LuigiVampa

For anyone who doesn't want to read a 17 page letter let me give the cliff notes:

1. PCA is a club which is governed by written rules.
2. Since February I have asked PCA to show me any rule or insurance provision which backs up their position. They have never provided any information.
2. PCA knows that no such rules exist to back up their position.
3. The "changes" I am asking for are actually a request for PCA to comply with the existing rules and not a change to a new set of rules.

The only people who seem to disagree with what I am doing are focusing on my motivation and perhaps the cost to me. Those arguments are irrelevant. I have made a choice and am very comfortable with it.

Read my letter and look at my positions regarding PCA bylaws and MNPP. I spent more time than I care to consider researching the rules and the only valid arguments are if you disagree with my interpretation of the rules.

dgrobs

Valid and fair for sure.
I have misunderstood and thought that you wanted to race with PCA. Clearly, as you say, that is irrelevant.
What is relevant is that you want change at the leadership level of PCA. With that as your only focal point, then yes, keep fighting the good fight and forget about racing with PCA. You have other options and you are taking advantage of those. Good on you.
I clearly misunderstood what your actual intention was. That’s on me 100%, and I appreciate you clearing that up for me. I thought you wanted to race with PCA. Now knowing that is not your priority, I was mistaken and very much misunderstood your intent. My bad.
Keep fighting the good fight and please keep us all posted. Very glad you are racing elsewhere to get your fix.
Any preference on cigars? Gonna stop by the local smoke shop this afternoon and pick up a few for tomorrow to Tuesday. Anything In particular that you’d like me to grab for you? Gonna grab a Fuente 858 and R&J Churchill for myself. Can I grab you something for Monday night?

LuigiVampa

Its not directed at you as you are saying what a lot of people are saying - just give in.

I do want to race with PCA again, but not until things are fixed.

I will bring an assortment from my humidor and you do the same and we can swap some cigars. Looking forward to it.

dgrobs

Right on…

Zhao

Sometimes someone just needs to start a fire and drive a gas tanker into it to improve an organization.

The problem to me is PCA is probably in the wrong, there is no justification for their demands or they won't disclose why (which is equally bad), and them denying the doctor's sign off and asking for it more data outside of the norm actually probably really hurts the club long term opening it up to all kinds of liability, especially since this thread is long and detailed on the topic. A functional organization should have done a review and seen they overstepped their mandate and simply said ya, our bad, we accept the doctor sign off as is our policy to do so. Instead they seem to be tripling down because someone's panties got twisted when Luigi denied their request. There is no benefit to PCA for them to continue down this path and volunteers or not you really dont want people making decisions that can't self analyze and adapt with a new tack if their current one is hurting the organization.

i say all the power to Luigi on this. At the very least he's making it difficult for the type of people you generally do not want in a volunteer club, the kind that are pig headed and make it a personal offense to not respect their authority.

Manifold

If Luigi is good with his decision, then I agree, more power to him. This mess is entirely of PCA’s making.

jakermc

THIS!!

We all owe Todd a big thank you. I am optimistic that the entire club will one day benefit from Todd's efforts and personal sacrifice.

dgrobs

That would be great.

fatbillybob

Organizations and business only respond to the bottom line. When are Todd's supporters going to vote with their feet. Send PCA a message if members think this is a good fight. That's the only way to get PCA attention.

I like the option to pay with credit card or cash. I will not patron a place that will not accept either means of payment. I have gone right up to the counter and ordered full on family meals and then get a refusal of cash. I show them my credit card and say too bad and walk out. Sometimes I don't want a record of eating steak or a meal with no vegetables. Big5 said there was no coins during the pandemic. I had to go there to buy a cheap pit bike for the track. It was about $175 bucks and change. They wanted me to eat the coins because they could not make change, I told them to eat the coins. So for less than 50 cents they lost the sale. Could I have used my credit card? Yes I could. I went down the street and actually got a cheaper bike.

quickboxster

What does your anecdote about Karen'ng entry level, non decision making employees, seemingly everywhere you go, have to do with Todd's beef with a car club's authoritarian management team?

dgrobs

I think the part of Billy’s post, the first paragraph, the part of his post you didn’t quote, is what’s relevant to Todd and his plight.
Not sure about the 2nd part either, the part you did quote, and its relevancy to this thread, but the first part, spot on and very relevant, to me anyway. Maybe the part you quoted is relevant to “voting with your wallet”, in which case, fits nicely with the theme referenced in his first paragraph.
Of course, I could be 100% wrong on both paragraphs. Wouldn’t be the first time…

Nowanker

About standing on principal....

dgrobs

Yeah, that was my take as well.
Voting with your feet and your wallet, yes, on principal.

DKP 97 C2 Coupe

Those of us who have been members of PCA for decades (like myself) can undoubtedly can tell tales of how the ideal of "we all like the same type of cars; why don't we have a club so we can share a common interest, have fun and treat each other kindly as most of us are pretty successful and have stressful lives" can, unfortunately, go very wrong. Like a number of others in the thread, PCA became a large part of my life this past decade, and I was arguably on the short list of the hardest-working volunteers of my region. A difference in opinion, one which could have almost certainly been addressed with the affected parties sitting down in a room, resulted in my resigning my CDI position due to the degree of friction and level of contempt that I was shown by guys who I had considered some of my best friends, both on and off the track.

After a quarter-century of membership, I retain it for "Pano-only", and I'm saddened by this. The neighbor who, when I was 15, gave me a ride in a '66 911, a few minutes which changed my life forever, has never been a member of PCA. He told me many years ago that "I don't need a club to enjoy my cars", and I have now seen the wisdom of that. If it was really "about the people, not the cars", I'd still be an active member of my region. Eighteen months on, I am happy and healthy, spending the time that I would have volunteering with PCA with organizations that actually work to improve the quality of life for others, specifically, the cancer community.

Todd has indeed "kicked the hornet's nest", but PCA has become a enormously large and insular organization in which those who have become part of the "management clique" will tend to protect themselves at the Regional, Zone and National levels over what most would consider to be appropriate for a volunteer car club, particularly one in which there usually only one person for the membership to "vote" for in each EC election, be it at any level. While it is indeed impressive to be able to say that "it's the largest car club in the world", that size comes with a significant bureaucracy, and thereby the ever-increasing challenge of seeing the forest for the trees. Todd, I wish you the best of luck with your worthwhile campaign! I understand why you have devoted as much time to this, and you have my and many others' respect for choosing to do so.

Manifold

If Todd’s fellow club racers agree with him and support what he’s doing, they need to get in touch with each other and agree to stop attending the races. When attendance is cut to half or less, there will be some real leverage. If Todd’s fellow racers don’t support him in that way, it makes no sense for Todd to fight for these reforms on their behalf.