You will see in the January 2023 issue of Airmail magazine, that my Open Letter to the membership has been censored by Tim Hille and Duck Koch, along with an editorial that B.Jan wrote. And by censored, I mean literally blacked out!! B.Jan has since been fired!
In the spirit of transparency of leadership, and your right to know what's going on, I'm posting my letter here. Please read it, and if you would, indicate your feelings about this to the Board of Directors. Just email Bod@airheads.org and place either "DUO" or "TRIO" in the subject line. You can of course, also speak your mind in that email.
My Letter:
Dear Brother and Sister Airheads,
I’m Tim Roberts, New Mexico Airmarshal and Region 2 Director on the Airheads Beemer Club Board of Directors.
As you may or may not be aware, there has been a vote by the Board of Directors (BoD) by a three-to-two majority*, to “suspend” Oak Okleshen’s Airtech articles from the hard-copy Airtech magazine, with Dave Alquist (AZ Airmarshal & Region 1 Director) and myself, being the dissenting votes, and Bob Koch (GA Airmarshal & Region 5 Director), Tim Hille (MA Airmarshal & Region 4 Director), and Curtis Henry (MN Airmarshal & Region 3 Director), voting FOR the motion.
You also may or may not be aware that it was Oak’s wish, formally expressed in writing, that his material never be electronically reproduced. This would preclude his (Oak’s) material from ever appearing on the www.airheads.org website.
There has been a drive recently to develop an on-line version of Airmail Magazine to be accessed through our website, a move that has been unanimously supported by the BoD. The majority Board members voting for “suspension” of Oak’s materials expressed the notion that the on-line version and the hard-copy version of the magazine must look identical. Reasons stated for this included the difficulty in managing two different versions, and the thought that the on-line only subscribers would not get the same value (even though the digital-only subscribers would pay a lot less for the access). Dave and I have spoken with B. Jan (Airmail editor) and he stated that it was merely a matter of excluding the .pdf of Oak’s material from the on-line submission to the ABC web team. Piece of cake.
By the way, there is a parallel effort underway to solicit more technical articles from members for inclusion in the Airtech sections of both versions of the magazine, so there will be plenty of tech content for the on-line magazine, even without Oak’s articles.
There has also been a BoD discussion of a rank-and-file survey of all Airhead members to address the general direction that the Club should take. While the issues to be addressed have not been formalized, I expect it will include issues like the censoring of B. Jan’s editorial style (the now-tabled motion to form an editorial review board), the change to Canon #1 to allow non-airhead owners to be members, and a general movement to a social media-based club. Please be clear that this last example cited above is strictly from my perspective.
At the last Board of Directors meeting held November 9th, I entered a motion that the decision to “suspend” Oak Okleshen’s Airtech articles from the hardcopy version of Airmail be tabled until after a vote by the rank-and-file membership, so that the entire Club (and not just five members) could vote on this monumental (my opinion) change to our magazine. My motion was defeated by a three to two vote.
Now, you may be tired of Oak’s articles, you may not agree with my view that excluding the Airtech articles because they cannot appear in both places is ‘throwing the baby out with the bathwater’, or you simply may not care, but taking this important action without consent or the knowledge of the membership is beyond the purview of the Board of Directors. This club belongs to all members, not just the five Board members.
Regardless of which side of this issue you are on, I urge you to write to the BoD (the entire Board at bod@airheads.org, not just the chairman), and let us know your opinion.
Inaction on our part will result in Oak’s material disappearing from Airmail whether we like it or not.
Sincerely,
Tim Roberts
New Mexico Airmarshal
ABC Region 2 Director
* For the record, Dave mis-voted (my term) so technically the vote was four to one, but by the time he realized his [mistake], the majority Board members (3) would not let him change his vote.
With all due respect, I am tasting sour grapes. It's really pretty simple. We (the airmarshals) elect directors to prosecute the business of the club. A majority of the board has voted to remove B.Jan, and carry on with a re-vamp of the Airmail, and develop an on-line version. These are the kinds of decisions that we elect a board of directors to make and put into effect. The weakness here, if there is one, is the 5 member BoD structure where a small cabal can take control of the club's leadership. It has happened before.
To the best of my knowledge, conducting a vote of the entire membership has never happened. The bylaws only provide for a vote of the Airmarshals, and only under defined circumstances. There is nothing wrong with encouraging members to register opinions to the BoD regarding the current issue. Just understand that this campaign (trio vs. duo vote) is not and cannot be considered binding.
Almost every month, I field commentary and complaints from members about the editorial content of the Airmail. I can usually talk the disgruntled member back from the edge. Of course, this issue has generated strong opinions which cut both ways pretty much evenly. No matter how this turns out, we are bound to lose members. In the final analysis, the effort to make changes , and the dissenting effort of the "duo", has already injured the club. The only remedy available to the BOD members, airmarshals, and general membership is to turn and walk away. I will be staying.
respectfully,
James Strickland
#8053
former Airmarshal, IL.
For the record, this email was sent to the BoD members, and others, on 12/21/2022. I have yet to receive a reply.
To the Airheads Beemer Club Board of Directors:
You'd think the ABC leadership would have learned a thing or two from
the Joe Cuda days, but apparently they retained only the destructive
tricks played by that edition of the BoD. Taking over the board by
leveraging the resignation of Dave Alquist, and then silencing B. Jan
and Tim Roberts in the AirMail is nothing less than shameful behavior,
and violates several club canons to boot.
My strongest encouragement is for the current BoD and former editor to
meet and find a way to move forward together. Divisiveness nearly
killed the ABC the last time around, and now we're headed down the same
ruinous path.
The BoD should also know that the Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners Club
offers much the same user experience in terms of a magazine, and has a
website far superior than even the latest incarnation of airheads.org.
Many ABC members are already VBMWOC members, and many more will join
instead of renewing in a rancorous ABC.
I have every confidence that tech days, barley therapies, and
rendezvous in California will continue unabated should the hosts of
those events choose to cancel their ABC memberships. I suspect the same
will happen nationally, and internationally as well.
But let me get to the point of this email.
If B. Jan is not reinstated as editor, I will resign my ABC membership.
Furthermore, if, after a period of 30 days from this notice, B. Jan has
not been reinstated as editor, I will withdraw my permission to the ABC
to publish any and all of my technical articles at the airheads.org
website.
Sincerely,
Scot Marburger
ABC #8166
I suppose the aggrieved board members could petition for a special election. Another possibility might be to challenge the majority board members at the Airmarshal level. You can't be on the board unless you are an Airmarshal. The "duo" might recruit an Airmarshal candidate from the region where a member of the majority resides. This would require a delay until the next election cycle.
former Airmarshal, IL.
James,
For the record, my posting here was simply to present to the membership at large the Open Letter I wrote, because it was censored by Tim Hille and Duck Koch. Not to try and open a debate on this forum.
Rest assured, plans are afoot to bring this BS to and end one way or the other.
Respectfully,
Tim Roberts #12059
Tim, if you have info on something that was done in violation of the bylaws, I’m sure we’d all like to hear about it. If that’s not the case, then I don’t see what “plans” could be afoot. Do you feel the majority vote of the board in some way violated rules?
While it's all well and good that B. Jan's firing and changes future changes to the airmail were made by a 3/2 vote on the board, and that the board is duly constituted and operating according to bylaws, that's very definitely not the point. What the board seems to miss is that they're making significant changes that are making a significant percentage of the club membership unhappy and that they're doing this without soliciting or seeming to care about input from the membership.
My own feeling is that if I'm going to be repeatedly surprised by sudden, erratic changes of direction made on the basis of 3/2 board votes, then maybe there's something structurally wrong with the organization and perhaps it's time to pursue my airhead discussions and hobnobbing elsewhere. If maintaing and building membership is really the intent of the board, then I would love to hear how the board hopes to communicate it's ideas to the general membership for discussion before actually going out and implementing them. If the BOD feels this is all sour grapes and are content with the way things are going, then I wish them luck.
This was under discussion on the Airheads mailing list when it was suggested that the club forum would be a more appropriate place to talk about it.
In the past I asked Oak why he did not want his tech info made available on-line. He replied that on-line availability would dilute
interest in AirMail and would cause the ABC to lose membership. I did not then and do not now agree with this assessment.
I believe that Oak's tech info was valuable, but this is far from the only source of information available on-line and elsewhere.
I do think that an increase in the cost of membership will have the effect of reducing membership.
The cost of printing and mailing AirMail is a considerable drain on club resources.
Personally, I would rather have on-line, member submitted, info than have the membership
cost increase. Oak is gone and eventually the tech info from him in AirMail will become more difficult to source.
I think that B. Jan did a good job with AirMail, but the club should be about more than a single individual.
Going forward I hope that the ABC will continue to sponsor AirHeadCentral at rallies, encourage tech days and
individuals to be willing to help others.
Alas, for me the camping Kanon [sic] has past my old knees by... I might still like it, but I ain't gonna be doing it.
When Central Cal Airmarshal John Covington termed out as Region 1 Director about a year ago, he asked me to step up and join the BOD as Region 1 Director because he had concerns about other BOD members and the direction they were going.
Although I also had concerns about the majority of the BOD Members at the time, I submitted my candidate statement. I didn't get any response from anyone on the BOD. After a month or so of no response, I withdrew my candidate statement. Still, no response from the BOD.
That's when Dave Alquist from AZ stepped up as Region One Director. He lasted about a year.
About two weeks ago, Duck Koch sent an email to the three Cali Airmarshals, asking somebody to join the BOD. No takers? Well, maybe the BOD majority shouldn't have forced out Dave Alquist?
I believe three BOD members have their priorities misplaced. However, the Club By Laws give them the authority to do everything they have done.
The three BOD members can fire me tomorrow as Nor Cal Airmarshal if they want to. It's in the By Laws
But I can guarantee you that the majority of the 167 active Nor Cal Airheads will continue to meet at Tech Days, Barley Therapies, and day rides with or without Airhead club membership status.
Ran Bush - Nor Cal Airmarshal (as of this writing, anyway.)
ABC #3484
The Board has a recently appointed new Board members rather than have elections. I believe the only way the bylaws allow for new Board members is through elections. There’s actually nothing in the bylaws on how to replace Board members that don’t complete their terms. (Just one of the MANY shortcomings in the bylaws…)
Just one of the MANY shortcomings in the bylaws…
Bill - after the Joe "cuda" Glowacki fiasco, a VERY experienced Board Member of several clubs (MOA, NorCal Beemers, VBMWOA, and others) offered to look over the ABC By Laws and offer suggestions.
My understanding is that nobody on the BOD since 2016 has done anything to follow up on the written suggestions that he submitted.
Ran Bush - Nor Cal Airmarshal (as of this writing, anyway.)
ABC #3484
Odd - why aren't ANY of the recent comments being updated on the Forum's "most recent" list?
Ran Bush - yadda yadda.
ABC #3484
@8053 Or, we the membership can hold a vote of no confidence…..
@7191-2-2-2-2-2 Ran- sounds like the board wants volunteers for the position. Resubmit publicly so we can all follow along transparently and we will see how these things are being done. I for one would support your insight in that open position
Ed Adams
@8053 Or, we the membership can hold a vote of no confidence…..
According to the bylaws, the only circumstance where the membership votes would be an election to seat an Airmarshal. The only recourse for the membership at large would be to challenge a board member's status as an Airmarshal. Let's imagine, for a moment, that I was on the board of directors and had voted in the majority on this topic. Another member from IL. would have to submit a challenge and a position paper, not to exceed 300 words. After that process played out, ballots would be mailed to the IL. members for a vote. That would be the way to dislodge me as a member of the BoD.
It is the Airmarshals of any given region that vote to seat a director on the board from their region. I advise any member who wants to effect change at the BoD to study the bylaws.
former Airmarshal, IL.
Advertisement
