I had a little bit of time this morning and wanted to fill in some of the details of how the ICSCC officers have handled the disagreement they have with me. My race weekend with them has been reasonably well documented and most of you know the story. I had a good time and wrote about the experience – it was a pretty good story. This explanation is so that members of Conference can have a better understanding of how their club works.
First, I have many very good friends that race in Conference. I like most of the people there, and in some cases the feeling is mutual. The people that do most of the work that make the racing possible are awesome. As a matter of fact, I went into the last race weekend with a favorable attitude regarding the current crop of upper level Conference Officials, as well. That attitude would be short lived, however. The problem still is that some people that aspire to the “top of the club” act like a bunch of 8th grade bullies once they get there.
The analogy is that at a middle school the 8th graders are the “big kids” and there are always a few that have to show the new kids who is boss. It’s just the way life is, I suppose – some kids are just mean and pick on the smaller kids. Sometimes they grow out of it… Sometimes they become Conference Stewards.
My original story about my experience racing Conference included a description of a Conference Official that, in my view, is likely a serial bully. That description is what the Conference License Director took offense to, and is the original source of Conference’s problem with me. A problem that the License Director believed warranted a removal of my racing privileges. I was “banned” for writing a story.
This is the passage from an email I received from the I.C.S.C.C. License Director dated August 19 that explains his position:
Per E 404., all non-ICSCC licensed entries are subject to my approval as License Director. There are no qualifiers on this approval. Sportsmanship is one of the criteria that I apply when making approval decisions. I find both your conduct, and demeanor, to be unsportsmanlike, and therefore I do not approve of your entry, in any future ICSCC sanctioned event.
There was a phone call and several emails that went back and forth related to this passage, but that is the important paragraph. There was a demand that I apologize without an offer of an apology for the way I had been treated by their bully – WTF, is this some kind of a joke..? I did ask for a clarification regarding specifically what the issue was and I received this – an excerpt from my story:
“Captain Rule Book” then rode away on his motorcycle (sans helmet) his shirt flapping around his over the shoulder walkie-talkie holster like a moo-moo worn by a Hawaiian grandmother on a breezy Maui evening. I wonder if Adolf knows that Portland is a city park and is therefore not exempt from the Oregon motorcycle helmet law..? This guy is serious Mall Cop material.
From my perspective, this is what the issues are:
- I was “banned” from racing with Conference until I apologized to a bully (not going to happen).
- The License Director had quoted the ICSCC rule book to affirm his position that he has the final say.
- Most importantly, the banishment was for an issue that may fall under “freedom of press” protections.
My response was to suggest that the License Director (and Conference) get his story straight and engage in some CYA (cover your ass).
“Power corrupts”, but usually there is a place within a racing organization to air grievances. An example is that I was racing in an SCCA Pro Racing series where the Series Steward often behaved like an unreasonable jerk. He had the “final say”, but there was a series sponsor (with a representative) that was interested in resolving differences – we could go to him. The jerk was eventually replaced. In Conference, Per E 404 (see above) there is no higher authority. I went to the rule book and the License Director is correct – he has the final say should he choose to use it. And he did – “absolute power corrupts, absolutely.”
I continue to believe that ridicule is a useful tool when dealing with bullies. I also believe that what happens away from the track (provided it is within the law) should have no bearing on the approval of things like racing licenses. To this day, I have not received an apology or a retraction of the License Directors invocation of ICSCC Rule E 404. I have submitted an entry for the ICSCC race that takes place this weekend, and the registrar indicated that a resolution would be forthcoming (to save me the trouble of preparing a car and making the tow for nothing).
I believe this really is the case of one bad apple spoiling the bunch. I think that the License Director is probably a pretty good guy that has simply been immersed in a culture that protects its own – no matter the reason… The 8th graders are going to show me who is boss. They know that E 404 was a lame call, but now they won’t do the right thing and correct the mistake. I wonder what’s going to happen walking home from school on Friday…
I will continue to push back on this – because I do have friends that race in Conference and I think it is time for somebody to finally call BS on this crap. There is also Oregon case law that makes clear the responsibilities of organizations that conduct events on public property (like PIR for example). Conference doesn’t care about little guys like me, but they (and the clubs that make them up) are on the wrong side of that law – maybe they care about that…