I want to offer a bit of an update on how regs are approved.
As you are no doubt aware, regs changes are filtered through the various advisory committees, which make recommendations to the Club Racing Board (CRB). The CRB reviews those and makes regs changes recommendations. Unless the regs change is a "weight, plate, or tire"* then those are sent to the Board of Directors (BoD) for review and approval.
Each month, the CRB posts these proposed changes within their Fastrack Minutes, under the section "Recommended Items". The top of that section states the following:
(Emphasis mine)
It is implied that these will be forwarded to the BoD.
However, it has recently come to my attention, through direct discussions with Directors, that these submissions in response to CRB proposed regs changes are not being automatically forwarded to all Directors. In fact, only the BoD liasions to the CRB have access to the letters system. This means that our feedback on a proposed regs change is subjected to those liasons forwarding the information to all other directors. And given the reactions I've gotten from directors on my query of their opinion(s) of my submitted feedback, this may not be happening in all cases.
As a result, I suggest the system is not working as one would expect it to. So what is that expectation?
By the time a regs change appears as a "Recommended Item" in Fastrack, the CRB is totally done with it. They have made their decision and are asking for BoD approval on it. There's nothing that we, as members, can do to change the CRB's mind, it's already a done deal as far as they are concerned. So the only way we, as members, can have an effect on the proposal is to bring our thoughts known to the BoD.
Yet we're being told to send that feedback through the CRB's system, and we now know that BoD will not always get that feedback from that system.
I'm not implying that I believe there's nefarious activities going on here; I just think the system is broken (and possibly always has been). But if the point is to submit our feedback to the BoD, and it's not always getting there, then what actually is the point? I can offer, for example, that the recent recommendation to have $10 of a protest fee withheld was spiked by the BoD due to direct feedback to our Directors, feedback that at least some of them were unaware of until I inquired about their thoughts on my letter submission. Which they had not seen.
So what's the solution? Well, for my part, until the system is adjusted/changed, all of my feedback to the BoD will be directed to "bod @ scca . com" and/or individual directors, not through the letter system; that way I know they got it.
Long-term these redirection processes need to be changed. I'm aware that this will be a topic in a subsequent BoD meeting.
So let 'em know your thoughts when it's useful.
GA
*The BoD has given the CRB authority to make regs changes during the year for performance adjustments; those are generally limited to changes in weights, intake restrictors, or tire sizes.
As you are no doubt aware, regs changes are filtered through the various advisory committees, which make recommendations to the Club Racing Board (CRB). The CRB reviews those and makes regs changes recommendations. Unless the regs change is a "weight, plate, or tire"* then those are sent to the Board of Directors (BoD) for review and approval.
Each month, the CRB posts these proposed changes within their Fastrack Minutes, under the section "Recommended Items". The top of that section states the following:
(Emphasis mine)
It is implied that these will be forwarded to the BoD.
However, it has recently come to my attention, through direct discussions with Directors, that these submissions in response to CRB proposed regs changes are not being automatically forwarded to all Directors. In fact, only the BoD liasions to the CRB have access to the letters system. This means that our feedback on a proposed regs change is subjected to those liasons forwarding the information to all other directors. And given the reactions I've gotten from directors on my query of their opinion(s) of my submitted feedback, this may not be happening in all cases.
As a result, I suggest the system is not working as one would expect it to. So what is that expectation?
By the time a regs change appears as a "Recommended Item" in Fastrack, the CRB is totally done with it. They have made their decision and are asking for BoD approval on it. There's nothing that we, as members, can do to change the CRB's mind, it's already a done deal as far as they are concerned. So the only way we, as members, can have an effect on the proposal is to bring our thoughts known to the BoD.
Yet we're being told to send that feedback through the CRB's system, and we now know that BoD will not always get that feedback from that system.
I'm not implying that I believe there's nefarious activities going on here; I just think the system is broken (and possibly always has been). But if the point is to submit our feedback to the BoD, and it's not always getting there, then what actually is the point? I can offer, for example, that the recent recommendation to have $10 of a protest fee withheld was spiked by the BoD due to direct feedback to our Directors, feedback that at least some of them were unaware of until I inquired about their thoughts on my letter submission. Which they had not seen.
So what's the solution? Well, for my part, until the system is adjusted/changed, all of my feedback to the BoD will be directed to "bod @ scca . com" and/or individual directors, not through the letter system; that way I know they got it.
Long-term these redirection processes need to be changed. I'm aware that this will be a topic in a subsequent BoD meeting.
So let 'em know your thoughts when it's useful.
GA
*The BoD has given the CRB authority to make regs changes during the year for performance adjustments; those are generally limited to changes in weights, intake restrictors, or tire sizes.
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