Financial Reports - Q1 2013

Unfortunately I'm not a lawyer yet, just a J.D. I need to take/pass the bar in July to be a Lawyer/Attorney.

I agree, transparency is 33.3% of the issue with CMAS. The next 33.3% are related to the behavior/decisions of the board of directors. The final 33.3% is related to the fact that there is absolutely ZERO benefit to being a member of CMAS. There are no discounts, no great seminars, no free entry to frag swaps, no reciprocity with other clubs and their frag swaps, and worst of all the past and current BODs have managed to entirely eliminate any sense of Camaraderie.

Interesting opinion. Thanks for sharing, but more than 33% of the above statements are absolute falsehoods, not opinions....just so you know. ;)_
 
Unfortunately I'm not a lawyer yet, just a J.D. I need to take/pass the bar in July to be a Lawyer/Attorney.

I agree, transparency is 33.3% of the issue with CMAS. The next 33.3% are related to the behavior/decisions of the board of directors. The final 33.3% is related to the fact that there is absolutely ZERO benefit to being a member of CMAS. There are no discounts, no great seminars, no free entry to frag swaps, no reciprocity with other clubs and their frag swaps, and worst of all the past and current BODs have managed to entirely eliminate any sense of Camaraderie.

I have to agree with Tedski on this one

Before we use to have a ton of raffles and giveaways, I do think most LFS still give the 10% discount to CMAS members but not sure who does this anymore. I also remember we use to have a speakers come in and talk with us at regular meetings, especially the Reef Ball stuff which use to be real good at the time, not sure what happened the last time but I know it didn't go well. The free admission I think should be Free for members, but I think it should be a fine line to where, if a facility would need to be funded for next year then it should go to that and charge non-members a $10 fee for entry. I only say this becasue most folks might not want to renew memberships and the lost of money can be lost of funds for funding the next event. Also they really need to check everyone's Membership cards, when I got to the Frag Swap on saturday they didn't even ask for my Membership ID.

I feel we should have 2 lines one for Members and one for non-members, this might have been done in the past but not sure. But this is just my thoughts on this...
 
Interesting opinion. Thanks for sharing, but more than 33% of the above statements are absolute falsehoods, not opinions....just so you know. ;)_

No sir, similarly to my opinion of the CMAS issues those are your opinions. Just so you know.
 
I have to agree with Tedski on this one

Before we use to have a ton of raffles and giveaways, I do think most LFS still give the 10% discount to CMAS members but not sure who does this anymore. I also remember we use to have a speakers come in and talk with us at regular meetings, especially the Reef Ball stuff which use to be real good at the time, not sure what happened the last time but I know it didn't go well. The free admission I think should be Free for members, but I think it should be a fine line to where, if a facility would need to be funded for next year then it should go to that and charge non-members a $10 fee for entry. I only say this becasue most folks might not want to renew memberships and the lost of money can be lost of funds for funding the next event. Also they really need to check everyone's Membership cards, when I got to the Frag Swap on saturday they didn't even ask for my Membership ID.

I feel we should have 2 lines one for Members and one for non-members, this might have been done in the past but not sure. But this is just my thoughts on this...

All that is great, but even something like a good old fashioned party with a bus tour would be an incentive for people to join. Just SOMETHING. Right now you pay your dues, and all you get is a snide comment from the president saying "it's your club, it's what you make it".
 
Forgot about those old Bus Parties.... I remember going around jumping from LFS to LFS having a good time and ending up at someones house who offered to cook and BBQ, the LFS we would visit have great deals... I haven't seen one of these in YEARS!
 
Forgot about those old Bus Parties.... I remember going around jumping from LFS to LFS having a good time and ending up at someones house who offered to cook and BBQ, the LFS we would visit have great deals... I haven't seen one of these in YEARS!

That sounds like a good and happy club, this we'll decide whether we want to share information is crap.
 
The old bus Tours were not CMAS, just so you know. That was OT Crew organized by a few reefing individuals. CMAS can do that sort of think, if that is what the membership is looking for. Sorry we have not gotten more thinks organized in our First 5 months as a board, with planning the swap and all. Wish I could dedicate more time....O, and when you say "We'll decide" you do mean the Members, not just a select few on the board, because that is was is happening. ;)
 
All that is great, but even something like a good old fashioned party with a bus tour would be an incentive for people to join. Just SOMETHING. Right now you pay your dues, and all you get is a snide comment from the president saying "it's your club, it's what you make it".

As the CMAS board has said many times, the members of the club are the driving force behind WHAT the club is. This is the position of the new board. It has to be. We don't know what else people expect of volunteers. The members are free to make the club what they want it to be.

At this point, the CMAS board is simply in a no win situation from my perspective. And it isn't like its specific people. The board has changed over many times, and yet the "its the CMAS board that is the issue" lives on. At some point, people have to accept that it isn't this created, evil, demonizing, board.

A club of 300 people simply can not rely on 5 people to plan every event, set up bus tours, coordinate with LFS and regional vendors, plan trips to Shedd, work with other local clubs, host MACNA/MACI, etc etc etc.

Carl and the rest of the board, myself included, have requested help and for the members who want to see these types of things to step-up and help. In fact, Ted, you were going to step up and help revise the by-laws so the club operated the way you (and many others including the board) thought that it should. You decided that it wasn't worth your time to help. In fact, you let your membership expire after volunteering to help.

Is it not apparent why CMAS has so much trouble keeping people on the board? Carl worked extremely hard to resolve the complaints of many people around election time. He even offered to APPOINT some of you to the board, to by-pass the requirements of the by-laws.

Whats it going to take?

As this board has said.... CMAS is going to be what the members make of it. The dynamic that a few people do everything, and then get absolutely ridiculed for their volunteer efforts that has consumed CMAS in the past is over. The method is unsustainable. And even after we offer, in the best means that we can, to allow the members to make the club what they want, the same worn out presumptions and complaints continue.

Either you are part of the solution, or you are the problem. There really isn't much more CMAS as a club can do to get the nay-sayers involved. You want the financials for the first quarter under the new board:


https://www.dropbox.com/s/7lpr6uyyp7q24gu/CMAS_Financial_Q1_2013.pdf


Anybody can post the link.


There you go. But I guarantee that won't be good enough. There WILL be something else. Some other problem. Some other complaint about how the board failed the members. How people don't want to join CMAS, because it isn't transparent enough, or that it is run like a dictatorship, or a host of other "issues", regardless of our efforts to overcome these challenges and once again make CMAS about assisting the reefing community.

I am sure this thread has and will get a lot of attention. Drama. I am convinced that is what most people are after.

Step up... and help. Please. What else do we have to do? You name it. We are really trying here to satisfy the people that have felt they have been wronged in the past. I am not sure what else we can do.
 
That sounds like a good and happy club, this we'll decide whether we want to share information is crap.

Part of being a member of a club is having rights specifically by being a member.

Like voting. Attending meetings. Understanding specific financials.

Ted is right, there has to be some benefit of being a member of the club. Otherwise, why pay a membership?

Asking for a review of the clubs financial documentation is like asking to vote on club business without being a member. Whats the point of joining?

I posted the first quarter financials link. There is nothing there. No drama. Nothing exciting, which is what I am convinced you guys are looking for.


Now... want to join the club since you see the money is being spent responsibly?
 
You the Man Tank...we will be meeting up after the holiday weekend to get the ball rolling, All are welcome....Hoping to get a follow up survey out with how the swap went and what are some requests for MACI....Date looks clear and will follow withing a week or two. ;)
 
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Ted, you were going to step up and help revise the by-laws so the club operated the way you (and many others including the board) thought that it should. You decided that it wasn't worth your time to help. In fact, you let your membership expire after volunteering to help.

I first joined CMAS SPECIFICALLY to be a member of a committee, Bob decided at that point to alienate anyone who asked for financial information, including a member of his own board of directors when he demanded her resignation. At that point "my help was no longer needed".

I also am entirely willing to step up and finish my by-law revisions (many sections are already completed) as soon as you step down from your position on the board of directors. I prepared the revisions, volunteered, and started working on them after you threw your latest temper tantrum and resigned. Simply put, I will not work with you, in any capacity. You have singlehandedly led multiple members to disassociate with CMAS and even got the entire club kicked off the largest and most popular local saltwater enthusiast forum by making your own moves without any board or membership approval.

It's as simple as that. Childish? Immature? Call it what you want, but that is the bottom line.

Carl worked extremely hard to resolve the complaints of many people around election time. He even offered to APPOINT some of you to the board, to by-pass the requirements of the by-laws.


And as far as the "offered to appoint some of you to the board" comment that you made here and Carl made on the CMAS forum (which I understandably no longer have access to). I will donate $100 to CMAS instantly at the paypal account of Carl's choice if ANYONE on the board of directors can provide me with ANY documentation that that offer was ever personally extended to me. It was not.
 
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I first joined CMAS SPECIFICALLY to be a member of a committee, Bob decided at that point to alienate anyone who asked for financial information, including a member of his own board of directors when he demanded her resignation. At that point "my help was no longer needed".

I also am entirely willing to step up and finish my by-law revisions (many sections are already completed) as soon as you step down from your position on the board of directors. I prepared the revisions, volunteered, and started working on them after you threw your latest temper tantrum and resigned. Simply put, I will not work with you, in any capacity.

Hmm..

So is this how you offered to help Bob with the club too? With conditions, up to and including resignations? In order for you to help the club, it has to be done your way, with personal vendettas, demands, and conditions?

If so, I can understand why your help was no longer needed.

I am not going to do this with you again Ted. You love the drama. You love pushing peoples buttons online, bullying people, trying to get your way. And when you don't, you are the loudest most vocal critic.

You won't push me around. Especially not on an internet forum. And in public, in real life, you avoid me like the plague.

Let me know when you want to show up and discuss these issues you have at a CMAS meeting, Ill be sure to be there to discuss them with you. Until then, I think most people are easily capable of seeing where the problem lies.
 
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In any case, there you go everyone who wanted to see the financials. You can now decide if you'd like to join the club because they showed these records....
 
Hmm..

So is this how you offered to help Bob with the club too? With conditions, up to and including resignations? In order for you to help the club, it has to be done your way, with personal vendettas, demands, and conditions?

If so, I can understand why your help was no longer needed.

No sir, I was not the board member asked to resign. Do what you want, it's clear changes are needed and where they are needed. My offer stands.

I'll do you one better, I won't post a single thing about CMAS any longer. If I were on the CMAS board I would ask for this thread to be deleted, post the open link in a new thread, and be done with it.
 
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