[jeff burmeister]

I just wanted to take a moment and thank all of the people that went out of their way to the Town Hall meeting on Sunday.

But most of all, I would like to thank the new Series Manger, the new Series Tech Inspector, the Series Safety Steward, the Performance Rally Director, the Board of Directors member, The 4 or 5 PRB members, The Marketing and Media Agent, the ClubRally Manager, and the ClubRally Stewards for attending this discussion forum.

A lot of good discussions, some new, and some old.

But, I was extremely disappointed in the less then appropriate turn out of competitors at this meeting.

Of the 90+ teams at STPR, I would say that no more then maybe 12 driver and co-drivers showed up for this meeting. (2 of which didn't even compete in the event.)

These meetings are designed to help shape and mold the future of our sport into what we the members want.

Jeff Burmeister
SpecialStage.com

 

[daphne]

I really wanted to go to the meeting but couldn't make it. Woke up on Saturday with the flu. Competing on Saturday took a lot out of me, and frankly, all I wanted to do Sunday morning was go home and curl up on the sofa with a nice cup of tea.

Maybe there would be better turn out at these meetings if they were held the night before the event?

 

[Lurch]

Yes, I agree. This was the first time I was able to attend, cuz I had a very understanding crew and it was only a 9 hour drive back home.

The reality is that most (all) competitors and crew work for a living and by the time Sunday rolls around, the crew is very eager to hit the road, not wait for the driver and codriver to sit in a meeting. I have already taken a whole weekend away from them. I don't pay them. I would feel real bad about getting them home at 2am when we could have split after awards and got home at 9pm.

I would like to see the Town Halls moved to the night before the rally as well.

There WERE a lot of good discussions, though.

Thanks,
Eric

 

[Adrian Wintle]

It was also nice to see that more people attended this year compared to last year. There were a number of good topics discussed.

Adrian

 

[Guest]

I'm glad to see some people got something good out of the meeting. Maybe I'm jaded because I've attended so many of these, but it seemed to me to be pretty much the same platitudes and rah rah scca we've heard in every previous meeting. I'm hopeful that the PRB will work to bring our sport back to the membership.

Oh, yeah, we were specifically told NOT to contact our elected officials (the SCCA Board of Directors) about rally matters.

---------------------------------------
John Dillon John @ WidgetRacing.com
www.WidgetRacing.com

 

[Don Kennedy]

Did anyone ask why? I sure wish I could have been there, I wanted to be. As was mentioned earlier, this meeting really needs to be held earlier in the weekend!

 

[randyzimmer]

And I know this to be true...
If the BoD gets involved, the time it takes to get things done is made much longer.
But...
if you are getting screwed, call the BoD for your division.
rz

 

[Guest]

>Did anyone ask why?

We were told by Phil Mellor that most of the BoD doesn't know anything about rallying and that we should send everything to the PRB. What he didn't say was how to handle cases where we felt that Kurt or the PRB did something that needed the BoD's attention.

Basically I believe the comment was directed at me because I dared to question the many "surprise" rules changes last year as well as the dropping of Prescott from the Pro calendar. In the first instance I got blasted for not cc'ing Kurt and the PRB. In the second instance I cc'd them and got blasted for "spamming most of the free world." I happen to believe in Steve's call for communication between our paid staff and the members. Note the key word is "between" not "from."

The BoD are OUR representatives at the top of the SCCA. If they don't know about rally, educate them. I don't disagree that you should take your issues to the PRB first--after all, they're doing what they think is the best for the sport.

However, just because they (the appointed PRB members) are generous volunteers who give up a lot of free time for our sport, doesn't mean that you can't respectfully disagree with their decisions and contact your Area Directors if needed. If the Directors were simply rubber stamps for everything that Kurt wants, why would they even be elected? I don't think that's their role--I think its the BoD's job to do what's best for the club by representing the membership. And by the way, remember that the Directors are selfless volunteers too.

John

 

[Don Kennedy]

Good points. I definitely think we need to educate them if (and I can imagine they don't) they don't know much about rallying. After all, it is a part of the SCCA and while it will never be as big as road racing, it is growing and did I say it is a part(that they support) of SCCA.

 

[starion887]

More on STPR Town Hall Meeting

John,

I think Phil Mellor's words on the BoD were a plea rather than instructions. It was clear that some of them got a ration on the flap late last year on rules, and yes, it does slow things down. BUT, if things aren't going right, the BoD is the court of last appeal. And John, I think you were on the only one to whom that request was directed.....

Jeff B., I wasn't dissappointed at all on the competitor turnout. If you want to lambast anyone, was Ralph not there? I don't think so. And reps from the big teams? The independent competitors were well represented. I also felt that the overall turnout was pretty representative of a wide range of interests about a lot issues.

Mark Bowers