Petition for CMRA Board Member Recall

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Originally Posted by Steve McNamara

It's not always about the bottom line Bryan......
Did my post in any way diminish the contributions made by Linz and his family?
Is this supposed to be a score card of contributions?
And WERA Central, privately owned,, no representation as a member.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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For the political record, I served on the BoD with MacMan back in the day. I found him to be all those things he said about John.

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Originally Posted by Walter Walker

I will say that I find it interesting that some of the same people that have complained about Linz are the same people that are rushing to his defense.

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Then you'll find it ironic that quite a few people that have written, emailed, called me or complained of you to me in person at the track, won't sign my petition. Why? Many said they are scared of what you might do to them. But many have signed...

How about more and better communication and more mending fences? This isn't personal, it's just that enough is enough.

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Originally Posted by Yorke Oldfather

Steve, seems to me it could have been handled better than it was. We the (Members), have been kept in the dark for the reasons, a long standing fixture in the club has been fired by email. How are we supposed to react to this? The question I keep asking myself is this, was Linz allowed to defend himself against the reasons, was there any dialogue with Linz before the firing? I think a phone call would have been the appropriate way to handle this, I think he deserved at least that much.

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Yorke pretty much hit the nail on the head as to why a lot of people have a problem with what happened/how it was handled.

You did not in regards to Linz or his family. Steve I have no issues with you or most BOD's. In the other aspect of WERA being privately owned, seems we don't have say as members, as soon as there is a problem, or rules need bending, It seems like it's about the person with a problem and no member input needed? No BOD votes? Take it members for a vote? Seems private to me, and not about members? Maybe I'm missing something?

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Originally Posted by Steve McNamara

It's not always about the bottom line Bryan......
Did my post in any way diminish the contributions made by Linz and his family?
Is this supposed to be a score card of contributions?
And WERA Central, privately owned,, no representation as a member.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Here is an example of why the club needs Linz. I finally stopped making excuses of why I shouldn't race and pulled the trigger in 2010. I have only sprinted a few times and been on a few endurance teams for fun. In no way am I a regular or in the "in crowd" at the track. I show up, do my thing, and enjoy the races. I know who Linz is....who doesn't? I have talked to him at the track exactly once very briefly. I haven't renewed my license this season because I just haven't been able to make a race. I was planning on making a few rounds this season. I messaged Linz to let him know that I think it was crappy the way he was treated. HE REMEMBERED ME! He knew who I was. Can anyone else (with a few exceptions) say that? He made me feel welcome. I will most likely not be giving anymore money to CMRA. I can't give money to an organization that handles their business in the manner that has been going on. I am only one occasional racer that was in it for the fun. It just now lost it's fun for me. There are plenty of hobbies out there. I know I am not the only one. Good luck guys.

As a current outsider but yet a ex crrc/cmra racer and member . I dare you to find ANYBODY THAT WILL CONTRIBUTE HALF AS MUCH AS LINZ DID. Get over the politics and concentrate on what matters being the best roadracing CLUB in the country . #bringlinzback

I've never been a big side picker cause you never know all the sides. It's usually always a he said she said. I think the biggest issue would be how it was ultimately communicated. I understand tracking daily business through e-mail when it's related to a client. But "family" should be a face to face thing in most people's eyes. When I was 19 I was the hiring and firing manager for the company I worked for.. while it was only a petsmart and I was only the stocking manager when I fired someone it was already a painful experience because in most cases I was firing sometime twice my age. But every time it was in a room..with the person and another staff member to witness. I think a lot of people are extremely bothered by that and probably just that alone. People get fired, people move on, change is healthy in any org. The sun will rise again, but you can't deny people are upset about a thanks for time but we don't need you anymore email.

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Originally Posted by Matthew Palmore

But every time it was in a room..with the person and another staff member to witness.

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This is standard practice and is exactly what I do when I have to let someone go. CMRA is a little different because not everyone is 'at the office', but the same can be done with a conference call. If you're still worried about a he said/she said, put the conversation on speaker and record it.

Firing anyone, especially someone that has done so much for the club, by email is in very poor form.
-Cody

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Originally Posted by Cody Stewart

This is standard practice and is exactly what I do when I have to let someone go. CMRA is a little different because not everyone is 'at the office', but the same can be done with a conference call. If you're still worried about a he said/she said, put the conversation on speaker and record it.

Firing anyone, especially someone that has done so much for the club, by email is in very poor form.
-Cody

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Agree, and being a business owner myself for 14 years, there is always a write up and informing the employee of his actions for just cause of the write up, so they have knowledge of the alleged offense and the opportunity to correct the issue, or defend the nature of write up. 3 Strikes your out is normal business! I never in my life have used email for firing an employee, or been fired using it!

Nevermind.

I promised myself I would stay out of this and not comment but I feel compelled to speak up a bit. While I am saddened by Linz’s departure as an official and can’t for the life of me really think that there are enough complaints or rules broken by him, I also realize that I do not know the whole of the events that led up to the decision to dismiss. Nor do I feel like it’s my place to demand an explanation of why as that is a right of privacy afforded to any employee whether full time or contract in my opinion. As a member of this organization I feel I have right to express my concerns and opinions to the officials and BOD and can protest decisions or lobby for changes. I do not personally want to see us get to the point of having member votes on every decision that is made. We elect the BOD and trust in them to do the right thing and to put the right people in place. If they let you down or you want changes take the time to listen to the candidates each year during elections to choose a candidate that suits what you want the CMRA to become and grow towards. It should not be a popularity contest it should be about who is best to make good decisions and guide the organization to a successful path. Last year at TWS there was a town hall meeting for the new candidates, maybe and I say maybe 30 people stayed around to listen to the candidates after the awards ceremony, and I can’t recall a single audience question being asked but I could be wrong about that.
I only bring that up because a lot of people are thinking with emotion right now, and somewhat justified. The current litigation is constantly of people minds and comes in discussion and yet we don’t get much feedback from those who can speak intelligently. Sure the lawyers limit what should or how should things be said but the general feeling (in my opinion) is that there is something to hide due to the silence. Then comes an issue such as the current debate over Linz which throws fuel on the situation for sure and comes a quite a shock too many. However, I ask to just take a step back and breathe for second and realize there is probably more to the story than we know. That is not a slight on Linz by any stretch and I have the utmost respect for the man because of his history and the way he has interacted with me. But that’s all I know of the situation is my personal interactions. What we don’t know is if there were previous warnings issued, if there was major rule infraction or conduct infraction that led up to the decision. Again not saying Linz did any of things we simply don’t know nor should know unless Linz himself says it, again my personal opinion.
I only bring it up to ask a question of those who are totally outraged or leaving the CMRA. Do you really believe that with the current litigation already in place, a BOD who is walking on egg shells because of public perception, other organizations waiting for us to fall so they can pounce on the opportunity that a decision to terminate a long-time friend, mentor, advocate, racer etc of the CMRA would come without merit? I think the world of Linz he has been there for a lot of us and has done for the CMRA and most of all can be considered a friend but I can’t believe there is not more to a story that probably has several chapters. I guess anything is possible and it was a rash off the cuff decision, I just have a hard time with that comprehension in the logical sense.
Again none of this is to put down Linz or by any means take away any of the many wonderful accomplishments he has made to the CMRA. I just think right now there are too many people thinking with emotion and the organization is too divided, some would say to the point of no return, to have a realistic view of what happened and why. For these reasons I cannot support the petition to remove John.

As far as Walter using email to terminate, well yeah it probably should have been done via telephone or in person but it wasn’t and not much that can be done over that situation. I will tell you though, back in the 80’s when I had my first airline job the “commuter” I was working for shut down without warning and I was in a hotel in Providence Rhode Island. The captain called me and told me to pack as we just shut down and had to find our way home. I never received anything from the company directly. After 911 while working for another airline I showed up for work and in my mail box was a post card simply stating “due to the industry effects of recent terrorist act, you are hereby placed on furlough status effective Oct 31, 2001. Please visit with a human resource officer at your earliest convenience.” So different strokes I guess.
Again, as I can’t stress it enough, nothing against Linz or his achievements/contributions, I very much appreciate him but I am just one of the old slow guys with crappy equipment and not enough talent just doing this for fun. So maybe my views are not the best to be expressed but I do stand behind the BOD and every single official until proven by facts that they can’t be trusted.
Pheew, I feel better now for getting it out. Sorry for the rant