Ken,
USHPA's letter was clear in spelling out the reasons for my expulsion. They included:
- Starting a new hang gliding association.
- Testifying in a court of law (where USHPA disagreed).
- Exercising my First Amendment Rights to the San Diego City Council.
First Amendment, US Constitution wrote:Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
If you take away all of USHPA's expulsion charges that were based on those 3 items, all you'll have left are some pitiful hearsay lies that didn't stand up in court.
You speak of "compromise" in very general terms, and it all sounds so nice. But let me quote Doug from earlier in this topic:
dhmartens May 02, 2016 wrote:What exactly is he supposed to change?
his tone? his religion?
You know very well that I asked you to spell out the conditions of your "compromise" because I knew that neither you nor USHPA would be willing to make these statements clear:
- Bob can be a USHPA member if he won't testify in court.
- Bob can be a USHPA member if he won't speak to his City Council.
- Bob can be a USHPA member if he doesn't criticize USHPA.
- Bob can be a USHPA member if he resigns from the US Hawks.
You won't make those conditions clear, yet those
are exactly the conditions that you (or USHPA) want me to abide by. I will not.
My letter to you was clear. I will not beg, and I will not compromise my Constitutional rights in order to be a member of USHPA. I sought either a reversal of the expulsion/rejection or a confirmation that the expulsion/rejection was still being enforced under your Directorship. Your replies (here and by email) confirm the latter. That's all I needed (thank you), and the rest of this post is mostly an academic exercise in responding to your own comments.
Regarding the rest of your post (and your email letter attached below)...
First of all, your "reading of the tea leaves of the other Directors" is based on purported "facts" that have either changed or been proven to be false.
For example, at the time of my expulsion, potential trespassing charges were still pending. They have all been dropped since then. The City of San Diego had a year to bring actual charges (up to August of 2016), and they didn't, so any of your discussions with the Board in 2015 and the first half of 2016 (within the City's one year limit) are moot. The facts were not yet settled at that time. But the facts are settled now. No charges were ever filed against me, and I've been able to go to the Torrey Pines Gliderport freely since August of 2015 (there are plenty of pictures and witnesses to prove it). I just can't fly there because of USHPA's expulsion.
Back to your letter(s), I have to say that I am somewhat appalled that your approach as a Regional Director is to cower behind "group think" for your opinions and your actions. You weren't elected to be a carbon copy of the other Board Members. You were elected because you are a unique individual with intelligence and hopefully some degree of courage in the board room. Yet you've been cowed into thinking that you can't speak out because it might offend some other Director(s), and/or they won't agree with you? Are you afraid they'll retaliate and not honor your next request to give Jonathan Dietch some meaningless ego-stroking award because you spoke your mind about Bob Kuczewski's unjust expulsion? Is that what USHPA's Board has become?
That's not leadership. Leadership isn't taking people where they'd go on their own anyway. Leadership is having the courage to bring people to where they should go - even when they don't know it (or want it) themselves.
Case in point: I was on that same Board for a few months less time than you have been, and I - as unpopular as I was - got the Board to pass the resolution that I wanted (increasing the number of HG/PG representatives on the Torrey Pines Soaring Council). I didn't get that passed by sitting in the corner trying not to offend anyone. I got that passed because it was the right thing to do and because I argued the case strongly and publicly - both on-line and before the Board. That's what Directors should do. The current "go along to get along" USHPA board culture is a big part of what's killing USHPA (it's also what's killing this country, but that's another story).
Ken, I have not been able to fly at Torrey Pines since November of 2014. That will be three years very soon. I am over 60 years old, and if you've looked around at Sylmar, you know that the years don't get better. There are a number of rotten people in USHPA who will have this injustice forever attached to their names. You are rising in those ranks. An injustice is an injustice, and I am appalled that you would advise me (in your email letter) to "wait it out" as if somehow time will make it better. It's just the opposite. Every passing day that I cannot fly at Torrey or Sylmar or Crestline or Funston or Point of the Mountain only compounds the injustice. Those are days and flights that I will never get back. You're smart enough (and old enough) to know that.
You said (in your email letter) that you couldn't support my request for reversal because that may not be
"in the best interests of USHPA or of its members". Have you asked the members? Have you asked them if they think it's worth it for USHPA to lose credibility in Los Angeles County (just the beginning) in order to punish Bob Kuczewski? Have you asked the members if it's worth all the money you've wasted on lawyers just to keep Bob Kuczewski from flying? Have you even asked the members if they think that Bob Kuczewski should be kept from flying at all?
Wait, I know the party line ... "We can't allow Bob Kuczewski to say he's a member of USHPA". But you know that Frank Colver debunked that long ago when he wrote to USHPA suggesting an insurance-only membership option. USHPA turned that down because it wasn't about membership at all. It was about retaliation. Come to think of it, Frank was also planning a large donation to USHPA's RRG fund, but he could not do so with a clear conscience while USHPA was still retaliating against me. USHPA never got that donation. I also know of other members who've refused to renew their membership based on this ongoing injustice. Such a mess of ill will for pure retaliation.
So Ken, when you speak about the "best interests of USHPA or of its members", have you asked the members (aside from a few of the clowns) how much of their money they want to spend each year (in legal fees, lost donations, and lost memberships) just to be sure that Bob Kuczewski can't fly at Sylmar and Torrey and Crestline? How much of their money do you think USHPA has spent so far?
Now let me get to your email message from earlier today:
Ken Andrews wrote:Bob,
In my role as regional director, I cannot currently support your request for reversal of the two actions, because it is not clear to me that they are in the best interests of USHPA or of its members. However, if you wish me to do so, I will look into the procedures for impartially raising the motions at the spring board meeting, and getting responses from the board.
As a friend, I beg of you not to pursue this now. I think the outcome is obvious, and it will only hurt your position further. Currently, time is in your favor. After this year’s election, there will be at least a couple new members on the board, and the hostilities of the past will be remembered less vividly. As I’ve said before, I think that compromise and reconciliation are the best path forward, though they will take time, since there is a lot of healing that must happen. While I can’t expect you to give my own advice much weight, perhaps you would be willing to listen to the advice of Joe Greblo and others who have successfully navigated the waters of hang gliding politics through the years.
-Ken
Ken, the outcome may be obvious to you, but that's not what matters. What matters is making the outcome obvious to everyone else. Make the motion in October, and request a roll call vote. Make the case that USHPA's retaliation is hurting USHPA's image and risking the loss of more flying sites. Bring up Dockweiler and the County of Los Angeles. Bring up all the dropped charges. Make the case that USHPA should
not be retaliating for
any kind of testimony ...
anywhere. Make the case that our ability to fly should
ONLY be based on our flying and
not on our testimony (or tone or religion - thanks again Doug). Then call the roll and have them put their names to it. That's how I passed the Balanced Soaring Council motion in 2010. If someone as hated as I supposedly am can do it, then it should be a breeze for a nice likable fellow like you Ken.
Since you've mentioned Joe Greblo, I'll address your comments (please don't take too much offense Joe). Joe Greblo never thought I'd pass the Balanced Soaring Council motion in 2010, but I did. I would have had it carried out if it weren't for the recall election. No one's going to recall you Ken. Joe Greblo also thought Los Angeles County would NEVER approve hang gliding at Dockweiler without USHPA (I wasn't too sure myself). But we got that passed as well (Thanks again to Los Angeles County). Finally, there was a time when it was common knowledge that
"if man were meant to fly, he'd have wings". What happened to that one? In all cases, it took people daring enough to try - to make all of those things happen. What makes you think the USHPA Board situation is any different? Leadership sometimes means drawing a hard line and standing behind it. You do that not because it's popular or because Joe Greblo says it will work. You do it because it's the right thing to do. That's on you, not Joe Greblo.
Most importantly, if I were your Director Ken, you know very well that I would not rest until you got justice. That's what I did for David Beardslee, and he's flying at Torrey to this very day -
to this day. I would use social media. I would introduce motions that made your case so they'd end up in the USHPA Board's minutes. I would do everything I could to be sure that you were treated fairly. It wouldn't matter to me what any of the other Directors thought, and I would have done that for anyone in my Region - friend or foe. The Torrey folks were terrified that I would retaliate against them when I became Director. They were terrified because they expected me to do what
they would do. I did not. I never revoked a single rating, and I even renewed their ratings when asked. I did everything by the book, and I was fair to all - even in reporting what would foreshadow the Hamby case. You know that I would not have stood to have anyone kicked out of USHPA just because USHPA's lawyer couldn't win a case where they testified. Am I wrong for expecting that of you, Ken?
Your second paragraph started off "As a friend", but I cannot understand a friendship where a "friend" would sit by and allow an injustice to continue for 2 or 3 years to another "friend". I guess I'm a different kind of friend than you are Ken.
This is a long message, and I'm sure the "ADD" crowd will have great fun mocking it. But let me conclude it with the operative part. I've asked you to bring the matter of my expulsion and the Torrey Hawks refused renewal before the Board this October. I've asked you to make the case, and make a motion, and request a roll call vote. Whatever you do will reflect on you. Whatever the Board does will reflect on them. That's as it should be. All I can do is be sure that everyone knows about it.
Thanks for your time, and I hope you enjoyed Larry's Birthday party today.
Happy 75th Larry!!