Sylmar Hang Gliding Association

Yes, it's that time again ...

Two of the three USHPA Region 3 Directors are up for election this year: Rob Sporrer and Corey Caffrey. I am running as the only other candidate. The two with the most votes will become Director.

I ran against Dan DeWeese last year, but I didn't run much of a campaign because I thought Dan would make a good Director. This year is different. In my opinion, Rob Sporrer should be replaced, so I am asking pilots to vote for Corey Caffrey and myself.

There's a lot that could be said here about Rob Sporrer's conflict of interest and about USHPA becoming a paragliding organization, but I'd rather focus on what I believe is the most important issue: Open Voting Records for the USHPA Board.

Some people might be surprised to know that we pay for all the Directors to meet twice a year and yet at the end of those several day meetings we do not have a voting record of how our own Directors have voted. Even Congress isn't this bad!!

When I was Director in 2009 and 2010, I proposed the "Accountability Amendment" to the USHPA Bylaws which would mandate that Directors publish votes whenever any single Director requested it. My proposal was not even allowed to be discussed during the meeting, and when I brought it up, the President refused to even allow it to be seconded for discussion.

I stand for many other issues, but open voting by the USHPA Board is the one issue that obstructs progress on many other issues. After all if we don't know how our Directors are voting, then how do we know whether we should re-elect them or not. It's like flying with your eyes closed. Sure, you can control the glider (just as we can vote for our Directors), but without feedback, we have no idea where we're going.

Please feel free to contact me directly on any topic (858-204-7499 or bob@ushawks.org). You can also read more at my campaign site from last year (http://ushawks.org/ushpa2012/), and I plan to put up a site for this year relatively soon.

Finally, thanks to so many of you who have been my friends, mentors, and idols for so many years.

Bob Kuczewski

Bob Kuczewski wrote:Yes, it's that time again ...

Two of the three USHPA Region 3 Directors are up for election this year: ... I am running as the only other candidate....Bob Kuczewski

Bob,

You are off to a poor start as you are not the only other candidate. Please read the materials that were sent out to nominees more closely.

- Alan

AlC wrote:You are off to a poor start as you are not the only other candidate. Please read the materials that were sent out to nominees more closely.

Hi Alan,

I'm glad to see you in the race!!!

I posted that message before I got the messages from Mark Forbes which announced the other candidates (including yourself). I have to say that I was very very happy to see you running.

For the record, I wrote to Mark Forbes at 2:49pm on the 30th (yesterday) asking him about the details of our Candidate Statements. Mark wrote back late last night (around 11:30pm) with the list that announced your candidacy. I had already posted to the forum by the time that I got Mark's message so I'm sorry that I didn't know you were running when I posted. Please accept my apology.

So let's skip back to the present ... where I'm very happy you're in the race!!

Alan, I've been working on my Candidate statement, and I want to highlight 2 things:

1. Open voting records for the USHPA Board
2. Regional Directors as advocates for fair treatment of pilots

If you agree with those 2 things, then we're on the same page. I'd like to talk with you about these two issues as soon as possible to see if we are in agreement, but I don't have your phone number. Can you give me a call at 858-204-7499?

Thanks!![/quote]