RE: If a treasurer of an AMA club were to steal a large amount of money, what action should take place?
After observing the meeting I attended, I dont think that anything voted on would pass that the president didnt endorse, including term limits. I had only attended one meeting at this club the month after I joined, it happened to be the one the missing money was announced and discussed. After the first half of the meeting which was spent discussing the money missing, the current board and president were reelected during the second half of the meeting, all in the same meeting. Amazing, Disheartening and very disappointing. There was no time to reevaluate based on this event. The president talked long and hard against postponing the election and spoke to the many reasons that the current president should stay in place and be reelected at this same meeting. If I had been the president, I would have offered my resignation.
After listening to the discussion of the missing money and the reaction to postponing the election, it was obvious that the popularity contest, (election) was under the great influence of the majority of the club which supported the president. The majority should rule. I felt like I was in one of those "Outer Limits" episodes where you walk into a town that looks perfectly normal but the inhabitants are zombies blindly following the spell that was cast on them. It was just so weird to me, now I understand the comments I had heard about the club before I joined. It really is true. I give the current president credit for doing many great things for the club, but this was not one of them. Managing a groups finances and resources is a major consideration in choosing a board member or leader, sorry, an F in that column. Not all, but most other columns I would give him very high marks. I have known him a long time and like the guy. I think he has the best of intentions and is an honest guy. So to summarize, I believe there are people who would like to run for office in the club, but they saw the same thing I did. As ,long as things are the way they are there, I will pay my dues and fly there, I will resist my natural urge to get involved with club functions and just fly and enjoy the good people.