Originally Posted by Julie Jordan
I'm still around, but I'm a CPA, not an attorney. I'm not an expert on what it would take to get the members voting rights back.
I'm not convinced that would be a good thing, I think the membership base is quite vast and varied, it's not just sportsman racers. First of all, would it be legal that only active racer members vote? I suspect not because once you limit membership to a certain body of people you risk losing the 501(c)(6) status as it's not for the good of the general membership. If all members voted then anyone who had a membership card would be eligible, whether they be sportsman, pros, fans, industry reps, etc. With that many people eligible to vote how would there ever be a consensus? Look how divisive our presidential election was, you think racers and fans could agree on an issue? Just like now, someone will not be happy.
NHRA is far from broke. If you look at prior returns, they had a lot of debt when Compton took over from Wally Parks. Under Compton's regime, the finances of NHRA improved dramatically. They are sitting on a lot of cash, own real estate. From on outsider's perspective it appears that the TV packages have been more costly and problematic than anticipated. But, I don't think we are looking at the demise of NHRA. They have held on, through a tough economic cycle, many sporting and racing organizations haven't.
I think a fight to change the membership structure would be (1) costly and (2) most likely unsuccessful. NHRA has many facets of the organization besides just sportsman racing. There are the Pros, ET series, member tracks, youth programs. One year with a loss from operations doesn't prove to a judge or jury that the board isn't doing their job correctly. In my opinion, this would be a losing venture for anyone who tried to pursue this.
I get that we love our sport, but it's not all about us. An organization of this size is never going to please all of its members.
My 2 cents.
|