2008 SOB motorhome amendment

[wheel interested]

what no internet forums... Michigan's an island isn't it?

[wheel interested]

No word yet from any of the region or international officers on WBCCI forum as to the outcome of the SOB amendment or the vote results from Region 3.

Following along thus far, the vote for South Carolina Coastal Unit was due in by March 29th. The amendment passed on February 20th for the South Florida Unit. Hopefully very soon we will know those results as well. If anyone knows please post them there is no information being distributed from Headquarters to the membership on this.

Here is the information in the current SCCU newsletter:

Proposed Motorhome Amendment
Region 3 officers have asked that each unit in the region survey its voting membership to decide if they support or reject a South Florida Unit proposed constitutional amendment, passed 2-20-08, (see below) for further consideration by the International Club. Article VI, Sec. 2, Part D would read as follows:
Regular members, who own a motorhome manufactured by Airstream and who were in good standing as of the date of this amendment, may purchase a Class A Motorhome manufactured by the Four Winds International Division of Thor Industries, Inc., and retain their membership in WBCCI.
Clarification :
At the recent International Rally the Delegates voted down a proposed amendment to allow anyone to purchase a Four Winds class A motorhome and to be able to join/maintain membership in the WBCCI. This new proposed amendment by South Florida has a slightly different twist. It allows only current member-owners of Airstream motorhomes to buy a Four Winds class A motorhome and retain their WBCCI membership. It may be that the thinking is ……
If you are a WBCCI member who currently owns an Airstream motorhome and you do not want to tow a trailer, we will allow you to purchase a Four Winds class A motorhome and retain your WBCCI membership (instead of losing another member). Also note the amendment preserves the eventual purity of the Airstream product club, since Four Winds motorhome owners will eventually “age out” of RVing and no one else will be authorized to purchase a Four Winds motorhome.
Voting Procedures:
The International Constitution, Article XVI, Amendments, has two procedures to utilize in amending. The South Florida proposed amendment does not specify which procedure is requested. Under traditional WBCCI voting the members through their Delegates will make the final decision at the International Rally.
Therefore by that tradition our vote this time is just to determine if the amendment dies at the Region level or moves on to the International level. Our unit will vote by email and will survey those members without an email address.

[wheel interested]

I don't think a proposal from IBT members given down to the units for them from the regional officers to vote on, should judiciously be viewed as a unit member driven initiative once the results come back. The machinations and liberties taken never cease to amaze me as to just how far the envelope can be pushed to move ahead their own agenda.

"Also note the amendment preserves the eventual purity of the Airstream product club, since Four Winds motorhome owners will eventually “age out” of RVing and no one else will be authorized to purchase a Four Winds motorhome"

Well I don't see the equity in that. Why can't other members have them? What is so special about this group of people that the rules get made for them and then closed back around them after they have gotten what they want? Interesting. Not to mention that there are plenty of young members owning vintage Airstream Motorhomes right now. Talk about tunnel vision...

Now a very witty member of this forum mentioned to me that this all reads like a saga of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. I wonder just what we will be doing to mark our time to 2020 waiting for the results of that committee. Or do they just anticpate aging out by then. Anyone going to set up that date board with wagers?

[Minnie's Mate]

If it is so darned (I'm playing nice here!) important for our "friends" who no longer are able to manage a travel trailer to remain members of the WBCCI, why can't they keep the wording as is above (i.e. that they be members in good standing and own an Airstream/Argosy motor home at the time of this amendment) plus add the stipulation that their membership be commuted to an associate level without voting privileges or rights to hold office.

I could support such an amendment so that the members that have given so much to the Club could remain in the Club a few more years. But anything less in my opinion wreaks of the IBT's self serving, special interest, mierda de toro! Sorry, for those who speak Spanish and are offended...I really tried to keep it PG as long as I could.

[lewster]

Mierda de toro INDEED!

I vote NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! to the never ending machinations of the IBT. (and to the amendment)

[Jaxon]

Originally Posted by wheel interested

Here is the information in the current SCCU newsletter:
It may be that the thinking is ……
If you are a WBCCI member who currently owns an Airstream motorhome and you do not want to tow a trailer, we will allow you to purchase a Four Winds class A motorhome and retain your WBCCI membership (instead of losing another member). [/b]

This is all about Thor adding some marketing spice to their 4-winds product line since it has no character of it's own. "If you can't be it, try to share it"...

This campaign is all about marketing and all about image and not meaning or substance. And what's this "we will allow you to purchase a 4-winds motorhome..."? If the hook is that you already own an Airstream, what difference does it make what other SOB you buy?

Some Thor corporate lacky is really greasing WBCCI leadership to get this on the ballots... Once the precedent is set, what comes next?

[65GT]

Actually that whole bit posted at the SCCU website muddies the water a whole lot. I'm not sure whoever wrote that 'Clarification' really understands the full impact of this proposed amendment. I'm guessing that there are a good number of Region 3 Units that will never quite be exposed to the real problems with this proposal, based on what we're able to find online at WBCCI sites. If the members understood the real ramifications of this proposal, it couldn't get on a printed page -- it's not worth the cost of ink to move this drivel forward...

I can't believe the lessons that weren't learned in Perry, but here it goes -- here's what Region 3 is up against right now...

"Article VI, Sec. 2, Part D would read as follows: Regular members, who own a motorhome manufactured by Airstream and who were in good standing as of the date of this amendment, may purchase a Class A Motorhome manufactured by the Four Winds International Division of Thor Industries, Inc., and retain their membership in WBCCI."

So a current 'motorhome' owning member (as opposed to a current Class A motorhome owning member) could buy a Four Winds (a NEW or USED Four Winds as written) and retain their Regular Member status. That means that non-Airstream owners could VOTE, could hold ELECTED OFFICE, and all from the throne of an SOB, trying to move an Airstream only club in directions that match their membership experience (non-Airstream product).

We already have IBT members that no longer care about this being an Airstream only club. They've already gone shopping for their Four Winds motorhomes at the end of '06. Then they invited all those other Class A members (the ones that think like they do -- the inner circle) to come to the Mid-Winter IBT Meeting in Jan of '07 to come inspect their next motorhomes. This amendent is merely "IBT SOBs II" -- a required stop on the path to completing their shopping spree. If this one doesn't pass -- "IBT SOBs III" is right around the corner -- bank on it...

Now that South Florida and Palmetto Units have PASSED this death knell proposal we need to see if any other Region 3 Units are alert enough to understand what happens if something like this actually passes.

A. If the WBCCI will no longer be an Airstream only club, is a void created for another Airstream only club to establish itself?

B. If SOBs are allowed to qualify for Regular Member (voting/office holding) status in a club where everyone joined because it was an Airstream ONLY club, how many might not renew their dues in '09? What will happen to those people? (see A.) How many Class A members are we trying to save?

C. If THOUSANDS leave as a result, what will happen to the WBCCI? The IBT will re-initiate their RV-meld -- they'll be forced to open up WBCCI membership to ALL THOR RV Product. Wait a minute -- isn't that exactly what they told you they wanted to do in the infamous IBT Survey of 2004?

That will be the final turning point for the WBCCI. "Silver Flight" will ensue and not only will the club lose the majority of its membership because of these IBT Leader driven actions, ALL Airstream owners, WBCCI members or not, will only look at that new club as something worth joining.

Allow SOBs in to qualify for Regular Member status and you can stick a fork in the WBCCI. It won't take but two years for a complete transformation into a useless, unattractive club, to take place.

The Associate Member Class is the answer, BUT it comes with a whole bunch of problems:

1. It's restricted to current Class A members only which solves the current issue. That in itself causes a member's rights issue.

a. New members come into the club in Airstream Class A motorhomes. Do we have them sign something when they come in that says, "If you ever get out of this Class A you can no longer be a member" BEFORE we accept their dues?

b. When a Grandfathered (that's what this temporary class of membership would be) member sells their Airstream Class A to buy a Four Winds, do we deny the same rights (to eventually move up into a Four Winds) to the new owners that just bought this rig from a WBCCI member that moved on up to a Four Winds?

So don't think for a minute this "Regular Member" proposal is about our long time members and friends. This is about those that are leading, and those that have led, that would view an Associate Member Class an unacceptable place for them to be -- especially after all they've done for this club.

I know how I'd like to thank those few that have spearheaded these efforts, and intentionally divided this club for their own personal interests. The Associate Member class is no longer how that thank you gets relayed...

Knock this one down, let them come back with another angle and a new title -- "IBT SOBs III." You can bet they'll never put the Associate Member Class forward. It does nothing for them -- they won't entertain it. They'll be trying another angle on violating our Regular Member Qualifications! Leaders? Leadership?

Don't drink the Kool-Aid! If this one manages to sneak up on you just stomp it -- NO MEANS NO!

__

[airedale]

No kool-aid for me!!!! I learned the effects in History class!!!!!

[eubank]

You know, I'm so against the idea of letting in non-Airstreaming RVers, but sometimes I wonder if a kind of "don't ask / don't tell" policy (unwritten, of course) might be appropriate.

The thing is that we've got lots of current WBCCI members who no longer own their Airstreams (or any other RV), but who show up only for the luncheons. Lots of these folks are elderly and have given up on RVing. And I don't think anybody's wanting to kick these people out of the club.

In effect, then, we've already got "don't ask / don't tell" for these folks. They can still attend these functions, but, almost assuredly, they can't hold positions within the club. Again, in these cases, it's pretty much unwritten policy.

So, ok, if somebody wants to get rid of the Airstream, they still can be members, unofficially. Their chances of being elected to any position are practically zilch.

What all this means for the currrent situation is that the proposal must, of course, turned down again. But in its place, I'd suggest just a little insurance policy: That a new policy simply state that potential officers of the club must currently own an Airstream.

But, of course, this could all be goofy. It's not been a good morning anyway, so the noodle is not functional. (Today after a visit from the vet, we take our little Toby Doggie to the crematorium. It is a very sad day for Maria and me.)


Lynn

[jimmickle]

If you read Article VII, Section 2C, of the Constution, you will see that a member who sells his Airstream can remain a member as long as she/he continues to pay dues. The Blue Book with this info can be downloaded from WBCCI.org

[Minnie's Mate]

Originally Posted by eubank

But, of course, this could all be goofy. It's not been a good morning anyway, so the noodle is not functional. (Today after a visit from the vet, we take our little Toby Doggie to the crematorium. It is a very sad day for Maria and me.)


Lynn

I'm so sorry about Toby. I've been there and done that. After 14+ years (4-1/2 of which I gave twice daily injections of insulin and spent over $2K for cataract surgery) I had to have my Max put down due to kidney failure. We love them, we bond to them, we never forget them.

[65GT]

1st -- very sad to hear about your dog. They are here for such a short time -- we've been through more than our share (Gail is a dog NUT!)...

Originally Posted by eubank

And I don't think anybody's wanting to kick these people out of the club.

Ah, but KICK ye must because they are no longer members -- it's the rules in every club I've ever heard of.

We have a number of retired (from RVing) folks that are part of what was called an 'Alumni Member' Class. We had to change that title, as they are not members at all. They've dropped their International dues, so they can no longer be MetroNY members. They still pay Metro dues but now that is merely to be a newsletter subscriber -- to keep up on what's going on in a unit they spent decades in. Of course they are still friends, and they were all invited to our 50th celebration, and many came, but you've got to keep straight what they are, and are not.

They have a choice, they could still be members but they have to pay that $55/year to OH to maintain that membership.

Originally Posted by eubank

...I'd suggest just a little insurance policy: That a new policy simply state that potential officers of the club must currently own an Airstream. But, of course, this could all be goofy.

You know, that's not so goofy at all. As a matter of fact I'm thinking that 'must own and participate in their Airstream' probably can't be in our constitution and bylaws enough. Just think -- if that phrase were in those documents say, 20+ times throughout, you'd never get legislation through to remove or modify any of that. The IBT Motion form would turn into 5+ pages. Who has the stamina to read all that, keeping the membership's attention, AND trying to make sense out of all the paragraphs that get modified and changed. I'm liking that angle -- now how do we get all of that 'right stuff' past the IBT SOB renegades?

__

[eubank]

And I kind of like that "alumni class" label.

Thinking of this -- and I'm still not really there, after yesterday's traumatic trip -- maybe it's time not just to sit around and bitch about what Florida's up to. Yes, the world's dumbest amendment will need to be defeated again. But how about bringing up ideas for alternative proposals that would put the entire complex of problems to bed.

So suppose that we have something like an alumni label at the international level. They used to own an Airstream and want to belong. (Don't ask and don't tell about what rig they do or do not own now.) Alumnis have cheap dues, maybe can purchase a subscription to the Blue Beret or so, can't hold office, can't reserve spaces at rallies.

But all regular members have to own an Airstream. Written in practically every paragraph of the constitution.


Lynn

[Mac1]

Our unit, ENCU, voted NO (I believe it was unanimous) last weekend at our rally in New Bern, NC
I am disgusted that our region is even discussing this issue.

Hopefully the majority of units give it a thumbs down so it doesn't even get past the regional level.

Long Live Airstream and the WBCCI!