A couple of days ago my phone started to blow up. "Go check the WERA message board!" a few people were saying. Ugg. Not that again! I don't want to. I've got a lot of stuff going on in my life right now, so I'd rather not immerse myself in all this junk again. But curiosity took over and here I am. When I saw this thread I was blown away. "You've got to be kidding me," I say to myself with my jaw on the ground. "Another lawsuit? Well, I warned the Board, told them of our risk, when I was on the Board..." I am the former CMRA Director that was mentioned earlier in this thread. I did, indeed, resign my Board position on April 1, 2018. After I resigned I wrote a letter to John Ulrich at Roadracing World explaining why I resigned. John and I have spoken a few times times since, both on the phone and by text. He wants to publish my letter, but is asking that I edit it as it is quite lengthy. I am struggling with an edit because it's hard to condense the story. This morning I read on the CMRA message board a statement from John Orchard, the current CMRA president and a named party in the ongoing litigation with Peyton Inge. Orchard writes that the CMRA's books and records have always been available to Directors. This is a half truth: When I was a Director, I asked the other Directors repeatedly for the CMRA's books and records, all of which are normally public records. I asked for this information in the same electronic format that was given to the courts so that I could go line by line through it all and determine for myself if what the plaintiff was alleging in his suit was bullshit or not. I was initially told I could not inspect these things, even though I was a Director and had signed a confidentiality agreement. "Sorry, Linz. Court order says you can't have them," I was told. I pointed out that the court order (that the CMRA's defendants/attorneys in the Inge case asked for, mind you) sealing the books did not apply to Directors, I was given the run around for a while. Furthermore, I was told that discovery information containing the books and records was none of my business and I couldn't do anything about it anyway. While I was being denied access, the CMRA's attorneys were asking the court for clarification about what the court order did and did not protect and who and who could not see the CMRA's books and records. In time I was told by the other Directors that I could inspect the books and records, but I could only do so in person, and in pieces. I pointed out that there was nothing in the court order restricted me as a Director from having this information in the same format as the courts. More runaround. In time, tired of it all and with my father in ill health, I officially resigned my Director spot on April 1. (My dad passed on April 21, by the way.) This whole thing, this new suit, and Inge's ongoing suit, are insane. (Yes, parts of Inge's suit are still active.) It is my belief, not shared by some of the defendants in Inge's suit, that this stuff was avoidable. At some point people have to hold people in charge accountable for their actions.
I don't have a dog in this fight, but it would appear to me they are hiding something. Given that there isn't millions of dollars to go around in club racing, I suspect it's not the massive conspiracy that all the internet drama would make it appear to be. But it probably is something that would tarnish the image of those involved and they are just going to go down swinging at this point. My local clubs always have the same type of small minded drama in the leadership ranks and it slowly seems to be sucking the life out of the community.
I'd say a whole bunch of shit. No reason to fight this hard if they weren't really worried about the truth coming out.
When I was on the Board I was told information that exonerates any defendant is in the court-sealed books and records. The court has it. The defendants have it. The plaintiff has it. It's normally publicly available. I am a Director. Can I see it? No.
Heya John! Read my attachment. Primarily John Orchard, the sitting president of the CMRA. On the Board, he is the gatekeeper for all lawsuit information, even though he is a named defendant in the suit. Then look at the other sitting Board members (minus the one that was just seated in my place) on the CMRA's Board members page. After a length of time trying to placate me, they all voted to restrict the information to little more than posted 990s in the Board of Directors message board area and in-person inspection of other documents. No rational for the restriction, though.
I sure liked the days we were CRRC and were WERA affiliated! I think every couple years they need to clean house! People that are in the same position for more than 10 years needs new people! IMO And I know John probably wasn’t the only one to tell you No!?
without knowing anyone or anything besides these threads... it totally reads like: somebody siphoned off like $30k from proceeds and took their wife on a vacation and made some home improvements or bought a boat, and doesn't want that revealed. how big of a scandal could it possibly be? drug trafficking in the false bottom of their transport vehicles like that one WSBK team haha...
Agreed, John. Those were simpler times for sure. Being a continuous CMRA member since 1987, I can say that with certainty. John O voiced the "no", but Danny Dominguez, Harry Tomlinson, Sean Brown, Ryan Rutkowski, Bill Syfan, Shandra Crawford and Allen Dye were Board members who also agreed it.
So if this three ring shit show ever finishes!! I will get out on a limb and I will step up as race director for HALF of whatever the current race director gets paid! That is if everyone ever gets to see the books?
On an annual basis, the money involved would eliminate the need to charge gate fees. That's why Orchard begged the Court to seal the records. That's why you can't get a straight answer out of anyone, and why Orchard sent A. Dye on here to confuse the logical discussion. Several of these people will end up in jail, where they belong. The rest are just as guilty. Either they were intentionally incompetent, or they are too stupid to know they're being used as pawns. Either way, the Defendants with money will ultimately repay the CMRA for money stolen by the others.
Or had some other debt to the mob for gambling and the Iceman was looking for them. Or they had to pay Buddy Ravel from 3’o clock high extortion money. Or maybe they have a whole gaggle of pet monkeys that are getting really expensive. Or they went to Vegas and lived like Charlie Sheen.