Mark Lilledahl wrote:There have been 880 logons on this post .That means there are probably a few hundred viewers.This is the place where the TRUTH comes out.This many viewers will figure it out.
That's what someone is afraid of Mark. For the record, I've been contacted by people who would like to see me retract some of my challenges to Urs ... or I might possibly be removed from this forum. I do not retract them. But I do recognize that Urs isn't likely to answer those challenges either (shame on Urs).
So for that reason, I'd like to get past the Urs discussion and bring this topic back to where it started. Here's Dan's first post:
Dan Brown wrote:The recent replacement of our waiver by USHPA’s waiver and the manner in which it was done are not cause for celebration. The waiver was our waiver. We negotiated it and had a voice in its terms and conditions. Now it has been eliminated by USHPA’s attorney and a USHPA Director negotiating directly with our landlord. For 40 years we had kept third parties out of our relationship with our landlord.
To maintain our independence we need to distance ourselves from USHPA; not become more dependent upon it. USHPA is an organization increasingly devoted to a sport that is not ours, disliked by many of its members, with a long history of financial irregularities and run by Directors who voted to impose a gag rule, end the independence of local clubs and force Fellow Feathers to allow non-hang gliding pilots to vote in our elections.
Instead of USHPA negotiating to end our waiver, we should be negotiating to end our dependence upon USHPA. The only purpose USHPA serves is to sell us, reportedly at a profit, insurance. Our landlord requires liability insurance. We should try to convince it that insurance is unnecessary. Recreational use immunity statutes and California Supreme Court decisions provide protection.
I don’t question Steve’s good intentions in eliminating our waiver but it is hard to balance the diminishment of local control with the claimed saving of a few dollars. The waiver simply was part of the Funston rule package printed on the back of the sticker application.
Even if our landlord continues to require insurance, there is hope that a new organization may end our dependence upon USHPA. A former USHPA Director has established a national HANG GLIDING organization,
http://www.ushawks.org/ . If it obtains insurance, USHPA will have competition and we no longer will forced to join it to fly at Funston.
Dan didn't mention Urs in his post. Instead, Dan is talking about USHPA and its relationship with its chapters. He's talking about an organization that has grown increasingly insensitive to the needs of its members. This is the classic symptom of a monopoly - they grow insensitive to the needs of their customers. There are only two solutions: government intervention to fix the monopoly (breakup of "Ma Bell" for example) or meaningful competition. I am advocating for the second choice. I am advocating for the creation of an alternative national organization that might offer better pricing, fairer policies, and better representation for its members. For those familiar with SCUBA diving, I'm offering the same choices that divers have long had between NAUI and PADI (and others). Having multiple national SCUBA organizations certainly hasn't hurt that sport!!
So there is no real down side to your club joining the US Hawks. It will make a statement to USHPA that you recognize there might be alternatives on the horizon. It's a reminder that USHPA should value and serve your chapter ... because you might actually have a choice some day. That's the smart road for your club and our sport.
Please join us on
US Hawks. There's no cost, and our goal is to represent hang gliding fairly for everyone.
Bob Kuczewski
858-204-7499 (please call any time)