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✉️ Open Letter to the pompanobeachflyingclub.INFO Website

From:
Date:	Tue, 15 Dec 2020 15:13:32 +0000
Subject:	Open Letter

Your newsletters and website are a much needed breath of fresh air. I have read with interest the history and recent lawsuits and thought this was a good time to send some feedback you can publish about the club’s recent past that isn’t a topic of public discussion.

It seems like the club is now on financially healthy footing despite a significant increase in maintenance costs due to decisions by the new officers, plus their addition of substantial new expenses for legal and accounting services. I marveled that, during the November club meeting, the officers talked about losing Gus at SFAM, and appeared to wonder where they would be able to have club aircraft maintained since they had alienated every mechanic on the field, at the same time ignoring their own actions and finger-pointing that led to the club’s predicament.

But it was the President’s actions regarding the Christmas dinner that put me over the top and got me to thinking (and writing) about what the current officers’ thought process could possibly be. Why are they doing things the way they are? Why do the current officers not realize the club has had some financial ups and downs over its many years and yet survived? What are the obvious circumstances that led to the club’s financial condition by the end of 2019, circumstances that do not appear to be anybody’s fault?

In early 2018, the club’s Cherokee 6, the pride of their fleet, crashed at Pompano Beach Airport. Subsequent to that crash, many members resigned from the club. No information was ever put out about why these members decided to leave the club (maybe some were in the club mainly for the Cherokee 6), but 2018 was for sure the first of a couple terrible years for the club, especially financially.

In spite of the challenges, the club’s officers seemed focused on doing the right things in the best interests of the club and its membership. They handled the aftermath of an accident as well as what might be expected, weathered the financial hurricane of both the crash and large number of members leaving, yet still remained forward-thinking, determined to enhance the fleet. Most notably, they replaced a Cherokee 6 into the fleet!

But the new Cherokee 6 ended up being an unlucky purchase. After only a few months of operation, it was diagnosed with an irreparably cracked engine block. Still reeling from 2018 losses and other maintenance woes, the club leadership faced some difficult decisions. They were barely making ends meet and could not afford the cost of an engine for the Cherokee 6. But still they forged ahead, making ends meet however they could so there were airplanes for the members to fly.

As 2019 wore on and new members came in, it seems some of the club’s newcomers coalesced into an unusually critical faction. They were loudly critical of the Board’s every effort to keep the club’s wheels on the wagon. They were sharply critical of the friendly and informal atmosphere the club had enjoyed for possibly all of its years.

I’m not suggesting the new faction didn’t have some valid concerns, but there can be no question that they introduced rancor and bitterness into the club on a scale that had not been recently seen, if ever. As the pot started boiling, a larger than normal number of members began leaving the club to escape the hostility (a number of members freely expressed this motive when they resigned). The loss of member dues induced more financial hardship for the officers to contend with.

To the previous club board’s credit, they appeared to have turned the corner after weathering the triple-threat; the crash, membership losses, and unusual maintenance expenses. Their recovery efforts were beginning to show signs of bearing fruit. Maybe they didn’t do everything to keep everyone happy all the time, but they were making progress, moving the ball downfield.

They had retained a capable and friendly A&P mechanic in Alex Sanchez, who really had his hands full but made significant progress addressing the club’s long list of maintenance woes. Alex saved the club money by working inside the club’s expensive hangar (versus today’s outsourcing to other facilities). The club leaders also decided to cut their capital losses on the Cherokee 6 by selling it to a member who had agreed to lease it back to the club after installing a new engine. I’m sure this was a tough decision, and the newcomers were relentlessly critical. The sale and leaseback would address a painful problem, a problem that was no one’s fault, by holding out the promise of retaining a Cherokee 6 in the club’s fleet.

Unfortunately, just as the club was within weeks of being back to 100% after all of the hard work and difficult decisions, the newcomer faction orchestrated what would fairly be described as a “coup” during the Board election in February 2020.

The new faction took all the seats on the Board in February 2020 and have been unusually high-handed with their actions. There seems to be no outward signs of democratic process. Although they inherited a club with little in the bank and a number of former members who were still owed their membership fee refund, the new leaders also had the benefit of now managing a club that had been put back on track through decisive leadership by the former officers. All the newcomers really had to do was sit back and let it operate. The heavy lifting and hard decisions had already been done.

But the newcomers’ instability was on display for anyone watching. They simply could not leave well-enough alone. Within weeks, they alienated Alex and cut him loose, dramatically increasing the club’s maintenance costs. Then they hired a new lawyer to sue the previous Treasurer, seeking records that he was never responsible for keeping. Then they decided that no member, current or former, who had paid the $1,700 refundable membership fee would ever get their “buy in” back. That has so far led to two former members suing to get their the $1,700 back. There can be little doubt that the club’s legal bills for these three cases have cost the membership thousands of dollars each month since April.

So while the former officers had quietly continued to expend their time, energy, and resources to manage, rebuild, and maintain the club, the new officers seem to spend all their time on blaming their predecessors for everything imaginable. The newcomers have alienated practically everybody they come in contact with. Their decisions have dramatically increased costs, and they are apparently confident the club’s membership will continue to foot the bill for these cost increases including an aggressive legal campaign that involves an attorney whose only work for the club seems to be engaging in legal actions against current and former members.

In closing, back to that straw that broke the camel’s back for me to write this letter, the President’s decision-making process on the Christmas dinner was, for me, a breaking point. I’m all for getting out and helping businesses survive, but it’s more important for the club’s officers to account for the legitimate concerns of others when making their decisions. They can do what they want as individuals, but when they commit the club financially to an event that was contrary to Federal and State guidance in spite of clearly lagging membership interest, I really start wondering about whose interests are being served by their other decisions, the decisions we know less about. The blind execution on the Christmas party was a clear demonstration of poor leadership, though not nearly as bad as some of their other acts, and we may not yet even know the half of the consequences of their decisions.

While I don’t wish to be identified because I have seen what these newcomers will do to critics, I did want to speak up and let you know the reality of the club in 2018 through early 2020 and express my appreciation to you for painting such a clear picture.

Editorial note: When we started this service, we did not envision distributing editorial contributions, but this letter seemed to encapsulate a “view from the line,” so we decided to pass it along. That said, although we are reluctant to establish a regular practice of passing along all such letters, if you have something you’d like us to share with others, please feel free to write. We need to be able to reserve the right to decide if any letters will be reprinted, but we definitely want to hear from you. In the meantime, best wishes to all for a Merry Christmas holiday and a Happy New Year.

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