As Oz Report readers know 105 mostly competition pilots have petitioned their regional directors at the USHPA BOD to:

I, the undersigned USHPA member, have lost confidence in the ability of the current USHPA leadership to competently and fairly manage the National Team Selection System (NTSS). I respectfully request that the competition committee chairman resign and the USHPA Board, Executive Committee and president stop moving forward on changes to the competition rulebook and NTSS system without first getting direct and considered input from the pilots, organizers and meet directors who are the most familiar NTSS competition.

I believe the validity of the rankings may have been compromised by recent competition committee actions and the 2009 Hang Gliding King Mountain NTSS point totals should be examined by a group of knowledgeable competition pilots, meet directors and scorekeepers to objectively determine proper validity.

I strongly encourage the USHPA Board to adjust their focus to support and create events outside the NTSS system to achieve and satisfy the important mission and goals of the USHPA.

You'll notice that this petition is not asking for the USHPA to take up a new subject and have a vote on that issue. It is asking Mike to resign and for USHPA BOD members to listen to the pilots on issues that they will already be voting on.

Lisa Tate, USHPA President, has responded to an inquiry from Steve Kroop, Region 10 director, with a statement that there is a procedure for accepting petitions at the USHPA and that it can be found in the USHPA Policy Manual, SOP 2.5. That SOP states:

5. 01 Petition Proposal

A. Any current member may present a petition to the USHPA President for the purpose of initiating a vote upon any issue. The petition must clearly set forth the proposed issue to be voted upon must be presented to the USHPA President not less than 60 days before the submission of the required sponsor signatures discussed below.

Now, first of all these pilots are not presenting a USHPA formal petition to the USHPA. They have signed a petition that has gone to each of their Regional Directors.

Second, the petition does not have the "...purpose of initiating a vote...," but rather is asking the pilots' regional directors to vote in a certain way on already scheduled votes at the CC and BOD meetings. It also asks, once again, for Mike Haley to resign his position as Competition Committee Chairman (this doesn't need a vote).

Forcing the USHPA BOD to vote on a issue by a formal petition is an extremely difficult undertaking, and I would never suggest that anyone try it. (It has been tried in the past.) It is much easier to convince one's regional director to bring up your item in a committee meeting. But, having said that, that regional director has to get the committee chairman to put that item on the agenda (not so easy, as we have seen).

But, having said that, nothing gets discussed, voted on, or passed, unless there are some strong champions on the BOD who actually attend the meetings, voice their opinions, and gather allies to prevail in the votes. 105 competition pilots have petitioned their regional directors to vote a certain way in the upcoming CC and BOD meetings on these issues, and they are perfectly within their rights to do so. I hope that the regional directors take the concerns of their constituent pilots into consideration.

At the last BOD meeting, a petition was sent into the BOD requesting that the BOD not adopt the proposed new NTSS calculations for the 2009 season. That petition when combined with the difficult work provided by Steve Kroop, Rob Sporrer, and others made it so the motion to adopt those procedures was stopped.

There is no need for competition pilots to place themselves in the straight jacket of SOP 2.5. They have a voice that can be heard at the BOD meeting, by contacting their regional director and asking them to vote against the proposal that is messing with the NTSS system. They will find their regional directors here:

Region 1: AK, OR, WA

Mark G. Forbes <<mgforbes>>;
Rich Hass <<lowenslo>>;
Mike Haley <<mphmikehaley>>;

Region 2: North CA, NV

Paul R Gazis <<pgazis>>;
Urs W. Kellenberger <<urs>>
Dave Wills <<dave>>;

Region 3 - South CA, HI

Bob K. <<bobk>>;
Rob Sporrer <<rob>>;
Brad Hall <<brad.reg3>>;

Region 4 - AZ, CO, NM, UT

Mark Gaskill <<airutah>>;
Ken Grubbs <<kengrubbs>>;
Leo Bynnum <<leo>>;

Region 5 - ID, MT, WY

Lisa Tate <<lisa.tate>>;

Region 6 - AR, KS, MO, NE, OK

Gregg Ludwig <<GreggLudwig>>

Region 7 - IL, IN, MI, MN, ND, SD, WI, IA

Tracy Tillman <<Cloud9SA>>;

Region 8 - NH, CT, ME, MA, RI, VT

Jeff Nicolay <<morningside>>;

Region 9 - DC, DL, KY, MD, OH, VA, WV

Luis Felipe Amunategui <<felipe.amunategui>>;
LE Herrick <<le_herrick>>;
Dennis Pagen <<pagenbks>>;

Region 10 - AL, FL, GA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VI, PR

Steve Kroop <<info>>;
Matt Taber <<fly>>;
Richard Heckman <<hekdic>>;

Region 11 - LA, TX

Gregg Ludwig <<GreggLudwig>>
Dave Broyles <<broydg>>;
Riss Estes <<parariss>>;

Region 12 - NJ, NY

Paul Voight <<flyhigh>>;

Region 13 - International

Richard Heckman <<hekdic>>;