US Hawks Hang Gliding Association

It's interesting to note how many of the bad apples have been falling from the USHPA tree lately.

Lisa Tate - former president who refused to support the Torrey Hawks is no longer president and not even on the USHPA Board any more. Brad Hall who had fought the Torrey Hawks from the very beginning isn't running for re-election. Now Dave Wills - who crafted several corrupt SOPs (like the gag order and the recall re-election ban) has also resigned as VP and Chair of Organization and Bylaws.

Does anyone know what's going on there?

Bob,

I don't know any insider info. Sounds like good news to me though.

Maybe like Warren's Zappa quote, takeing down the props, then a brick wall.
It might be the economy, not much time for glory hogs, folks have to change priority.

Your relentless efforts , and others , focused on fairness, transparency? Keeping the heat on?

Let's hope that they don't just "switch chairs", again like Warren said.

Of course, the insurance/finance EC member, IMO, is rotten enough to corrupt almost any new commer.

Thanks for letting us know.

I hope their replacements believe in truth and openness.

SamKellner wrote:Of course, the insurance/finance EC member, IMO, is rotten enough to corrupt almost any new commer.

That would be Mark Forbes, and I agree with your assessment. He sounds great when he writes, but he'll stab you in the back without batting an eye. When the Torrey Hawks applied for Site Insurance at Torrey Pines, he wouldn't let it go through. So I asked him to just hang onto the money that I had paid (in cash) so that our application would remain pending and take precedence over any later applications. He agreed, and our application was never processed, and USHPA kept the money. Then (maybe a year or so later), he changed his mind and refused our application for site insurance without any justification and demanded that I take the money back ... even though we'd applied in good faith and met all the criteria at that time.

Mark Forbes cannot be trusted. He sounds good when he talks, but that's when you know you're about to get the knife.

Bob, you're correct. Well, the way I'd describe it is spindoctor.

So they are doing the insurance business. That's what they are supposed to do.

There's some questions about the finances. And when he comes up with this line..... That really makes me worry

I realize it's a stretch, but you need to just trust those of us who are elected to handle this stuff, and believe me when I tell you that it's being handled well.

Read more: http://www.hanggliding.org/viewtopic.ph ... z1ea91rkt3 And start on page 1.

How many years has he been there?

The direction the Assn is headed?

So when are we gonna invite him over here, ask for some of his ideas in the "Building the US Hawks" forum, give him full voting rights, and get him to run for office?

TadEareckson wrote:So when are we gonna invite him over here, ask for some of his ideas in the "Building the US Hawks" forum, give him full voting rights, and get him to run for office?

Tad, if you're welcome here ... then that means everyone is welcome here.  

Seriously, I've got no problem with Mark Forbes or Lisa Tate or Brad Hall or Dave Wills or Jack Axaopoulos or David Jebb or anyone else becoming a member of this forum and participating in our discussions. When the time comes, they can even vote and run for office if they meet the hang gliding commitment requirements that I hope we'll establish. That's the difference between what I'm trying to build here and what you're trying to do on KiteStrings.

My goal is to bring everyone together but hold them accountable for their statements and actions. It's the accountability that will turn some of those "bad" guys into "good" guys. I think we can all slip up when we're not held accountable, and it's the lack of accountability that raises the number of "bad" guys in any given population. So I'm trying to build an environment that helps some of those "bad" guys become "good" guys. And the ones who still want to remain as "bad" guys just won't hang around.

That's my plan. The only monkey wrench has been you. I believe you're basically one of the "good" guys, but you have a pathological way of expressing yourself (and your rage) that is far more destructive than I imagined when I established this forum and invited you to join us. But don't worry, I'm trying to figure out a way to either help you or to restrict your rage in a way that isn't so destructive. Your help is more than welcome!!