A 'Kelly Christians' is circulating a petition to reinstate Scott to A3:
https://www.change.org/p/reinstate-s...or-immediately
I'm not sure how effective this will be in addressing this individual's grievances, but it does go to show the depth of feeling about this issue by the membership in general, and in Area 3 in particular.
Originally Posted by Eric_L
Always check spelling of words you do not use commonly……🫤. 😀
I know Scott Arnburg. His home club is too far away for me to regularly shoot there, but we see each other often enough as staff at various matches. I've worked both with him and under him as staff.
They (it wasn't just him, even though Scott was/is a big part of it) built his home club up from basically nothing about 10 years ago to being host to a really awesome annual sectional championship match that I've shot and staffed for, as well as well-attended club matches.
I voted for him as area director and he won. The guy that came in second place respected him enough to come to an agreement that no matter who won, Scott would be match director of the most recent (2023) Area 3 championship match, so they could get started planning. That should tell you what people around here think of Scott.
I've followed the drama for a while but kept "just shooting" and voting and hoping Scott and others would eventually be in a position to clean up the mess. Now they kick Scott out... The board has absolutely lost the support of the average person volunteering to make USPSA successful here in the Midwest.
To make things even dumber, the email he was accused of leaking was one where other board members were discussing yet another arbitrary ban of a member being critical of them, this time Matt Hopkins. Matt is the former Area 3 director and the one most recently voted into that position by the members of Area 3 before Scott Arnburg was voted in. Hopkins may be disliked by some due to his association with Ben Stoeger, but I voted for him as A3 director and worked for him as staff for the Area 3 match a couple years back he was match director of. I'd work for him again in a heartbeat, he did a great job and kept the staff happy.
This is all so damn tiring. The USPSA board is pushing so many people away right now. The whole mess is just idiotic and everyone involved looks maniacal.
Well said and I agree.
I think USPSA will fade out as the dominant / premiere action pistol sport organization.
I used to say I loved USPSA.
Now I just say I love the local shooting community.
I’ll keep shooting with my friends but I don’t have any loyalty left to USPSA.
Life’s too short.
I’ve been enjoying IDPA and PCSL 2 gun a lot these days….
I can still recognize that this thing we call USPSA is bigger than the people at the top running it.
There's a ton of history there. One of my mentors is a gentleman that's been shooting since the early 80's. I can't imagine how this feels from his perspective, he's been shooting IPSC/USPSA my entire life.
But I don't know how the hell we get it back at this point. We voted in a reasonably popular and well-liked president (Mike Foley) and the BOD removed him, ostensibly over an interpersonal squabble with another member, and then changed the bylaws to prevent another president from having any kind of real power.
We in Area 3 voted in a reasonably popular and well-liked area director (Matt Hopkins) and the BOD removed him, ostensibly because he had to relocate to another state due to his job.
The membership as a whole voted in another reasonably popular and well-liked president (Yee Min Lin) and the BOD removed him, ostensibly because of some horseplay at a match on a squad with people he was friendly with.
We in Area 3 voted in a very popular and well-liked area director (Scott Arnburg) and the BOD removed him, ostensibly for leaking confidential material (an email that frankly, every member should have seen.) This has caused a widespread boycott, but the BOD is standing firm.
Yee Min Lin won election for president a second time despite the BODs removal. His term starts in three days. It remains to be seen if they'll seat him or throw him out again.
Voting isn't working. The BOD just gives us the finger every time we vote. What choice do we have but to starve them of membership and match fees, and go after their sponsorship money?
I try not to get too deep into USPSA politics. Life’s too short, I don’t need the aggro, and I’m mainly in it for shooting with my buds. 2-3 monthly local matches, a couple section matches, an Area match… and sometimes I work Nats, better now that they offer staff a chance to shoot in the early match. I would love for a Nats to come back out west.
I’m in Area 1, so my AD position is currently vacant until they hold the special election -the dates I saw indicated this winter. I’m hoping somebody middle-of-the-road-reasonable throws their name in the hat. Right now I don’t need extremism in my life or hobby. I do give props to the out-going A1D for resigning when he did in order to force a special election rather than letting the Board appoint a yes-man. This way it’ll be a member-elected person rather than a Board appointed person.
As far as A3D, I don’t know the guy but have listened to a few podcasts with him. He seemed intelligent and spoke well about his desires to get the org back on solid financial footing. But he made two tactical errors in my mind: 1) He knew the org was actively trying to figure out who was leaking info, and whether or not he’s the main leak, he should have been more circumspect about sharing correspondence and not putting himself in a position where he could be vulnerable. 2) His other tactical error was making his big reform moves too soon. He should have seen the writing on the wall where the Board was 2 v. 7, with only one other AD as his ally. IMO he should have waited until 2024 when the numbers were more in his favor with the return of YML as President and the new in-coming A6D. If nothing else, he could have saved himself from a 7.7 vote going against him.
Reading the tea leaves, we have A2D and A5D up for election in 2024. I highly doubt the two incumbents will be re-elected even if they ran. I think the tide has turned and the 20-25% of the membership that actually votes wants to see new blood in there. We also have A1D and A3D up for special election to fill those two vacancies, so that’s two more opportunities to get new blood in there and hopefully help hit the reset button.
Unless the Board caves to all the pressure and re-instates Arnburg as A3D, I don’t believe the bylaws allow anybody that has been yeeted under 7.7 to run again for a Board position. So it might be time for A3 to elect somebody else. But I will say that the sheer number of Sections/Clubs that are protesting by not re-affiliating or holding back their support is sending a clear message to the org. Be interesting to see what they do in response especially in the new year when there are two new Board members (Pres and A6D).
USPSA is a pretty big part of my life. Or maybe I should say competitive shooting has become a big part of my life as I’ve continued to diversify into other shooting disciplines such as PRS, NRL22, PRS22, and soon NRL Hunter. One way or the other I’ll continue to find ways to burn powder, but I would much prefer it continue to be USPSA.
I wouldn't say it doesn't. YML being voted back into his position worked. I also think that membership's displeasure with BoD's was likely the main reason why he was voted back. Foley did have some anger and interpersonal issues. I don't know much about bylaws to know if Hoppy's moving out was a legit reason.
I think that voting the old guard out and new people in is a path that avoids defunding as means to impose changes. If this all-time high levels of dissatisfaction with current BoD don't lead to strong applicants running for positions, then we deserve what we have.
P.S. Considering current breakdown, A1 is vacant, A3 too - not sure who gets but maybe a decent person again?, A6 is getting Ben Berry who seems OK, A7 dude seems solid, and YML is back and likely hates the old board. Seems like a majority of fresh and good people is already attainable.
Doesn't read posts longer than two paragraphs.
Agreed. I would add “or voter turn out” to your last part.
As far as I'm aware, YML is still not a RO.
Not too long ago, the board tried a motion to remove the RO requirement for ADs/prez from the bylaws and it failed.
I wouldn't say it's worked yet.
The Board voted to reinstate his RO credentials. I want to say this was back in Nov. However the meeting minutes say something about he’s not to serve as an RO at any major matches while he’s in office. No real details other than that, but the take home is YML meets the bylaw requirements to serve on the board with regard to his RO creds.
YML shows up in the Dec meeting minutes, listed attending as incoming-Pres, so it appears the Board is moving forward with him taking office on Jan 1.
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