how the ASH matter should have come out have expressed their agreement that the members still reign supreme in the APBA.
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