ORIGINAL: STLPilot
Buzzer. AAA is a federation of affiliated automobile clubs. Each AAA club is an independent, not-for-profit organization, chartered and incorporated in its own state and controlled by its own board of directors.
Buzzer, yourself. Autoclub South, which issued the AAA Plus membership card in front of me, is neither chartered nor incorporated in Georgia, Tennessee, or Puerto Rico. It is incorportated in Florida and has it's business offices in Florida, although the territory covers multiple states and one territory. It is NOT a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
Worse, you can't even find out who actually runs AAA or any of the affiliate auto clubs, you have no input regarding who gets that job, and you have no way of trying to replace them.
The AMA and AAA are very much alike. Also, we as the members do not OWN the AMA. The AMA is a membership organization, just like AAA. The only reason that there are DVP's and VP's and an elected President by the AMA members is because the Board of Directors have decided to make it that way. They do this, like you say, for the better good of the AMA but still at the end of the day the member DO NOT own the AMA. You have the right to ask questions, but you don't have the right to demand them, a huge difference. You're membership card is not a stock certificate, so don't think of it like it is.
Ok, I give up. I can't find the information on the AMA web site or in the AMA Member's Manual on how one gets to be a member of this AMA "Board Of Directors" to which you keep referring. Would you be so kind as to furnish that information ? Unless of course you are actually referring to the Executive Council, which is of course comprised of the various District VPs, who are in turn directly elected by the District members. Is _that_ the 'board of directors' to which you refer ? If so, you overestimate their authority considerably, particularly with regard to changing AMA's own operational rules.
And, much as I don't care for the analogy, my AMA membership card actually does equate to a "stock certificate". The analogy works because that AMA membership card entitles me to receive a >ballot<, just like my _stock certificates_ entitle me to vote in stockholder's meetings, except of course that I usually assign that task to a proxy I trust and because the number of stock certificates I hold governs how many "votes" I can exercise in those stockholder's meetings.
AMA is not a membership organization "just like AAA" because AMA leaders are chosen by the members, whereas AAA "leaders" are NOT chosen by the people who have AAA "membership" cards.
AMA insurance is not an option to it's members. AMA cannot legally sell insurance as a sideline the way AAA does.
AMA does not own an insurance subsidiary. AAA owns AAA Insurance Company. And that subsidiary most certainly is not a non-profit entity.
I'm beginning to think that not only do you not know how AMA works, you don't know very much about your favorite comparision example AAA, either.
If nothing else, get this part down pat : AMA uses elections to select it's leaders, AAA does not.
Nothing else matters with respect to comparison between the two entities because they are not at all the same sort of organization.
Now, I'm all done trying to straighten you out on how AMA works becuase you either don't want to learn or are simply being obtuse for it's own sake. Either way, have a good day and Bye, Now.