TO:  Freddi Carlip, RRCA President
CC:  RRCA Board
FROM:  Huntsville Track Club Executive Board
DATE:  September 10, 2002
SUBJECT:  Letter from RRCA President Requesting Donations

The Huntsville Track Club joined the RRCA in 1974 as club number 40 and has remained a strong supporter of the RRCA for all those 28 years.  The HTC has gained much from its association with the RRCA and would be very willing to support the RRCA in a time of crisis.  The HTC is an all volunteer organization that operates on a relatively small budget requiring that club funds be used efficiently.

As the HTC board, representing our members, we need to know that our financial support would be used meaningfully and not squandered.  At this time we have no confidence that the RRCA Board can meet that requirement.  We would like to present what we believe is needed to restore our confidence in the Board. Then we can respond to your request for $1.00 from each HTC member.

For the HTC to donate as requested we must be shown that the problems which resulted in the financial crisis, and the lack of communications and support from the RRCA Board and the National Office, will be corrected.  We also need to know the plan to put the RRCA back on a course to keep the problems from repeating in the future.

The RRCA Board approved a 2002 budget which showed that income would exceed expenses by more than $25,000.  If the Board did not misrepresent the RRCA financial status, then the current financial crisis is a result this year of not achieving the income, or over spending, or both.  This means that the current financial crisis cannot be blamed on the past as some members of the Board and executive director have been quick to repeatedly state.  Our view is that the problem is one of ineffective management at the National Office and a lack of oversight by the Board.

Ineffective management by the Executive Director was spelled out in detail in the letter to the Board by all eight of the immediate past RRCA presidents.  That letter called for the removal of the Executive Director.  At this time that has not been done.  Additionally, five members of the RRCA Executive Director Search Committee (the five that are not current Board members) have also sent a letter stating that the hiring of David Dobrzynski was a mistake and asked the Board to request Dobrzynski to resign as executive director or to remove him.  The HTC cannot donate funds that were not budgeted and would have to be taken from some useful club activity, until the primary source of the RRCA financial crisis has been corrected. 

No plan has been presented to the HTC by the RRCA that shows how the donations will be used to restore useful and lasting operation of the organization.  The RRCA must restore confidence in its membership that the elected officials will seek, acknowledge and appropriately represent the members who elected them.  There has been a major failing of the RRCA Board over the last year to operate on what we believe is the best interest of the organization and its membership.

Not only has there been a lack of communications, but the previous Board acted to eliminate meaningful communications with the approval of the "Rules of Governance" and the confidentiality clause.  It is our understanding that Board members Beverly Coville and John Calotta were tasked to create those rules.

In an effort to operate in secrecy and operate in a manner to cloak improper actions, the Board did not utilize the services of the RRCA Legal Counsel or the RRCA Legal Chair.  Calotta noted in his response on the RRCA Forum that he, as a lawyer and elected Board member, acted in the capacity of legal counsel to the Board.  In our view that is an obvious conflict of interest.

There was an obvious attempt by some Board members, and not impeded by the other Board members, to take control of the RRCA from the member clubs through bylaw changes.  There were many proposed changes to the bylaws we could cite to support this statement.  The primary changes we will cite in this letter would be the amendment of the bylaws without a vote or approval of the clubs; the elimination of nominations from the floor; appointment of the president, vice president, secretary and treasurer by the CEO hired by Board which includes these officers; officers shall serve at the pleasure of the CEO; and replacing "Robert's Rules of Order" by rules promulgated by the RRCA Board in the proceedings of all meetings.  This can best be summed up by a statement from the expert on non-profit organization bylaws, Susan Houchin, quoted by Calotta in his e-press release.  She also stated in an email along with her review of the proposed bylaw changes, "I have never before seen such a sweeping take over attempt masked as bylaws amendments."  We note that the Bylaw Change Committee were four Board members and the executive director who operated in secrecy and used, what we consider to be, unethical means in an attempt to ram them past the clubs.  It is our understanding that Calotta wrote the proposed bylaw changes and functioned as the committee chair, and that Coville served on the committee and functioned to inhibit the Board from withdrawing the bylaw changes prior to the convention.

For Beverly Coville, an officer on the Board running for reelection, to chair the nominating committee was a most obvious and outrageous conflict of interest.  It should also be pointed out that Coville also served as chair of the Executive Director Search Committee and that Calotta was a primary player in the functioning of the committee.  It is also our understanding that he wrote the contract that is obviously not in the best interest of the members he was elected to represent.

While there were failings by the entire Board, the two members noted in the previous paragraphs demonstrated a personal agenda and have continued to push their agenda even after the membership voted down the bylaw changes and have written many letters citing our objection to the way the RRCA is being administered.  They have worked against and shown disrespect for the RRCA president in coming to a resolution of the current crisis.

We are convinced that the RRCA cannot return to normal operation and resolve the current financial crisis as long as Beverly Coville and John Calotta serve on the RRCA Board.  We request that these two Board members voluntarily resign.  We ask that their resignation be immediate.  To not do so will worsen the crisis during the time it will require to work through formal procedures for their removal.

The HTC resides in the South Region.  South Region Director, Kim Ottaviani, to our knowledge has supported the actions of the Executive Director, Coville and Calotta.  Ottaviani has not represented the interest of the HTC and the region she was appointed to serve.  We request that the RRCA President, with the approval of the Board, withdraw that appointment and appoint a South Region Director what will serve the clubs of that region and the best interest of the RRCA as a whole.

We suggest that the RRCA President immediately appoint a five voting person committee to outline how the RRCA can best function while new leadership is established and the financial crisis resolved.  We suggest that RRCA Board members Freddi Carlip, President, and Tom Fort, Treasurer, serve on the committee to provide input from the current administration.  We require that the other three members of the committee not be current Board members.  We suggest that those three committee members be Don Kardong, the immediate past president; Henley Gabeau, the past executive director; and Jeff Darman, a past president and long time Board member and volunteer with extensive background in this type of environment. 

This committee must cut all spending that is not absolutely necessary and seek appropriate personnel to operate the national office and carry out organization functions.  Viability of the organization to maintain non-profit status and retain membership to support the insurance program are the two functions of the organization that must be protected.  All other programs and functions should be evaluated for current operation and cost, and if they must be eliminated for the present, look to how they can be reestablished in the future when funding is available.  Where possible the committee should seek to bring back volunteers to support these tasks and to return to the people and methods used to obtain sponsorship, advertising and donations that worked successfully in the past.

We believe the current situation is more than just a financial crisis.  It was mismanagement and a lack of communications that resulted in the financial crisis, and they too must be corrected before donations have a hope of solving the RRCA financial problems.

We believe it would be a waste of HTC funds and poor representation of our members to donate unless the problems addressed in this letter are corrected.  The HTC remains open to your request and will be responsive when our concerns have been addressed.

Respectfully,

HTC Board:
David Purinton, President
David Cain, VP-Programs
Richard Rodenhausen, VP-Races/Equipment
Harold Tinsley, VP-Communications
Kathy Youngren, Treasurer
Clare Purinton, Secretary
John Roberts, Appointed Member
Jim Oaks, Appointed Member
Malcolm Gillis, Appointed Member