I posted a very long, detailed, respectful message on this Forum after I found out that John Bevins had been told he was no longer a Board member, or running the Club webpage at amphicar.com
My post was deleted at the request of Ron Green, without any contact or discussion with me by either Ron or Mike. There was nothing in my posting that was not appropriate for discussion in this forum.
I am not going to compose a new, lengthy email because I'm too mad at the fact that my first posting was deleted that I am afraid that a new posting will not be respectful and appropriate.
The basic point of my original posting was this:
The International Amphicar Owners Club is heading in the wrong direction. Elections haven't been held in several years....the current Board members have not been elected by the members....the Bylaws are not being followed....the Bylaws have been recently revised to reflect what the current Board wants rather than what the governing document states....and it goes on and on........all this while they raised our annual dues this past year.
The current Board has no accountability for what they do because they are self appointed and do not carry out elections every two years as the Club Bylaws require.
Bottom line is, the "current" Bylaws state:
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"The board may nominate and call for a vote to elect officers, or IAOC members in good standing through the board can nominate and elect club officers through due process.
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I don't know what that means, because this section has been revised and isn't clear. But I think that I am a member in good standing, and I would like to call for a vote. I think that the last election was in 2004. Since the Bylaws were written, the elections have been held at the end of even numbered years...so the end of 2008 would be perfect to get back on track. There is no reason that nominations can't be taken, and an election carried out by ALL club members by the end of the year.

I trust that this posting won't be deleted because the current, un-elected President asks it to be. If so, at least I made my own copy of it this time.

Marc Schlemmer
Former President, International Amphicar Owners Club


        

For the record, I second our former Club President's call for a vote. I would further request that his original message be reposted to this Forum by the moderator for our ready reference and enlightenment.

Sincerely,
Bill "Bilgemaster" Connelly
Former IOAC Boardmember & Webmaster 2000-2004


        

Marc,

With all due respect Amphipoda and myself both asked that the orginial post be deleted and not just me as you assumed. FYI, I did not even see nor read what you posted. The orginial post wasn't in IAOC's best interest to have dirty laundry aired to the world. Just as slamming a vendor in my opinion without 100% factual proof. It is Mike's website and neither of us have any control as to what gets deleted.

As far as IAOC heading in the wrong direction, what you are insinuating. As you and others well know there were past issues with people being sick, etc that slowed us down to a crawl. Since March the board has approved swim in donations to all the events which help out the event hosts, got the newsletter up and running again with a new editor, have a membership chairperson that recruits new members and notifies those whom have forgotten to renew their dues, have a membership roster board member who keeps record of the dues expiration and all contact information up to date. In March this person had to rebuild from scratch the entire roster due to virus issues. We are in the process of expanding the current newsletter from its 16 half size pages to a full 16 pages with 5 color and a heavy gloss paper. We will also be obtaining a bulk rate permit from the postal service which will greatly reduce IAOC's mailing costs. We are currently up to date at filling the many media request throughout the country, as there has been a huge amount recently. Do you really think that this is heading in the wrong direction? We have received a huge amount of thanks from many of our members.

As far as me being unelected again I am confused. At Celina this year I was nominated by the board and elected to be President for a 2 year term. When you were President, and as I recall, this is the procedure that was utilized when Amphipoda was nominated for President? Also I was brought onto the board in this very same manner. I do not ever remember voting via an official mailed ballot or whatever, however there were crackers at Celina used way back when to vote.

Celina only has a quarter of our members in attendance at best: so to include all of our members in the voting process, or to have the nomination / election process remain as is, the bylaws were recently updated to include it both ways. We also asked our members via the newsletter and at Celina to provide comment, none were received. If you were confused why didn't you simply call one of us? The complete text and not a partial as you quoted reads:

The board may nominate and call for a vote to elect officers, or IAOC members in good standing through the board can nominate and elect club officers through due process. If new officers are not nominated, then the board of elections would need to distribute mailers to all members in good standing for nominations. Then another mailer must be sent to all for a final vote on each board member. All board members will serve a two-year term, including the President. The President my elect to add the position of Vice President if he/she feels necessary based on the workload.

We have all been working many hours on all of the above and I am sorry to hear that some of you think we are doing a horrible job. I have no problem going through an election and I would assume that the board wouldn't either. PS: dues were raised a few years ago from $25 to $30 (probably 3 or 4) and not last year as you have stated.


        

Hi Marc,

I guess I should comment here as I'm the only board member who has been involved since the start of the IAOC and I originally put the club rules together.

Nothing substantial has changed since the 7 or so years ago when you were appointed as first president of the then new IAOC. We made a few edits and changed the rules so the board could apoint individuals for special projects but that's about it.

As always with any club there was a bit of apathy when we asked for nominations last year but the proceedure we followed for voting and appointing Ron as president was the same as when you and 'poda were appointed. Anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong.

Regarding recent events, there was a difference of opinion amongst some members of the board on an important issue, a vote was taken and the matter was then resolved according to club rules.

These things happen but I firmly believe that all decisions the board of the IAOC has made in the last 7 years have been for the benefit of all club members.

Time to put this behind us and move on, feel free to give me a call or private email if you want to discuss further - same goes for you Bligey.

David C


        

Reckon I'll chime in here since I've been named a few times...
I didn’t see Marc’s initial post, but I did request that the entire aforementioned thread be scrubbed form the forum only to keep this place clean of inflammatory posts that could be read by members or any visitor to this forum. And yes, the media does do research and do read many of the things we take for granted here and at The International Amphicar Owners Club website. Reckon I’m sort of an idealist and a legacy minded guy who just wants the perception of our amphibious community to remain positive. The personal stuff, in my humble one voice opinion, is best resolved off line over a few amber ales.

As for IAOC Board and elections… Anyone who has served the IAOC in any capacity is first and foremost a volunteer. The pay is nonexistent, the hours can be long and often thankless. And as volunteers, these people give of themselves what they can and usually gravitate towards what they do best. Recruiting new volunteers is not easy and I am forever grateful to all who have and will serve in the IAOC. That said I wish elections were still as easy as dropping goldfish crackers into cups. And I readily confess nobody elected me for my 2 years at the helm (I volunteered) and when I passed the helm, as best as I can remember, it was merely a board nomination/vote. And so there has been some precedence of presidents being found without all club members voting. I guess at the end of the day the vast majority of club members don’t give much thought to who runs what on the board as long they get their monies worth in newsletters, a member roster, event news, and perhaps a year end gift. And whatever has transpired to raise the ire of past and present volunteers might best be resolved by providing all of the club members the ability to vote in the future - Keeping in mind our international club is only about 50% computer savvy, maybe a combination of dues renewal ballots and internet voting would be a viable option?

As a matter of amphibious principal I pledge to keep a positive perspective, help if asked, and voice constructive criticism only when necessary. I hope this post has not offended anyone as I took great pains not to implicate any individuals. Let us now look to the future of this great club and each of us serve it as best we can. Ask not what the IAOC can do for you, but rather what YOU can do for IAOC!

Be well, swim safe,
Amphipoda (former IAOC prez)


        

Yes, the membership of the IAOC don't vote for who is president - there are a bunch of reasons why that doesn't work.
Instead the members vote for a board of between 5 and 10 people, lets say it 7 people. Votes are counted and the 7 people with the highest votes are apointed to the board. Their first duty of the board is deciding between them who does what role and importantly who will be president.
First time we did this was in (I think) 2001 at Celina and involved counting fish shaped crackers in cups. We did change the rules to allow postal votes to be fair to all as not everyone gets to Celina.
If any member has something they want to contribute or say or an idea and direction for the club then please just let the board know. The purpose of the board is to do what's best for club members, that's always been the case and whilst I'm there always will be.


        

Marc:

Sorry, but I didn't see your "long detailed post." However, I would like to address one of your comments.

As an IAOC Board member (we are not such a secret society, our names and contact info are posted on page 2 of each newsletter), I am open to any suggestions you may have as to what might currently be wrong with club operations and what you may feel are "wrong directions."

All you have to do is email me with your thoughts, and that will start a Board-level consideration of your input. Now, I certainly won't go so far as to say that whatever you say will be adopted, but I will guarantee that we will give you fair and honest consideration. Is that good enough?

Ed Price
IAOC Board Member
IAOC Membership Registrar
El Cajon, CA
61 Rust Guppy


        

__________________
Ed Price
El Cajon, CA USA
61 Rust Guppy

Marc S. writes:
The basic point of my original posting was this:
The International Amphicar Owners Club is heading in the wrong direction. Elections haven't been held in several years....the current Board members have not been elected by the members....the Bylaws are not being followed....the Bylaws have been recently revised to reflect what the current Board wants rather than what the governing document states....and it goes on and on........all this while they raised our annual dues this past year.
The current Board has no accountability for what they do because they are self appointed and do not carry out elections every two years as the Club Bylaws require.

Marc,
I am hurt by your recent comments regarding the board. I always respected you as a President/Leader/Person of our club and I think We demand the same respect from you. As you read the posts of key people in the club it seems you may jumped to a conclusion regarding all of this and I hope you can understand that all of us including yourself, want the best for the all members.
Sincerely,

John Capone IAOC Treasurer


        

Most of these replies are centered around election of President. My posting doesn't really mention that....I am 100% talking about the election of the Board. I assume the selection of President is as the Bylaws state. I'm sorry, Ron, for referring to you as "un-elected" President. I should have stated, "un-elected" Board member. I am sorry for that.

This is a brief history of the Board elections, since some of your weren't around back then.
- Prior to 2000, none. Jeffrey Sweet did everything.
- Elections were held in Celina 2000 via gold fish crackers. This was prior to having any Club Bylaws or structure, but was outlined in the May/June 2000 newsletter. Many were nominated, seven were selected. The seven met Sunday in the Holiday Inn Express parking lot and selected a President. I was chosen.
- Bylaws were written late 2000 to take effect January 2001. These Bylaws stated there would be seven Board members elected by the members, and these seven would select one of them as President.
- When the first two year term drew to an end, nominations were called for late in 2002 for the coming two years. Seven people submitted their names to fill the seven Board positions.
- A ballot with seven names on it was sent with the November/December 2002 newsletter, on the back of the renewal form. All members had the chance to vote. Most everyone completed the Ballot when they sent in their renewal form. The seven names were elected to the 2003-2004 Amphicar Board.
- Late in 2004, the same process was repeated. Calls for nominations were made a few issues prior to the end of the year. This time, however, only 6 names were submitted. Ballots were not part of the renewal form since there were less than 7 names.
- Nov/Dec 2005 newsletter announced that Ron Green has joined the Board.
- Sep/Oct 2006 newsletter announced that Mike Bayman has joined the Board.
- Details beyond this are not clear to me....but a few others are on the Board now as well.

My point is simply this.....by saying the Club is heading in the wrong direction, I am saying that going 4 years without any form of nominating/voting process is wrong. This is how the Club was run back in the Jeffrey Sweet days...and several of us fought to get that changed.
My original/deleted post specifically said that I hope that all the current Board members submit their name to be included on a Ballot...and that is the way I feel. I do not have a specific problem with any person on the current Board....but a problem with the process. NOT the process to select a president, but a process to ELECT the Board. It is clear after looking through the newsletters of the past four years, there hasn't been an effort to get nominations for a Board....and I see no hint of an election. If this is incorrect, please tell me which newsletter issue(s) it was included.

The original Bylaws stated this:
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All club officers are to be elected by the members of the Club in good standing by means such as the Board shall devise. The election method will be determined as to best accommodate the members. Members of the Board will serve two-year terms. Each year, during the Annual Convention, they will vote and agree that one of them will be the club President.
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Why was this paragraph removed during the latest revision? This paragraph seems to be pretty clear, and it seems to be very important. Why would a Board that was not elected, remove the section of the Bylaws that calls for elections?


Ron - you are partially correct on the increase of the dues. I was wrong when I said it was raised this past year. It was raised for 2006...not 3 or 4 years ago as you guessed.

Ron - I did not assume that you asked for my posting to be removed. Mike Isreal told me that was the case. He did not mention that Amphipoda asked it to be removed as well...although I see from his posting that he didn't specifically ask it to be removed.

Current Board - If you re-read my complaints, all of them were related to PROCESS issues, elections and such....not with day to day running of the Club. Sure, I know that you have had problems in the past...but hopefully you're pulling through that. My issue is that you should all be held accountable for what you do, and elections are the way to do that. If elections are held, and I don't like the way you run the day to day operations, I can vote against you....likewise, if I do like it, I can vote you back in for another two. If the club hasn't held elections in close to four years, then the members have no way to hold you accountable...and that is asking for trouble.

Bottom line is, there has not been any hint of an election for Board members for close to 4 years. Several of the current Board have been "announced" as Board members. This is wrong, and it violates the spirit of the Club Bylaws. It is not too late to get nominations and have an election by the end of the year. We only had one Board election in Celina via goldfish crackers (2000) - the other nomination/election processes have included the entire Club Membership and been done via newsletter. It should be done again.


All of this came to a head with John Bevins being removed from the Board. The Bylaws don't really allow you to do that. If elections had been held, I don't see how you can throw him off. Sure, the rest of the Board might always vote against him in all of your Board discussions....and you might take away any responsibilty from him....but I don't see how you could just take it upon yourselves to kick him off if the Club Members put him on the Board. I don't want to get into further discussion about John because without any recent elections, none of the Board really are legit in my opinion...but that is not the point. I want all of them to be legit...and I want future ones to be legit....I want the club to have an ELECTED Board.

Marc Schlemmer.


        

I think the problem is perception. It sure seemed like positions were changing or being filled, etc without any knowledge to the members. I know there were members (Me included) at Celina that thought at least discussion of voting was to take place. It really felt like Ron appointed himself. After lengthy parking lot discussions , end result,glad he is doing it but...We really needed to know what was really happening..I am going with 'Poda on this and lets support this Club. Face it ,It is a SOCIAL CLUB. Yes I want this and I want that, but like I said, Once I put aside My personal wants, The Club has treated Me pretty damned great!! I had asked for a long time with some $$$ for Swim Ins- Cigar Guy agreed and help push through. I wanted a new editor, The Board listened. (That was a good week) . Everyone that has helped will find it is pretty much a thankless job. So I suggest that all of us (including Me) support the new Board with positive ideas, an occasional thank you. There will be NO MUTINY here. So I will start now on the new path: Thank You Board and President for helping with My Swim In. I also enjoyed the discounted lunch at Cigar Guys Swim In. And I am looking forward to the Ozarks!
I am having a great time and I do not have to do the work!!! Looking forward to all of the positive things the new Board and President hope to accomplish. If there is anything I can do to help, I am ready and willing!!!!! I am done bellyitchin' and want the party to get going!!! VIVA IAOC. Later Dave the Wave