Seana Hogan wanted to purchase her own political advertisement in Ultra Cycling Magazine. After the Managing Director, who is also the chief editor of the magazine, realized that Hogan was planning to purchase an ad in the magazine, the UMCA made the following announcement on the UMCA website: “Out of fairness to all candidates, no advertisements from, for, or about any candidate or campaign issue will be published in either the January-February or March-April issues of Ultra Cycling. The only exception is that already planned ads for events in the JMC will be published in the January-February issue.”
Reference of the announcement--located near the bottom of webpage.
(Ironically, this fairness to all candidates was reversed by the same Managing Director when he took the lead in putting together a campiganing letter for the six he wanted to win.)
This was what Seana's advertisement said:
The UMCA Needs You Now!
Spring is just around the corner, and all of us will soon be enjoying another summer of epic rides, races, and meetings with dear friends, old and new.
This letter is a call to action, not only to prepare a new cycling season and make it special, but also to take a closer look than ever before at the organization that runs our great sport, namely the UMCA. The future of ultra cycling rests in the hands of the UMCA and—if you use your vote—in your hands too..
Those that follow the Ultra Cycling list on Topica.com will know that a vivid debate has been taking place, sparked by the purchase of RAAM by the UMCA. To some of you this will come as news.
The purchase required a change of the UMCA constitution, in which all members should have been given the opportunity to vote. After weighing all the issues, I am still not 100% sure which way I would have voted. But the point is: as a UMCA member I would have liked information and the chance to have some say in the matter. After all, it affects my organization at the most fundamental level. I was only informed through the topica listserv, after the RAAM deal had been agreed upon.
Regrettably the RAAM purchase is only the tip of the iceberg. The governance of our association has become very concentrated and is now in the hands of a small group of individuals who don't answer to the general membership. This is a sorry state of affairs, and in my view we are all responsible for allowing it to go this far. We have been slowly deprived of all our rights to influence our organization, and the Board of Directors has been non-functional. The solution lies in all of us learning more about the UMCA, and voting in the forthcoming elections.
The wonderful thing about our democratic system is that we, the ordinary people, get a say in how things are run. And as they say: "Use it or lose it!"
A newsletter will arrive in your email box soon. This will inform you of some issues I hope you will consider when choosing how to cast your vote in the forthcoming election. I do not propose to suggest who you vote for, because I prefer that you make up your own mind. But most of all, I ask that you take a little time to work out what the real issues are and to consider how these affect your vote.
If you have any questions, please send them to this email address: seana@ultracycling.us
(Link to the original.)
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