Who is on the ONFA Board?

[lisa]

  Some of you will take this as another pot-shot at ONFA; however, my concerns are genuine and warranted.

   Who is on the Board of ONFA? Why are they so secretive about it? Why doesn't someone just come out and tell us who is on the Board? It isn't on their site either under contact information or in the minutes from the August meeting.

   I have gone to a state site that lists non profit orgs. and there is no listing of the board members there either. This is the best kept secret in this state! I would be concerned folks, that those representing me don't want me to know whom they are....

   Many other groups like Fl4WDA, other 4x4 clubs and ATV groups post whom their board members are so that you can contact them and talk to them about what is going on, join the group, etc. Yet here we are just supposed to take a few folks at their word that this group is working to keep your trails open....seems that since I have been mentioning agends and names, suddenly those folks are hiding in the woodwork? (There had been more people up on ONFA's contact page, but they have been removed....interesting)

   How many other folks are concerned about whom is representing them?

[Paul_S]

Are you a member?  Perhaps he may consider refunding your dues if you are not happy with the way he represents you.

I for one am happy with the job Terry is doing for me.

[johnb]

I am not a member but I can't answer that. If I knew maybe a little more about ONFA maybe I could answer that question. If I knew a little more about their goals and objectives I might be in a better position to answer that question Lisa.

[viper]

I checked the website of the ONFA out and there is nothing on that website that says they are going to do anything with the trails in the ONFA. It doesn't say anything about the trails.

It looks like their mission statement, is totally different, from their volunteer statement.

I would like to know what goals and objectives they have, who is on the board, and what their mission is. I would also like to see a copy of their minutes from the last meeting. It looks like their website hasn't been updated in a while.

[lisa]

  That is nice Paul, but this is not about Mr. Thompson. Mr. Thompson is not the ONFA. (sorry I had to point that out....) There are others on the Board; you don't care who they are? Paul, don't you care that possibly Linda Duever, or other anti-ATV folks are Board members? Mr. Thompson can't possibly, all by himself, stand against a majority of the ONFA Board if they are not OHV/ATV enthusiasts.

   Oh, and BTW, since ATVFlorida is the only sponsor of ONFA, I would think you, as a member of ATVFlorida.com, would want to know whom is representing this site....or don't you care whom you associate with or whom is representing this message board?

   Again, I knew someone would not see the big picture and think I was taking shots at Mr. Thompson. Again, this thread is not about Mr. Thompson, but the whole Board of ONFA and who is on it. Not one man. Now, if the Board is mostly ATV enthusiasts and just didn't understand about putting their name up on the ONFA site, the web master of that site could easily make a page with their name on it as easily as they removed the contact information from the contacts page. It takes about 10-minutes to make a page and put folks contact information on it....easy to do during a lunch break if there is no other time in the day.

   I am sure that a competent computer person can be found, why, even I would be willing to make the page so that all one needs to do is copy/paste the html from an email into the page window, click submit and walla, Board members up on the site! 

[GrizzlyBear]

It appears to me that there are a few members of this forum who are out to destroy the ONFA.  This organization plans to stand on what it is going to do, not what these members would like it to do, or what they may think it is doing.  As president, I will tell you that we intend to provide a group of volunteers in the ONF whose purpose is to educate anyone interested in the safe and proper way to ride ATV's, we will be providing education to the children that are under 16 (our grant from the T. Mark Schmidt program) and we will be teaching the Trail Rangers the basics of First Responder training, so as to be helpful on the Trail system.  At the present we are a small organization with under 50 members, we would like the support of members of this forum, but understand that it is a public forum and anyone can speak their mind.

We are now organizing the training session for trail rangers who are willing to give sufficient time to be the instructors.  These people are willing to give 4 days to begin (Feb) and at least 1 day per month for the next year.

ATVFLORIDA.com has been nice enough to allow me the space to answer questions for ATV enthusiasts.  It is one of many sponsors, some of which are on the website.  We only represent this site when we are asked to, on issues we agree with. we have never asked to be the outright representative of this site.

The Board of Directors were originally picked by me to serve an initial 2 year term.  They are a diverse group, as we need support from all parts of the community.  The members are : Terry Thompson(myself), Nate Bassett, Jon Kurtz, James Undercoffer, Ken Harrison, Linda Duever(yes, the same lady that is on the Black Bear Byway group, among other things), and Joe Glenn.  These people are all volunteers, and other then Jon (a banker) and Linda are atv enthusists. They are giving of their time and money.  The email address for board members is: board@onfa.org.  As I founded this organization, I wanted to make sure that ATV people would control the board.

We have entered into a partnership with the USFS that gives us the authority to be the Trail Rangers and to use the OHV Center for any events we want.  We have had a very successful trail ride in the end of Sept, and we will have more.  It is this facility that will be used to certify all the under 16 riders.

This is all we intend to do now, all we have the capabilities for.  All we ask is that we be evaluated based on what we do, not innuendos.  I do not have the time to continually answer this small group, nor do I have the time to keep the website updated. nor have I made any changes in the last 3 months to the website.  The website is very basic, but tests my knowledge of computers.  Hopefully, when we get the grant (there is $1,000 in it for this purpose), we will be able to get a better website, and help in keeping it current.  Lisa, there is not chance, I will let you have access to this website.

I am very proud of what has been accomplished in less then 6 months, if you think more should have been done, call me or email me and offer your services. 

[Ida_Mann]

 

Yes I am on the board as many know, and my email address is listed on this site, also anyone not wanting to use email can send me a PM,,,,,the board members are not un-reachable.

Id@

[ananomaly]

Well said Grizz. Thanks to all the board members time.

[lisa]

   Thank you. That was easy. Since everyone likes to point out how these folks are volunteers, let me say I am a volunteer too. I have no money coming in from the state or anywhere else to attend meetings, pay for my gas, pay for my ink for my cartritages, etc.

  Now, I am not "out to destroy" anyone. I report what I find and give my opinion. I believe this is still a free country, I thank all our armed service men and women past, present and future for that oppurtunity!
 
    I don't know any of the others, but thank you for posting their names up. Oh yeah, I do "know" Ken Harrison and do feel he too is dedicated to the trails, and recreation. Just FYI, posting the names of those present in the minutes doesn't take an enormous amount of time on either the secretaries' part or of the person who puts those minutes up. (Something I know some of your Board knows about.)

[Stewards]

Grizz:

I am going to stick my nose into this conversation. I have been watching the thread to see where it was going to go.

First let me say this - a C(3) organization is a public organization, it has to be registered with the state, where it resides, the information about this organization is also public. If someone wants to see the minutes, the bylaws etc, whose is on the board, by law you can't refuse them their request.

I think you are reading to much into the thread, information is all they want. The more secrets you as an organization have the more curious people become.

It sounds to me like your an ATV club that has the USFS (ONF) backing you so the grant money is there. I have read your website and by what you say, and what is said on the website, you stand for nothing that is on that website. You might have partnered with the USFS but not for the reasons on the website. It looks like you have copied the San Bernadino website and substituted ONFA for San Bernadino, and have no intentions of performing what is suggested in the website. The website you have put up is a legal representation of who the ONFA is. By what you have said in your previous thread, someone if they wanted to could take you to court, for misrepresentation of a non profit organization.

Think about that. My suggestion is to redo the website, and put what the ONFA really stands for, or take down the website till you can come up with a solution to the problem. I don't know what you filed with the state, as to what the organizations objectives where.

My other suggestion regarding trainning of 16 year olds. You better have some liability insurance on the organization and the 16 year olds. If one of them gets hurt and the childs parents can prove the organization is at fault, there are going to sue the pants off the organization, and probably the USFS. They can not only sue the organization but also the board, and the members. The incorporation papers only prevents 90% of the liability, not totally. As they are children not adults, the childrens parents will probably win in a court of law. When the new law goes into effect, it is not 100%. The members and the board better think about that.

I have said alot, and if you and your members take this as a shot at the ONFA, then you have read into this thread and what I have said. Stewards is only putting their two cents in and perhaps point out some points that you have missed or misread.

J&J
Stewards of the Land

[GrizzlyBear]

Thanks Joan, we have money in the grant for insurance.

[lisa]

  Grizz, I reread your post and while you were not very nice (if you are new, understandably so, the rest of my posts explains) I am not going to "attack" you on it either. I posted in the Byway/ONFA thread that I believe you are new to all this stuff and I am going to cut you some slack for that. All my posts have been geared at someone who knew how these groups worked, knew about what a president could "officially" say in publilc, etc. You either don't have that experience  yet, or are hiding that experience very well. Since I believe you are inexperienced I will apologize once again.

   I do have a couple of things to say however. I have a professional attitude. If someone wants me to help with their site, I would not alter their statements in anyway without their permission. I will state again too, that I would not mind making up the html for the site and letting you just copy/paste it onto your file manager with an explination of how and where to place the text you wanted to have on the site. If your site is just a copy/paste of someone else's you should have no problem copy/pasting something I make up. I don't need to have access to a site, to help with it. It will take longer, but still don't need the access to help.

   Second, the fact that you "hand picked" Mrs. Duver is troubling. She is a radical environmentalist. Some of her clients go to the extreme against any motorized access on public lands. The fact that she tried to get T. Mark Schmidt funds to do an Environmental Impact study on ATV trails in ONF should be troubling to us all! (I have the documentation, so don't even try to refute that.) I have stated again and again, with proof, that she is the enemy. If she must be on the ONFA board, tread carefully and be cautious about using her suggestions. Suggestions of doing replantings should be denied, as the areas those replantings of trails will be closed off to motorized access permanently. That is just one example of a wonderful idea that could be used against ya'll in the future.

   Thank you again for the information on the Board members. It is appreciated.