I heard about this 'meeting'. Actually it sounded like an Arnold fest. I wouldn't want to try and discuss things with Arnold, he is a bumbling fool. He doesn't have the capability to conceptualize anyone else's thoughts or ideas. With him it is either his way, or his way. So you fixed some errors and modified Arnolds wording, but did Arnold actually concede any points? Highly unlikely.
On the contrary, they are taking this club away from me. The club of Frontier is gone.
Why were the dues not increased in the past to help defer some of this cost? Why were lifetime memberships not presented to the members for some large amount? Why did the club not seek donations from members to help cover expense?
The only dangerous failures I saw on that field were Arnolds, and I would assume he took the same precautions. A properly built and used rocket is not a threat to anyone, increasing the complexity of the rocket for someone that does not understand what is being added is dangerous. But if they are club rules, the club can do what they want. But these are not club rules.
But this is not a business, its a hobby. Frontier used to be a club, like all the others. Why does this special interest group have to be created, above and beyond the club? Why not keep the club, nominate officers, vote them in, and move on? Do you really think the land owner is not going to understand voting? It's just Arnolds big head that thinks that no-one can do it as good as him.
If the early days were done for the club, then the club would still exist. But dissolving the club and creating some entity to retain power, just seems wrong in so many ways. Dissolve the BoD and rebuild the club.
R/C clubs is the key word here. The $45 is not going to any club. You would still have to pay some form of dues to the club that wants to fly there, but I suspect one will never form. Rebuild Frontier, the club, and make the fee whatever is needed, ask for donations to fill the gap and fly rockets.
Again, why was this not addressed years ago? And how is requiring $45 going to increase the number of fliers such that the field cost is paid? It wont. Every launch I went to the launch fee was covered. And they said they might have to ask for donations if it wasn't, they didn't have to. I never saw a group email go out asking for any donations either. I am sorry you had to lay out any money, that never should have happened. It sounds like the club was mishandled from the beginning, but if you are just starting mistakes will be made. Don't abandon the club because of these mistakes, make changes within the club and continue on.
And what is wrong with keeping the club, and having them in charge?
Ya, that sounds all well and good. But in most situations, when the club president gets burned out. They decline to be voted on the next year and let someone else take the responsibility. But since Arnold wont have anyone with power over him, he wont let go. Another thing that other clubs do is create different positions to spread out the workload.
The point is, there should not be such an entity known as the BoD. A quote from above is, "improve the club". I fail to see how creating a separate entity can be good for the club. This is not done by other clubs, why not? Simply because its not required.
The club simply needs re-organization and possibly new management. I know you and Oliver try hard. But I also know it can be hard to work with someone like Arnold. The two of you must be walking on egg shells all the time.
Imagine if you will, a club without Arnold. A bit of reorganization and rethinking of the way its run and it could be similar to all the other clubs in the nation. But with Arnold in the picture it has to be done by him. If its not his idea, its a bad idea. I know his personality and have to deal with people like that all the time.
I have no issues with you or Oliver, I know you guys try. But quite simply, many people I have talked to just don't want to deal with Arnold so simply didn't bother going to the meeting. That's the same reason many stopped going to launches. I wanted to bring the concerns of the silent fliers to the table. Those are the ones that just want to fly rockets and don't want to deal with having Arnold mad at them for opposing his ideas.
I brought this discussion to a public forum because I was hoping someone out there could tell me why this plan is better than the way every other club in the country does it. This plan is obviously a way to keep Arnold in charge. That can be seen on the face of it. Because he knows if it were up to a vote of the fliers he would be gone.
Good luck Robert DeHate