Does anyone know?
Sure. I have an update.
On Wednesday and Thursday of last week, I negotiated with USAT’s counsel trying to broker a settlement. I promised to keep those negotiations secret, but given the fact that a settlement was not reached before the hearing on the Petition today, I don’t see why I can’t share the details.
Counsel for the Board discussed with me the possibility of the Board issuing an apology for the failure to adhere to the bylaws, and to keep the current iteration of the amendment intact. I responded that it was not acceptable, because the amendment language was not properly placed before the membership. I re-iterated that it was my belief that the proposal and its implementing amendments should be invalidated. However, I told counsel I would wothdraw the Petition if:
- The Board issued an apology, the text of which I would have input on;
- The apology include a statement by the Board committing to proper election procedure in the future; and
- The Panel be permitted to enter an agreed decision that made Proposal # 2 provisional and subject to ratification on the 2006 annual ballot. Any changes to the bylaws properly made during the provisional period of Proposal # 2 would be given full and binding effect, even if the Proposal was not ratified. However, if not ratified, the bylaws amended/added under Proposal #2’s implementing amendment would revert to pre-2005 election form, and the Board would no longer have the ability to amend any of the bylaws by a 2/3 majority vote.
The Board decided that was not acceptable, and countered with only an apology, the content of which I would have NO input on.
I rejected that proposal, and we had the hearing today at 12:30 pm Mountain time.
We had a panel of three persons, at least two of which I know have significant legal backgrounds, hearing the oral arguments. I won’t name the people on the panel, because I’m not sure whether I can or not. If you happen to know who they are, I would ask you not to speak with them about this matter. I would not want to be accused of trying to influence them in an ex parte manner.
I was asked to present my case, which I did. Principally, I relied on the inherent confusion of Proposal #2, including the confusion over whether it even existed and the Board’s apparent confusion over its meaining given their first implementation of the amendments, which far exceeded even the most generous interpretation of the proposal’s explanation. In addition, I relied on the “slippery slope” argument. Basically, the argument is that even assuming this Board had no ill-intentions, permitting them to violate the bylaws by ex post facto “finalizing” amendment language invites abuse in the future, and should not be tolerated.
They responded, principally along the lines that there is no evidence of any significant confusion among the voters. Further, they argued that there is no evidence of ill intent or fraud by the Board.
I was permitted a rebuttal period in which I attempted to refute their claims that there was no confusion or fraud by the Board.
In sum, I have no idea what the Panel will do. I am not ruling out further legal action if I am disappointed by the Panel’s decision, but it is far too early to tell 1) whether I will be disappointed with it; or 2) whether I think a lawsuit would be warranted if I AM disappointed with their decision. We’ll have to wait and see.
As I understand it, the Panel will try to have a decision by Friday, becuase the bylaws require the election to be certified by May 1.
Please feel free to PM me, reply or email with questions.
I completely stand by what you are doing. If you need help for the ‘next step’, whatever it may be, I think you should know that you can turn to the many, many folks on this forum who will help in any way they can.
Thanks for standing up for what is right.
Thanks Steve, I appreciate your hard work for the welfare the membership.
On a personal note, I’m very dissapointed that the USAT BOD still does not get it. I for one, may be looking to do only non-USAT sanctioned races and not renewing my membership. I feel this is probably the only way they will get it, is if many people do the same. It may mean not doing some things I really wanted to, but at some point one has to make a stand for what they believe in, and that stand should reflect their character.
George