The Kansas Cycling Association
Upcoming elections. Mission statements. How does this organization keep local wheels turning? Put your thoughts here.
posted by mark @ 7:12 AM
16 comments
Slimen Und Grossen
Bicycle Racing News and Gossip in and around the Kansas City Metropolitan area. For more visit www.localcycling.com
16 Comments:
Under the current bylaws of the Kansas Cycling Association (KCA), the only members of the KCA are club presidents or promoters (a maximum of 26 people). The board of directors is elected from this limited field of club presidents and promoters.
Specifically, of the 397 people who reside in Kansas and have some sort of annual USA Cycling license, only 26 of them can directly vote on election of the KCA officers and influence the business and activities of the KCA.
A more representative form of governance would be to change the bylaws and stipulate that any Kansas resident with an annual USA Cycling membership is a member of the KCA. Then, to have those members vote for the board of directors / officers and elect them by majority vote. These majority elected officers would then be commissioned to administer and fulfill the needs of the local association (KCA).
If the bylaws are amended to make every Kansas-based USA Cycling license holder a member of the KCA, then every person has an equal stake and responsibility for the welfare of the sport in Kansas. If the bylaws are left in their current condition, there is room to say "KCA should..." instead of the more accurate "the Board should..."
A set of bylaw revisions has been provided to the current board of directors and KCA members (as currently defined) on October 13. Since the KCA annual meeting will occur on November 20, any person interested in seeing every Kansas resident possessing a USA Cycling license be a member of the KCA should contact their club president and have him or her vote in favor of this revision.
Submitted by Christopher Hess, 10/13/2005
The US Government has:
1 President
1 Vice-President
50 Senators
400? Congressmen
Representing over 35 million.
KCA
I think that 26 people (those who actually are doing about 90% of the work to make races happen), can represent 397.
Lets leave well enough alone. Also, 5 on the board is healthy, can break ties.
Those 435 congressmen are elected by any one of the 297 million U.S. citizens interested (and eligible) to vote. KCA governance is exclusionary, only allowing people who themselves have not been elected to vote for officers. That's not represenative. It means that for $150 (the cost to be a club or organizer), you get to vote for the officers. The average member (non-club president or organizer) is left out.
This is just a real quick post and some food for thought.
The KCA is a non-profit corporation run by volunteers tasked with the administation of USCF Cycling in partnership with USAC. We are not a "democracy" nor a government nor a governing body of any type.
In USACycling terms, the KCA is the Local Association or "LA". As such these are our duties:
LA agrees it will work in good faith and with its best efforts to ensure that all road, track, mountain bike and cyclo-cross organizers/promoters sanction their events in the area through USA Cycling and its representative associations and by doing so agree to abide by respective association rules and regulations. In any case, no officer and/or board member of an LA or the LA itself, shall promote an event that is not sanctioned with USA Cycling.
Local Race Scheduling. (Subject to coordination with national racing calendar and international calendar of events as reviewed by USA Cycling)
LA agrees that, upon receipt, they will review and submit in a timely manner fully completed event permits to USA Cycling within USA Cycling guidelines.
LA agrees that upon receipt, they will review and submit in a timely manner all post event documents to USA Cycling within USA Cycling’s guidelines.
LA agrees to assist in the recovery of outstanding post events not recovered by USAC.
Assign qualified official for all non championship events, (NRC, State Championships, etc…)
Provide or schedule race equipment for event.
Assist members with license upgrading up to and including Category 2 as per USCF rulebook.
Assist members with license downgrading as per USCF rulebook.
Provide membership with communication forum such as website, newsletter, etc.
Support and facilitate USA Cycling certification programs including officials, coaches and mechanics. Qualified instructors will conduct these programs. Curriculum and training materials provided by USA Cycling.
Support and communicate athlete development opportunities and programs with guidance and assistance of USA Cycling.
Provide a direct link on the homepage of LA website to www.usacycling.org
LA agrees to acknowledge USA Cycling as a sponsor on homepage of LA website.
LA agrees to communicate directly with USCF Regional Coordinator on a timely basis, either answering questions or providing information that is requested.
So in my opinion, phrases like "more representative form of governance" are completely irrelevant to the mission of the KCA since it does not govern anything.
Furthermore, as a volunteer, I have a very limited tolerence for the continued politicizing of our association. I do not understand what needs to be changed about an organization that helped make Racing in Kansas so successful in 2005.
Curtis Martell
Treasurer, KCA
I totally agree with Curtis, in fact if you ask average joe racer to vote for board members it will be purly by guess an by golly, as most could probably not tell you who promotes the races or care, they just want to race,and if a few selected by the few who do the promoting and organizing can make that happen, so be it. And if you care enough to put down $150 to have your say, then what's wrong with that, it that not how real government works. Leave it alone and discuss more important issues like ways to get more women and juniors into racing. With the Lance years over we will need to find other ways to attract new racers.
Aside from the quirk that bicycle riders (like floral arrangers) are not automatically members of an association of event promoters, what problem exists that requires attention? And how would that problem be solved? The nebulous "room to say 'KCA should...'" doesn't really get my problem on.
KCA is comprised of its member promoters and clubs whose representatives are presumed to answer in turn to the clubs' members. I've seen no chronic symptoms of under-representation or other dysfunction that would be cured by a change in structure. Are voices going unheard?
It's not by accident that the current structure is designed precisely so that ONLY a person or entity who has undertaken event promotion in KS (and, yes, paid $150 to USAC for the right to do this hard work) is entitled to a vote in the association of clubs and people who do this. Nor that this automatically includes USCF clubs, who must promote events as part of their membership in USCF. Furthermore, to anyone for whom representation in KCA is important, a stake in the welfare of the sport should be a powerful motivator to join a club or promote an event. This has the pleasing and unsurprising effect of strenthening clubs and generating events.
KCA exists as an association of clubs and promoters, not of riders. I've seen no compelling reason to change this, and I'm not sure why we'd want to.
Unless we wanted to start a rider's federation. But we've already got one.
Eric Struckhoff
putting the func back in dysfunction, yo...
Just a short note to the KCA Board of Directors regarding the proposal to change the KCA bylaws. I really do not have much to add to this discussion primarily because I do not believe a change is needed and I generally agree with the comments posted by Curtis and Eric.
I encourage the current BOD to vote against the proposal. I believe that KCA members put considerable thought into adopting the current bylaws; I am satisfied with the outcome. I have not been told by any local racers, Wheatland Team members or members of other teams here in Topeka, that they want KCA to change its bylaws or the structure of KCA.
On behalf of Wheatland members, I want to thank the KCA board of directors, race promoters and officials that have made the events happen this year.
Lookin’ forward to ‘06
Adam Gatewood
Wheatland Cycling Team
Briefly, and in response to posted comments by Eric and Curtis:
"What problem exists that requires attention?"
A: The president has said that riders are stating what the KCA "should do," and (he is) declaring that riders "are the KCA" and should step up and do something instead of asking the KCA to do it.
Problem: Riders are not the KCA, so the encouragement to them is slightly off-course. Remember, $10 of a rider's license goes to KCA and riders pay event fees. As such, they certainly have the right to ask that other people who receive their money do meaningful things with it.
"KCA exists as an association of clubs and promoters, not of riders."
A: That's okay if the prevailing desire is to remain a promoter-based organization. But again, if that's the case then it's not entirely appropriate to ask the riders to do something that is the responsiblity of the promoter-based association.
"We are not a governing body of any type."
A: Article V, "The KCA is *governed* by a Board of Directors...
In summary, the symptoms that require attention are:
* Several KCA officers either do not understand who is a KCA member or are asking the general rider membership to do things that are the officers or promoter organization's responsiblity.
* $9,459.00 of budget or received funds are in the KCA funding channel with no public report describing the disposition of those funds. Transparency, please.
* The KCA is one meeting short of its required four annual meetings, which, if held, could help address these types of issues in the more congenial environment of face-to-face interaction instead of electronic dialogue.
I don't feel a change is necessary for a few of reasons. The KCA was founded specifically as a group of promoters and club presidents to foster improved racing conditions in the state. I think the KCA has done a top job of this each year. My reasons for opposing the amendment are below
1) From a democratic viewpoint the voting members of the KCA can be compared to a senate type legislative body. Each club/promoter has been elected in some sense of the word to run things for their club. For the most part because almost no one is willing to do the work to keep the clubs and races running. If you removed the current KCA membership from the scene I am certain most clubs would collapse. The KCA is a "representative" governing body with (appropriately) limited ability to do anything but facilitate racing in the state and upgrade riders. If some other member wants to take the reins of my club I would be all too happy to cede to them.
2) In the same senatorial view each club/promoter gets one vote rather than a vote count being population based. This prevents the bigger clubs from "lording it over" the smaller clubs. In a small organization like the KCA if one or two clubs have a majority of the pull based on geography the KCA could rapidly become the "KCCA" or the "I-70 KCA" leading to a lot of other issues.
3) The BOD should remain a five person board. If we go to any even number then you have the problem of tie votes to decide. Three members concentrate the power in too few hands and any more than five members seem like overkill for such a small organization.
I am all for a two year term for all positions if the hive brain is agreeable to it. That would give us some needed continuity. Perhaps even have the three officers elected one year and the two members at large elected the next year to stagger the ending of terms.
I agree the KCA voting membership does 90+% of the work of running racing in KS. If a club member feels disenfranchised with the current system let them come forward to run for a term on their club or begin a new club as has happened in the past. The whole idea of a small group voting rather than all members of any group is to act as a damper and reduce the chance of rash actions over-riding common sense. It doesn't always work but does help.
Is KCA legally obligated by the state to hold four membership meetings per year or just the BOD? Is it what our bylaws demand? If that has proved too much then we maybe need to amend the required number down. Any input from the BOD members on this specific issue would be appreciated.
Roger Lomshek
Tailwind Cyclists
I have been racing bicycles for the last 12 years and I have never seen the organization and the promotion of events that I have seen since the inception of KCA. I would recommend that all cyclist read the Presidents letter to the membership. We should be celebrating the accomplishments of the KCA Leadership! I for one would recommend that the Board vote against the proposed By-law changes. Jeff Usher (AKA Musher)
A new proposal has been forwarded to the KCA officers and Board on October 17. This proposal makes any Kansas resident who obtains a USA Cycling license become a member of the KCA. According to the proposal, members can become officers by serving as a club president or promoter. Then, directors are elected from the officers.
This provides an "incentive" system and helps side-step the current problems in defining KCA membership and expectations between individual license holders and the governing entity.
Hey. I've only been here two years so I cant say what things were like before the KCA but I agree there are good races and events here.
I sorta wonder, though, what would be so bad about everyone having a vote? How how would that make things worse?
Also, little worried about that "increasingly intolerant" comment. Sounds like the police & not a volunteer.
How can someone get inovlved in the vote process?
Let me see if I get this right: we pay the promoters entry fees, and then a "club" (body, organization?) of them gets $10 of each of are licenses and get to decide what to do with that cash too? Sounds fishy to me. I dont necesarily agree everyone needs to vote (mabye), but I do think more rank and file license holders should get a chance to know what's going on or influence it. Everyone should be a member of KCA or whatever their state organization. Don't like the idea of only the "ol boys" deciding things. That usually gets any group in trouble.
Open letter to all Kansas racers and in particular, club presidents voting in the upcoming KCA elections:
I have tried to follow the recent By-Laws issues relative to defining eligible membership in KCA. I offer the following for what it's worth.
When the KCA was started, it was meant to be an organization of clubs, with each club having one voice. Meaning each club designates a representative to vote in all KCA matters.
The main point, which was driven home to me by Mr. Mike Hudson, long-time Kansas District Representative, is that each USCF racing club should promote one (or more) race meet each year and by doing so, spread the workload throughout the state giving all USCF license holders a chance to race around the region at quality events. This point is also a USA Cycling mandate to keep a club in “good standing” with the Federation.
In theory - if each club would promote one event per year - and all the members of that club do their fair share of the work and not race their own events, the quality of each race will improve and allow all racers in the region - not just Kansas, many excellent race meets to attend. If this is also applied in all USCF regions, Kansas riders going to Neb, OK, etc. benefit from the same quality events. One area in the overall setup of USCF structure that has been overlooked by many is the unattached rider. The rulebook even states an additional fee may be charged and my reasoning would be to encourage that rider to become part of a USCF club - therefore adding to the organization as a whole.
Like many things in life - you have those that show up, participate, and leave without ever really doing anything to help grow the sport. The past 3 or 4 years has shown a marked improvement of KCA events - much of which comes from each club doing a great job getting the club members involved in race promotion. Baldwin City Stage race and Tour of KC are the shining examples.
As a founding member of the KCA, it is my belief that to effectively govern the KCA organization, the tree shaped organization of all riders belonging to a club, each club having one voice, and the Board being elected by these voices will provide the most effective path of the organization.
I strongly urge each voting member to reject any changes to the KCA bylaws that give individual Kansas USCF license holders voting rights in KCA matters. All license holders have a voice through their club president. If they are unattached and want a voice - join a club.
Respectfully,
Bret Sehorn
All, i'm posting this for Brett:
"Open letter to all Kansas racers and in particular, club presidents voting in the upcoming KCA elections:
I have tried to follow the recent By-Laws issues relative to defining eligible membership in KCA. I offer the following for what it's worth.
When the KCA was started, it was meant to be an organization of clubs, with each club having one voice. Meaning each club designates a representative to vote in all KCA matters.
The main point, which was driven home to me by Mr. Mike Hudson, long-time Kansas District Representative, is that each USCF racing club should promote one (or more) race meet each year and by doing so, spread the workload throughout the state giving all USCF license holders a chance to race around the region at quality events. This point is also a USA Cycling mandate to keep a club in “good standing” with the Federation.
In theory - if each club would promote one event per year - and all the members of that club do their fair share of the work and not race their own events, the quality of each race will improve and allow all racers in the region - not just Kansas, many excellent race meets to attend. If this is also applied in all USCF regions, Kansas riders going to Neb, OK, etc. benefit from the same quality events. One area in the overall setup of USCF structure that has been overlooked by many is the unattached rider. The rulebook even states an additional fee may be charged and my reasoning would be to encourage that rider to become part of a USCF club - therefore adding to the organization as a whole.
Like many things in life - you have those that show up, participate, and leave without ever really doing anything to help grow the sport. The past 3 or 4 years has shown a marked improvement of KCA events - much of which comes from each club doing a great job getting the club members involved in race promotion. Baldwin City Stage race and Tour of KC are the shining examples.
As a founding member of the KCA, it is my belief that to effectively govern the KCA organization, the tree shaped organization of all riders belonging to a club, each club having one voice, and the Board being elected by these voices will provide the most effective path of the organization.
I strongly urge each voting member to reject any changes to the KCA bylaws that give individual Kansas USCF license holders voting rights in KCA matters. All license holders have a voice through their club president. If they are unattached and want a voice - join a club.
Respectfully,
Bret Sehorn"
Oops,
i accidently posted Bret's comments twice....but here's my 2 cents...i polled my club (Slimenundgrossen) and all who responded (6) were in favor of the bylaws change.....i appreciate Bret's contributions, but he might have misread the voting rights part...i (we?) at slimenundgrossen do feel that license holders as members at leasts gives them a token investment in KCA...might get them to actually give input to the representatives who vote...
regards,
mark thomas
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