(Updated June 29th 2018)
Dear Tahoe FSC members,
The elections process for the Club has yielded no candidates for and thus no board of directors for next year, which starts July 1st 2018. There was a motion at the Annual Meeting to sidestep the election process and pick new board members, and that motion only obtained 37.5% (3 of 8) of the eligible vote and did not pass. In other words, not only the election process yielded no board, but the voting members, all of which were represented at the Annual Meeting, voted to not have a board, understanding that that would put the Club in a permanent "memorialized" situation. The current board and all memberships expire June 30th 2018. In other words, the Club will cease to be able to function at that time: no proper notices can be served, no meetings can be called, no business decisions can be made. Anybody claiming to be a member of the Club, much less a director of the Club, or a board member of the Club, after June 30th 2018 is making an invalid (dare I say fraudulent) claim. (Click here to see all meeting minutes.)
Why did the membership, then the board, and then the plenary of voting members decide to purposely put their Club in this situation out of which it cannot come out? One member, one vote. However, there are some facts we can mention: The Club has been under the minimum required membership for an active US Figure Skating Club for many years. Every year the board has replied to inquiries from USFSA with its intention of improving its membership situation; yet year after year it failed to achieve the minimum number.
The Club has been deficient in key board positions for many years, as well as other required duties. Last year, the board appointed two new unelected directors to the board as the bylaws allow, but that still did not complete a full functioning board. All these positions, both elected and appointed, expire on June 30th 2018.
The only official event that the Club has performed this whole year was the test session on September 24th 2017. In that test, five of our members tested, as well as eleven from other Clubs. Our Club has had a mutual testing agreement with Vaca Valley and Capital City. A test session can easily be sanctioned under the sponsorship of one of these Clubs.
Members of the Club have participated in other local events, none of which were USFSA nor official Club business: Halloween Spooktacular, Holiday Show, ISI District 14 "Skate at the Lake", volunteer for skate school group lessons and morning skate. All these activities can still be organized under ISI, under a neighboring Club, or unsanctioned.
Our Club has had an earmarked donation for youth for a few years. Meeting after meeting, those funds have gone unused. The board decided during its June 2nd 2018 meeting to disburse those funds to support "youth ice shows (Halloween, Holidays, etc.)" at our rink. That disbursement check was cashed.
The Club's bylaws, required filings, procedures, minimum quorum, its 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, etc, are organized as if it were a complete Club with all kinds of competitive skaters with many people vying to volunteer positions. This has not been the case at our Club.
Our board decided during its June 2nd 2018 meeting to disburse the remaining general funds equally to all current members. All those disbursement checks have been cashed. The remaining 8¢ were donated electronically to the USFSA Memorial Fund, and the bank account was closed with zero balance, all per the board's decision. (Click to see meeting minutes.)
These are some local options for our members to continue membership in USFSA:
- US Figure Skating direct membership (no Club): usfsa.org (http://www.usfsa.org/membership)
- Capital City Figure Skating Club: ccfsc.org (http://www.ccfsc.org/services--testing.html)
- Vaca Valley Figure Skating Club: vvfsc.com (http://www.vvfsc.com/main/index.php/membership)
Note: If Vaca Valley or Capital City sanctions tests, your membership with either Club would grant a home Club discount to either Club's tests, as they have a test agreement with each other. Direct membership with USFSA would not grant you this benefit.
Our Club is also a member of the Central California Interclub Association: ccia-skateclubs.com
This is the regional association of USFSA Clubs, and a good source of information and options, but not direct membership. (https://www.ccia-skateclubs.com/index.php/home/about-ccia/our-clubs)
All memberships with our Club and US Figure Skating expire June 30th 2018. US Figure Skating can renew your membership with them as a direct member of USFSA; however, they can NOT legally violate our Club as a business entity, its bylaws, and its board decisions backed by the Annual Meeting plenary of our voting members, and renew membership in --or on behalf of-- our Club; this would be invalid (dare I say fraudulent).
Dear Tahoe FSC members,
The elections process for the Club has yielded no candidates for and thus no board of directors for next year, which starts July 1st 2018. There was a motion at the Annual Meeting to sidestep the election process and pick new board members, and that motion only obtained 37.5% (3 of 8) of the eligible vote and did not pass. In other words, not only the election process yielded no board, but the voting members, all of which were represented at the Annual Meeting, voted to not have a board, understanding that that would put the Club in a permanent "memorialized" situation. The current board and all memberships expire June 30th 2018. In other words, the Club will cease to be able to function at that time: no proper notices can be served, no meetings can be called, no business decisions can be made. Anybody claiming to be a member of the Club, much less a director of the Club, or a board member of the Club, after June 30th 2018 is making an invalid (dare I say fraudulent) claim. (Click here to see all meeting minutes.)
Why did the membership, then the board, and then the plenary of voting members decide to purposely put their Club in this situation out of which it cannot come out? One member, one vote. However, there are some facts we can mention: The Club has been under the minimum required membership for an active US Figure Skating Club for many years. Every year the board has replied to inquiries from USFSA with its intention of improving its membership situation; yet year after year it failed to achieve the minimum number.
The Club has been deficient in key board positions for many years, as well as other required duties. Last year, the board appointed two new unelected directors to the board as the bylaws allow, but that still did not complete a full functioning board. All these positions, both elected and appointed, expire on June 30th 2018.
The only official event that the Club has performed this whole year was the test session on September 24th 2017. In that test, five of our members tested, as well as eleven from other Clubs. Our Club has had a mutual testing agreement with Vaca Valley and Capital City. A test session can easily be sanctioned under the sponsorship of one of these Clubs.
Members of the Club have participated in other local events, none of which were USFSA nor official Club business: Halloween Spooktacular, Holiday Show, ISI District 14 "Skate at the Lake", volunteer for skate school group lessons and morning skate. All these activities can still be organized under ISI, under a neighboring Club, or unsanctioned.
Our Club has had an earmarked donation for youth for a few years. Meeting after meeting, those funds have gone unused. The board decided during its June 2nd 2018 meeting to disburse those funds to support "youth ice shows (Halloween, Holidays, etc.)" at our rink. That disbursement check was cashed.
The Club's bylaws, required filings, procedures, minimum quorum, its 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, etc, are organized as if it were a complete Club with all kinds of competitive skaters with many people vying to volunteer positions. This has not been the case at our Club.
Our board decided during its June 2nd 2018 meeting to disburse the remaining general funds equally to all current members. All those disbursement checks have been cashed. The remaining 8¢ were donated electronically to the USFSA Memorial Fund, and the bank account was closed with zero balance, all per the board's decision. (Click to see meeting minutes.)
These are some local options for our members to continue membership in USFSA:
- US Figure Skating direct membership (no Club): usfsa.org (http://www.usfsa.org/membership)
- Capital City Figure Skating Club: ccfsc.org (http://www.ccfsc.org/services--testing.html)
- Vaca Valley Figure Skating Club: vvfsc.com (http://www.vvfsc.com/main/index.php/membership)
Note: If Vaca Valley or Capital City sanctions tests, your membership with either Club would grant a home Club discount to either Club's tests, as they have a test agreement with each other. Direct membership with USFSA would not grant you this benefit.
Our Club is also a member of the Central California Interclub Association: ccia-skateclubs.com
This is the regional association of USFSA Clubs, and a good source of information and options, but not direct membership. (https://www.ccia-skateclubs.com/index.php/home/about-ccia/our-clubs)
All memberships with our Club and US Figure Skating expire June 30th 2018. US Figure Skating can renew your membership with them as a direct member of USFSA; however, they can NOT legally violate our Club as a business entity, its bylaws, and its board decisions backed by the Annual Meeting plenary of our voting members, and renew membership in --or on behalf of-- our Club; this would be invalid (dare I say fraudulent).