Hello Everyone,

I hope your summer is off to a great start. I try to check this site whenever I can, but I haven't had just a whole lot of time lately.

I know several members here, but not all of you. For those that I do not know, I am the Editor of Journey With Olds Magazine and I wanted to get on CO and remind any and all of you that I am always looking for articles about our beloved Oldsmobiles.

If you have any type of Oldsmobile related article that you would like to share with other members of OCA, I encourage you to send them to me. Can be about anything - Restorations, troubleshooting, how-to articles, parts searches, etc. I pretty much print any and all canticles I receive unless there is something controversial. In order to have your article printed, you must be a member of OCA. If you are interested in a membership, you can sign up here: http://www.oldsclub.org/OCA_Applications.htm

If you don't have time to write an article, send in a photo of your car along with a brief description and we will get your car in the "Member's Garage" section on the back cover. I am very low on cars for the "Member's Garage" section, so if you have been considering this, please do so!

If you are not an OCA member and you would like to see a copy of JWO, let me know as I have a few extras on hand that I can send out.

If you have any questions, just email me at: jwo@torchcreative.com

I won't be at the OCA Nationals this year, but I will be at Homecoming in Lansing with my '77 442. Looking forward to seeing and meeting many of you!

Brad

 

Thanks Brad and I'll try to get something together for an article. It's nice to have you and Aaron Nance (sp) here on the C/O Welcome aboard

 

Brad- one thing I would like to see is some mention in JWO of the various Oldsmobile Forums on the web. Looks like as far as OCA is concerned, we don't exist. 15 years ago, when the vast majority of OCA folks didn't have or understand such, was one thing. But now almost everyone has access to internet.

It's especially troubling to me that the AACA hosts, free of charge, four Oldsmobile forums that were originally set up as the semi-official OCA DF's way back in the early 2000s and they are never mentioned in the magazine and are buried deep in the website. I have moderated those forums for AACA all that time and even after repeated requests and prods from both me and past OCA President (and current AACA Executive Director) Steve Moskowitz, no Oldsmobile web forum has EVER been mentioned in JWO. If they're worried that mentioning one might imply favoritism, there's a way around that- simply do a short feature on each in turn. Anything that can be done to keep Oldsmobile visible as a desirable car to own cannot hurt.

There are other things going on in OCA that bug me, and every election I get deluged with calls trying to persuade me to run for ASE Zone director again. Two things prevent it- 1) I have no time to devote to it now due to incessant demands of work and 2) after Greg Childs pissed me off so bad at the 2000 New Jersey National Meet that I almost took a swing at him, I decided it was no longer worth it. Current OCA leadership does not impress me much either, and I've held continuous membership #10983 since 1983 so I've seen good, bad and indifferent leadership.

You do a great job with JWO and I realise you're constrained a little by the so-called "leadership". Keep your standards high.

 

I have been Editor since September 2005, and this is the first time I have ever heard of an OCA forum hosted by the AACA. If they were sent to the editor prior to me, I don't doubt they were not mentioned in JWO and probably ignored...

Bad part about internet and website items is I am not part of that crew in OCA. There is an effort to completely revamp the OCA site, but I was not asked to be part of it and I am not sure what the status of that is...

Doing a story about several "Olds" websites/forums isn't a bad idea, I may have to look into that. I appreciate you letting me know!

 

Ok, several copies of JWO will be dropped in the mail tomorrow morning to those who have inquired about it. If you are interested in seeing what Journey With Olds & OCA is all about, I have several more copies available!

 

Brad,

I'd like to see JWO go to an electronic format. It would save printing costs and allow an even larger magazine on-line. For those olds farts that worry about people giving free copies away and people getting something for nothing I would suggest they look to many of the local clubs that already do it. When I lived in the Boston area I belonged to the NE Olds Club & that's the way they did the newsletter. I think the Boston GMO does it too. If I remember correctly the single largest cost of the OCA is the JWO printing cost and postage.

I can read JWO on the hopper just as easily on my laptop as I can read the hard copy magazine

Mike

 

A quick aside on the subject of Journey With Olds: Brad, and the magazine, just won (I think) its sixth Golden Quill Award!! His first issue, after winning the competition to be the Editor of JWO, went from a black and white publication to a Four Color spread, within a month of winning! Congratulations, Brad, for a continious job well done.
Aron

 

I'm ashamed to admit it, but I can honestly not remember who produced JWO between Penny Casteele and Brad.

That whole Casteele/Childs publications mess left such a bad taste in everyone's mouth that I operated in a vacuum OCA-wise for several years. I left the BOD, got the magazine, bought and sold a few pieces thru it, and maintained a few club friendships. And that was really all I wanted from it. I watched my once-vibrant Zone go almost completely dormant.

Brad- Steve M and I brought it before the BOD several times and also prodded the Executive Committee more times than either of us care to remember. It got us nowhere and for all practicality we gave up. They simply did not want to deal with it.

The AACA/Olds Forums are no longer promoted by AACA as the Oldsmobile Club of America forums. They are now simply billed as Oldsmobile Clubs and have links to both OCA and NAOC websites. Not nearly as active as here though a lot of good discussion comes up, especially regarding Starfires and 50s cars.

 

I heard that the North Texas Olds Club chapter has four people who have been involved with the OCA website development . . . Lois Liconte, Stewart Stephenson, Gene Crowdis, and Rick Winn.

 

Clay Mollman was the editor for several years around the turn of the century. There was someone else in there as well, before him I think, who didn't last long.

 

Lois Liconte is the only one from the NTOC that is one of the three OCA Members involved in the redoing of the OCA website.

 

Aron, I know Lois is the only one from Texas on the actual committee, but the Treasurer and Zone directors have provided input and will continue to do so, hopefully.

 

Brad I sent in a submission inquiry to jwo@torchcreative.com earlier this week and haven't heard back yet. I guess being advertised in JWO about needing submissions has them piled up

And yes I know this thread is a year old or there abouts

 

Slightly off topic, but a suggestion would be to send an email reminder to renew your OCA membership with a link to pay via paypal or other credit card - US Post reminders get thrown on desks...in paper piles, and ultimately forgotten -

just a thought

 

I've made a similar comment to a local chapter of a vintage truck club that I belong and WAS ON THE BOARD. You'd swear I was suggesting treason the response and comments I received. Talk about a bunch of power hungry old farts, they may as well be on the OCA Board.

 

Exactly. The membership has not ever received an email initiated by OCA. For anything. Ever. One has to ask, why not? The most quickest, easiest, and most cost efficient way to contact members.
The "rumor" is that today the board it to have a special vote. I say rumor, because OCA has not bothered to contact the membership to inform the membership what is going on. So that means they are going to do what they want to do without any getting any input from the membership or even letting the membership know what is going on.
There is no excuse for that, and that type of behavior is unethical, appalling, self centered, and not worthy of any respect or support.
As a member, I am insulted and offended by their behavior and total disregard for their membership.
They are a disgrace.

 

Shoulda heard some of the So Cal group as we just swapped to a virtual newsletter, I can't even bring up the attending of other car shows without some of them jumping on me and I've been a member since 1988, when I was 16 and got my '66 442.

 

Right...there IS supposed to be a big vote today within the OCA. Unfortunately, maybe 1/2 the members don't know what's going on. It's crazy and I hope it gets straightened out.

 

Just received tonight:


From: Brian McCallister <brian@mccallisterlawfirm.com>
Date: March 15, 2013, 6:42:41 PM EDT
To: Jerry Wilson <jfwilson66@earthlink.net>, Steve Mestad <stevemestad@earthlink.net>, Dalene DeLong <dalenedelong@gmail.com>, bonniejf@optonline.net, David Consoli <consoli442@comcast.net>, Gene Crowdis <decrow@tx.rr.com>, Ed Konsmo <ekonsmo@msn.com>, Everett Horton <ANTIQOLDS@aol.com>, evmartinson@comcast.net, Jamie *** <jamiecox2@shaw.ca>, Karl Sup <kjsup@***.net>, Ken Williams <mypops88@yahoo.com>, mroldskcn@sbcglobal.net, pjhkrh@verizon.net, Rick Winn <Richard.Winn@ttuhsc.edu>, rocket88man@***.net, Stewart Stephenson <stewartsw30@gmail.com>, Terry Olson <n0acp@hotmail.com>, Warren Hughes <warrendynamic88@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Motion - Remove OCA Treasurer

To the Board of Directors of OCA:

Below are my responses to the charges against, and responses authored by, Mr. Crowdis. My responses are in dark green to avoid confusion between the responses of Mr. Crowdis (which are in bold black below) and other members of the OCA board.

Item 1

Working with the Treasurer

Several Board members have experienced significant frustration in their attempts to work with the Treasurer. In some instances, the Treasurer’s actions have been interpreted as “rigid and uncooperative” – actions that have resulted in confrontations with chapters that have hosted National Meets. In some instances, Board members have found ways to work around the Treasurer because their efforts to cooperate have been rejected.

Response from the OCA Treasurer:
I find no violation of the OCA Bylaws in the preceding statement. We can all point out situations where we have experienced significant frustration working with …. Need I say more?

Brian's response: On many occasions I have asked for information from Mr. Crowdis and been ignored by him or denied the information from him. Examples are (1) I asked Mr. Crowdis for names of all the people he previously claimed who desired my resignation from the board; (2) I asked Mr. Crowdis for information regarding the OCA's certificate of deposit; and (3) recently, I asked Mr. Crowdis 3 separate times for detailed information about lawsuits he told the OCA board that he had heard OCA members had threatened to bring against either the OCA or members of the OCA board. All 3 of these requests were made in writing to Mr. Crowdis and copied to the OCA board and are of record for all to see and refer to.
On all of those occasions I asked for the information above, Mr. Crowdis either ignored my request or told me he would not provide the requested information. On those occasions above when I asked for information from Mr. Crowdis, the OCA's legal interests were potentially at risk, necessitating me - - as the OCA legal advisor - - to look into the matter and ensure that the OCA's financial interests and the OCA board's legal interests were protected. Because Mr. Crowdis either ignored the requests for information or refused to provide the requested information, OCA's financial interests are still at risk and Mr. Crowdis has thwarted any attempts by me - - as legal advisor to the OCA - - to check into these situations, give legal advice to the OCA about these situations or otherwise protect the OCA's financial interests and the OCA board's legal interests as fiduciaries to the members of OCA.

At the July 2010 OCA annual board meeting, Jerry Wilson was installed as the new President of OCA. Following that meeting, Mr. Crowdis asked me to join him at a table in the lounge for a private discussion. Mr. Crowdis asked me to "help him" get along with Jerry Wilson. I gladly accepted that invitation to "help him" get along with Jerry Wilson. It is obvious that the reason Mr. Crowdis asked me to "help him" get along with Mr. Wilson is that he, himself, recognized that he would have trouble getting along with Jerry Wilson. In my later attempts to provide Mr. Crowdis with the requested "help," the exchanges between Mr. Crowdis and me became disturbingly heated, some of the exchanges by telephone and some by e-mail. At one point in one of my telephone calls with Mr. Crowdis, I asked him as "my friend" how he could say ugly things about me to the OCA board in the e-mails he had written. In response, Mr. Crowdis replied, "we are not friends; we are acquaintances." Since no one has ever said that to me, I shall never forget it. I felt betrayed by my then-friend, Mr. Crowdis, with whom I had spent 6 years working for the benefit of OCA. To this day, I am saddened by this turn of events and the loss of a friend.

Mr. Crowdis's own response to this charge makes it self-evident that he does not take the charges seriously and feels he does not have to get along with anyone. His response is not a response at all and conveys his thought that if he did not violate a bylaw, his conduct is above reproach. Removal from office does not require a bylaw violation. Bylaw 4.71 states, "The BOD, by 3/4 (three-fourths) approval of the full Board may remove from office any BOD or appointee whose conduct is in conflict with OCA or who may adversely affect the reputation of OCA." Mr. Crowdis's repeated demonstrations of his inability to get along with others on the OCA board is "in conflict with OCA" and requires his removal from office, particularly when coupled with specific violations of OCA policy discussed below.

 

Item 2

Certificate of Deposit

On July 28, 2010 the Treasurer established a new certificate of deposit. The OCA Policy Manual [section 4.90] requires that any OCA contract should bear the signature of the President of the OCA and other current OCA officers. There have been multiple requests for a copy of the contract that includes the names on that certificate of deposit. Those requests have been ignored by the Treasurer and other members of the Financial Committee. The Treasurer has been slow to provide documentation.

Response from the OCA Treasurer:

There was a new Certificate of deposit established on July 28, 2010. The action taken by the OCA Treasurer was the action approved by the OCA Board of Directors in July 2010 at the OCA Board Meeting. The approval of the action was recorded in the unanimous vote taken by the Board as recorded in the 2010 Meeting Minutes. The move of funds from the Metro Bank Certificate of Deposit to be added to the Certificate of Deposit at the Bank of Texas was authorized by the Board. There was no mention of changing the names on the Certificate of Deposit between July 2010 and January 2012.


It is curious that the OCA president, in 2010, did behave in a manner that caused the Chase Bank Manager to contact the OCA treasurer to notify the OCA treasurer that the OCA president had called several times to have his name added to the OCA checking account at the Chase Bank. The manager of the Chase Bank stated that he had instructed his employees not to pass calls from the OCA president through to him because he felt threatened.

Brian's response: To be clear, this charge against Mr. Crowdis is that he has violated a policy of OCA, not a bylaw, specifically, policy number 4.90 which states, "Contracts involving OCA Funds may only be made by the President with approval of the BOD." Mr. Crowdis has not only violated this policy, in the process of attempting to explain it, he has misled the OCA board. His response to this charge involving the OCA's largest asset of nearly a quarter-million dollars is all of 5 sentences and is grossly incomplete, making no mention of the renewal of the CD in December 2012, where his violations occurred again after first violating policy 4.90 in 2010 when the certificate of deposit was "established" according to Mr. Crowdis.

First, a brief explanation of the law as decided by the Texas courts and by the plain meaning of the words contained in the Uniform Commercial Code, Article III, which governs negotiable instruments and which has been adopted by the state of Texas.

Section 3-104(j) of the Uniform Commercial Code (which has been adopted by the state of Texas) states "(j) "Certificate of deposit" means an instrument containing an acknowledgment by a bank that a sum of money has been received by the bank and a promise by the bank to repay the sum of money. A certificate of deposit is a note of the bank."

The Supreme Court of Texas has interpreted the legal nature of a certificate of deposit this way, language which I have taken directly from the case, namely, Ames vs. Great Southern Bank, 672 S.W.2d 447, 449 (Tex. 1984), and pasted here. The pertinent portions of the case are highlighted in yellow:

Ames argues that the trial court should have granted her motion for directed verdict or her motion for judgment n.o.v. because Great Southern failed to obtain her endorsement on the CD. A certificate of deposit is a bank's written acknowledgement of a special deposit of money which the bank promises to pay to the order of a designated person, or to bearer. TEX.BUS.& COMM.CODE ANN § 3.104(b)(3) (Vernon 1968). The provisions of a certificate of deposit form a contract which creates the relationship of debtor and creditor between the bank and its depositor. Mesquite State Bank v. Professional Investment Corp., 488 S.W.2d 73 (Tex.1972). Such contract determines the manner in which the funds of the depositor may be withdrawn and is subject to the law of contracts. Frost National Bank v. Nicholas and Barrera, 534 S.W.2d 927 (Tex.Civ.App.—Tyler 1976, writ ref'd n.r.e.).

This Texas Supreme Court case is the only authority that properly determines the legal nature of a certificate of deposit and that case makes clear that a certificate of deposit is a contract. The Texas Supreme Court stated that "the provisions of a certificate of deposit form a contract" and that "such contract determines the manner in which the funds of the depositor may be withdrawn and is subject to the law of contracts." Indeed, the depositor, Mrs. Ames in that case, sued the bank because the bank did not follow the contractual terms formed between her (the depositor) and the Great Southern Bank. Ultimately, Mrs. Ames won a judgment of the face value of the certificate of deposit because the bank did not follow the contractual terms it had agreed to with her and paid out the certificate of deposit to a person without authority to cash it in, requiring the Great Southern Bank to pay out the face value of the certificate of deposit twice, once to the wrongdoer and again to Mrs. Ames. The Supreme Court of Texas stated that when the CD was renewed, it was "payable to "Nancy Ames Riviere." It had on its face the printed term that the bank would pay only "upon surrender of this certificate properly endorsed."" While Mrs. Ames was out of town, an employee cashed the CD, though Mrs. Ames hadn't authorized it. The CD was not endorsed. Great Southern Bank was ruled by the Texas Supreme Court to have breached its contract with Mrs. Ames. And Great Southern Bank had to pay Mrs. Ames the face amount of the CD for having breached its contract with her.



When a depositor - - particularly the OCA when it deposited a quarter-million dollars - - hands over money to a bank, it is unreasonable that all the depositor has going for them that the bank will return the depositor's money is blind faith. I am unaware of a court that has ruled on blind faith. This cse makes clear that the courts protect the depositor based on the law of contracts. That is why the Texas Supreme Court and virtually every other jurisdiction in the United States have determined that CD's are contracts of the bank with their depositor. In fact, the language of the Uniform Commercial Code speaks to the contractual nature of the certificate of deposit by calling it a "promise by the bank to repay the sum of money." A promise to repay is a contract.



According to Mr. Crowdis's paperwork provided in his recent e-mail of last week (attached), the CD was established on July 28, 2010. Because the CD is a contract, OCA's policy 4.90 required that the only person with authority to enter into that relationship with the Bank of Texas through the signing of all documents associated with the CD was Jerry Wilson. Although Mr. Crowdis has not been forthright about what he did sign to open the CD at the Bank of Texas, one would hope he signed something so that the Bank of Texas is required to pay OCA back the money it deposited there. Any such documents signed were required to be signed by one person and only one person: the president of OCA. Policy 4.90 is not ambiguous. It says that "only" the president may make contracts involving OCA funds. No one can argue that the quarter million dollars are the "funds" of the OCA and any contract documents involving those funds can only be "made" (signed) by the president. Mr. Crowdis knew this was the policy of the OCA in years past when Pat Yancey's name and signature appeared on the OCA's CD's, initiating paperwork and signature cards. Mr. Crowdis knew this was the policy when OCA opened its new CD at Bank of Texas on July 28, 2010 after Jerry Wilson was officially installed as President of OCA. Whether he had authority from the OCA board to do it or not, the contract documents (deposit agreement, signature cards, etc.) binding the bank regarding the OCA's funds deposited with Bank of Texas could only be signed by Jerry Wilson. The language of Policy 4.90 is imperative and is not ambiguous. The word "only" means to the exclusion of all others, including Mr. Crowdis. And Policy 4.90 requires that all contract documents relating to the OCA's CD be signed only by OCA's President, Jerry Wilson.

 

While Mr. Crowdis responded above saying that when the new CD was opened at Bank of Texas, no one mentioned changing the names on it at that time, his response begs the question of whose job is it to know the policies of the OCA that touch upon his official status with the OCA, that of being Treasurer? The answer is, it is the treasurer's job to know those policies that touch upon his official status with OCA. There can be no other policy more pertinent to his job responsibilities than Policy 4.90 dealing with contracts involving OCA funds, particularly a policy that deals with the contract documents involving OCA's single largest asset. Mr. Crowdis knew this and blatantly ignored it.



After the 2010 elections, Mr. Crowdis also established a "Financial Committee" as ex-officio chair of that committee that included Pat Yancey (past president) and Rick Winn. The OCA board did not know of its establishment, as Mr. Crowdis never announced the names of the committee members to the OCA board, also in violation of OCA policy.



In Mr. Crowdis's response, he again deflects responsibility for wrongdoing onto Jerry Wilson, saying Jerry had made someone at Chase Bank feel "threatened" by having called them at the bank. This response by Mr. Crowdis has to do with the OCA checking account at Chase Bank in 2010 and has absolutely nothing to do with Item #2 in the charges concerning the CD at Bank of Texas and should not be considered in the board members' deliberations on this motion. It is out of order. By way of explanation, however, the reason Jerry Wilson had to call Chase Bank and request that his name be added as a signatory on the OCA checking account in 2010 is because Mr. Crowdis had failed to do so in his job as Treasurer. It is obvious why Jerry Wilson's name had to be added to the signature card: every month, Jerry Wilson is required to sign checks writtten by Mr. Crowdis because 2 signatures are required. Jerry Wilson had to be authorized as a signatory on the account before signing OCA checks, else he could be held accountable for improperly signing an OCA check on which he was not an authorized signatory.



Mr. Crowdis again violated Policy 4.90 in December 2012 according to the paperwork he provided us last week and which is attached to this e-mail. The CD automatically renewed on December 28, 2012, yet Mr. Crowdis asked this board to renew it on new year's eve of last year, December 31, 2012, three days after the CD had renewed. More disturbing is the fact that by allowing it to "automatically" renew, OCA's interest rate was reduced to more than half that of what it would have earned had it been renewed through official action on OCA's part, i.e. a signed acknowledgment of renewal. Interestingly, on the attached CD paperwork, on December 28, 2012, OCA's interest went from 1.540000 to 00.300000, the "automatic" renewal amount. But look at the entry on January 17, 2012. The interest rate was changed from 00.300000 (the automatic renewal rate) to 00.7000000 (the renewal rate paid if the customer takes official action to renew). Apparently, Mr. Crowdis went into the bank, again signed some bank contract document in violation of Policy 4.90 and the bank increased the interest rate. Did the board ever hear about this change? No. Did Mr. Crowdis inform Jerry Wilson of this change? No. Did Mr. Crowdis secure Jerry Wilson's signature on this contract document? No. These are all blatant violations of Policy 4.90 by Mr. Crowdis. These violations require his removal from office.

 

More - - -
(hopefully this makes sense; I tried to copy the formatting best I could. Looks like part of Section 6 got cut off when it was forwarded to me)


Item 3

Inconsistent Documentation

- Two different documents dated July 28, 2010 have been provided to members of the Board.

* - The document provided to members in September 2012 appears to be a “cut and paste” document is signed but includes incorrect amounts.

* - The other document provided to members in November 2012 has no signatures but has the correct amounts.



Response from the OCA Treasurer:

None

Brian's response: Most of the information I have to offer in response to Item 3 has been covered in my response to Item 2 above. I would point out that Mr. Crowdis's cavalier attitude toward these charges of inconsistent documentation regarding OCA's largest assets speaks for itself. His response is: "None." No explanation of why there is a cut-and-paste document concerning a quarter million dollars he is charged to be accountable for and no explanation of why the documents are different. Again, Mr. Crowdis's response begs several questions: Who signed what and when? Why did someone other than Jerry Wilson sign these documents? Why are the amounts of our single largest asset on the 2 different documents reflected in different amounts? I believe this board is entitled answers to these questions from Mr. Crowdis. But his attitude is that his response only requires him to say "none." This cavalier attitude of Mr. Crowdis's aptly demonstrates that Mr. Crowdis's "conduct is in conflict with OCA" and "may adversely affect the reputation of OCA ," both of which are mentioned as grounds for removal from office in Bylaw 4.71. Mr. Crowdis's cavalier response is itself grounds for his removal from office, not to mention the conduct discussed extensively above.

 

Item 4

Treasurer Signed Certificate of Deposit before Asking for Board Approval

On December 28, 2011, the certificate of deposit matured. Three days later, the Treasurer asked that the Board approve the renewal of that certificate of deposit.

* - In early January, the Treasurer stated that he had allowed the certificate of deposit to renew automatically.

* - Later documentation submitted by the Treasurer indicates that the Treasurer signed the certificate of deposit on December 28, 2011 (although the date was handwritten on the document) – three days before he requested approval to renew the document.



Response from the OCA Treasurer:

On December 31, 2011 the OCA treasurer made a motion to renew the Certificate of Deposit at the Bank of Texas for 17 months at .7% interest. The motion was seconded; however the OCA president chose not to place the motion before the assembly. This resulted in the Certificate of deposit renewing automatically for 17 months at .7%. The decision of the OCA president to withhold the motion from the Board of Directors resulted in various actions and consequences:

1. The OCA treasurer could not take action regarding the funds based on the OCA Bylaw that requires Board approval for the treasurer to act.

2. There was no opportunity for an amendment to be made to the motion since it was not placed before the deliberative body.

3. Any action to transfer the funds to any other account or financial entity by the OCA treasurer would have been a violation of OCA Bylaw 9.70, quoted here.

9.70 OCA funds not actively utilized in the ON-GOING financial activities of the organization shall be invested per the recommendation of a Financial Committee with the approval of three-fourths (3/4) of the full BOD. Approved 02/19/2006

During the 2012 Board of Directors Meeting the following acknowledgement was made by the Board of Directors.

Mr. Crowdis wanted a show of hands that the Board acknowledges that the Finance Committee is comprised of chair, the Treasurer as according to OCA bylaws, and that the Treasurer has selected Mr. Winn, and Mr. Yancey as members of that committee. The Board acknowledged the composition of this committee.

Brian's response: Most, if not all of the information regarding this charge has been covered in my responses above. But once again, Mr. Crowdis's deflection of responsibility for the charged conduct - - which has never been answered by him as to why he was asking the board permission to renew the CD after it had already matured and been renewed automatically - - onto Jerry Wilson for choosing "not to place the motion before the assembly" is evidence of his inability to do his job effectively and of his inability to get along with others. He fails completely to answer the charge that he asked for renewal of the OCA's largest asset - - the CD - - 3 days after it had matured and automatically renewed and expected on New Year's 'eve for everyone on the OCA board to respond within a matter of days to his request. Mr. Crowdis's request completely ignored Galen Kolesar's lack of e-mail and need for at least a week to respond. Mr. Crowdis's cavalier response is itself grounds for his removal from office, not to mention the conduct discussed extensively above.

 

Just noticed there isn't a Item #5, must be a typo. And as mentioned above, Item #6 was cut-off as I received it.



Item 6

President’s Signature is Required on Certificate of Deposit

· Treasurer claims that a $247,000 certificate of deposit bears signature authority by the Treasurer and Past President only (documentation has been requested on multiple occasions by the President and the Board). Based on the preceding, it appears that the Treasurer has violated OCA Policy Manual sections 4.10 and 4.90 by establishing certificates of deposit without obtaining the signature of the President. The Past Preside

 

Thanks for posting that mellowyellow! So...is Crowdis gone??? Can we sleep tonite???

 

Is he gone? I don't know but sure hope so!!!

Heard a rumor the OCA Board was supposed to be voting today (3/15) but not verified.

Did everyone email the Officers and President to share your opinions?
One of the Board members doesn't have an email so you have to call and leave a message (330 - Ohio area code?)

 

I'm hearing this morning that the Board has not yet voted but will soon.

Everyone should make their opinions known to them ASAP!!!!!!

 

Yes...I made my opinion known to the board, I hope others did as well. I don't know if the treasurer is corrupt, but there is no question he does sloppy work, and cost the club $ on the cd re-write. I want to know who on the board votes which way. 'Cuz anyone voting to keep Gene Crowdis is not getting my vote next time.

 

This whole thing stinks...

If the accusations in what YellowBird/MellowYellow posted are true, this Crowdis sounds like a world-class d-bag.

But, considering that this has been going on a while, the board has yet to anything, and hasn't notified members; looks to me like the board has been in CYA mode....which is never good for the membership.

 

That shtuff was way too complicated for me to make sense of.

A nutshell version would be nice.

I will say this though....

We are talking about ~250k and ZERO POINT SEVEN percent interest?
Really?

I opened an excel sheet and typed in "250,000 x 1.007"
The new total after a YEAR of hauling in fat interest like ZERO point 7 %... is
$251,750
So, all this agony over "growing" the fund by $1750? While the costs of every other single associated thing went up by far more than that? That seems like a bad way to store one's assets. Then again, I am no financial expert. Nor will I ever have 250k to worry about.

What's wrong with just having the club money in a plain old bank account?
Even if it paid ZERO interest- unlikely- the aggravation saved would be easily worth the $1750 difference. What is that, 30c a member?

Good lord.

Oh, btw, Brad- great job on making the paper JWO into a pretty and presentable publication!

 

No Chris. It isn't about the interest.

 

Yes he (Crowdis) is and does come across to most people he meets that way.

Regarding the time lapse, the way it was explained to me - according to the ByLaws, when the Board notifies an Officer or Board member of questionable behavior he/she has 60 DAYS to reply. Then the Board discusses and votes.

So if Crowdis was put on notice in January then that would have brought the time for him to respond to end of Feb or early March. Board would then be discussing (now) and voting hopefully soon.

Sounds like that By Law is from times past; pre-email and internet, to allow time to snail mail. Seems like it should be updated ASAP to a more reasonable time frame, couple weeks or no more than a month. These days things can and should happen more quickly.

I know we're not specifically discussing Yancey here but he and Crowdis are like two peas in a pod. Anyhow, I don't always pay attention and remember faces. Standing in line for food at the Wed reception in Bowling Green struck up a conversation with the guy behind me. He was wearing a cowboy hat, yeah, I should have known who he was but I didn't. He didn't bother to introduce himself even when it became apparent I had no clue who he was, the OCA President. The impression he gave me was arrogant and unfriendly. Later when someone told me who that was it made sense. And this was way before any of this b.s. came about.

 

Kurt

I think that the reason it hasn't been put out in the open is to keep the OCA from getting a bad rep. I know it's all over the net and those of us here and other sites get the news. I've gotten emails about it also because I've voiced my opinion about the actions of Gene Crowdis. This matter is to be determined by the BOD,not the general membership. You're correct that the general membership should be aware of the situation but again,I think it's to keep it quite as not to damage the OCA. I do not know where you stand on this matter but everything I've seen has shown Gene Crowdis to be an obstructionist and causing havoc with his actions. The RE Olds Museum had to ask for the $500 donation that was approved by the BOD. He was only 4 years behind in sending the money and this one thing is enough to have him recalled. IMHO this is not a railroad job,this is justified because of Gene Crowdis.

 

Any body that is savvy in accounting principles knows that no money will be paid out of an account without some sort of invoice. Someone on the board, probably the president or the secretary should have sent some sort of authorization to pay this or any other bill, donation, or whatever so the treasurer has his a$$ covered if someone (members of OCA) questions where the money went. I don't blame the treasurer (whoever it would be) for not paying without some sort of written authorization. The same thing would be needed for paying the race committee for expenses to set up each race. Even though the BOD authorized payment, without written authorization, no payment should be made.

 

That's what Crowdis is feeding you. The OCA lawyer just told us about him not paying the RE Olds Museum. The donation was approved by the BOD and was in effect until further notice and should have been paid-PERIOD. Explain the CD mess to me if you're so up on the matter.

 

Board meeting minutes approving the donation as an on-going expenditure should have been sufficient authorization to make the annual payment to the RE Olds Museum. If Crowdis thought it was not enough then HE should have addressed the matter and asked for additional documentation instead of ignoring the matter. Shame on him!!!!!

I wasn't there and can't say for sure, but likely the race organizers had a signed contract or receipt for using the track. Did Crowdis ask for documentation or was the problem because he didn't bring the checkbook to the Nats because he didn't want to be bothered with such trivial matters during the event?

 

DING DING DING We have a winner. Mr Ed is a friend of the treasurer and believes whatever the treasurer tells him. I've put friends in my rear view mirror when they did wrong,maybe Mr Ed should too.

 

Mike, I think you're right that the "reason" is the bad rap. But they have a obligation to keep members informed and act on their behalf. So that ends up being an excuse, not a reason. And a bad one at that. They can't act on *my* behalf if I don't know what's going on, so my ignorance is their dereliction of duty.
This self-serving secrecy has been going on for over 20 years and goes *at least* back to the Dennis Casteele fiasco. It is about time it stopped.
Keeping informed by what is unofficially passed around is insane and plays right into the hands of those abusing their positions.
I think it is pretty obvious that any secrecy is nothing but detrimental and extremely ironic that it would even considered to be done for anything positive whatsoever.
I think it is also pretty obvious that there are those that need to be bounced out on their ***.

 

Okay Ed, you're right on the money here. But here is the rub: It is also his responsibly to help facilitate the transactions too. That means help those that are *supposed* to get money create invoices. That is part of his responsibility too. Not to use that as an excuse not to pay someone. *That* is the real issue as far as invoices go.

 

I hear you and there's plenty of blame to go around. You're correct that the general membership has no idea what is going on. I'm not sure that this is something that would be a benefit to the general membership but if you think it is,that's your prerogative. I normally don't get involved in club politics but this is the exception because of the CD mess. This is our $$$ they are playing with and a quarter mil ain't nothing to sneeze at. I've said before I don't think that Crowdis is a crook and is going to steal anything. The real problem is that Yancy lost the election and he thinks it was stolen and I yes I have proof that's what he thinks. It's beyond me why some think that having a title by their name gives them some kind of credibility or stature. I wouldn't take the Presidency of the OCA if it was gave to me. Another thing,I really don't think the general membership really care about the running of the OCA because only about 10% voted in the last election,talk about apathy.