USPA members need representatives that have the membership at heart. Members need representatives that stand up for individuals in areas of safety, competition and airport access rights, among other things.

USPA members need representatives that maintain an open and candid dialogue with members.

USPA members have the right to know what the organization is doing.

USPA needs leaders that will openly communicate with the membership.

USPA needs leaders that inform the membership on how and where their dues are being spent.

USPA needs leaders that put members first, before special interest groups or someone's personal agenda.

USPA needs leaders that put the membership and 'want-to-be' membership first.

USPA members that know me, know that I am a leader that will fulfill these requirements. They know I 'walk the talk'. They know I tell the truth.

USPA members that do not know me can find all sorts of accomplishments and sundry topics about me at MakeItHappen.com

USPA members need to participate in the election process and elect leaders that will represent them and keep them informed.

I have served on the Safety & Training, Constitution & Bylaws, Membership Services and Nominations & Elections committees. My background and experience as a fun jumper, instructor, organizer, competitor, world record holder, world record organizer, meet director, judge, OmniSkore technical support, writer, PIA speaker and board member provides me with a depth of experience, knowledge and a perspective to guide USPA in a direction that benefits the most jumpers.

If you want a representative that stands up for the membership as does what is right, you should vote for Jan Meyer.

The November issue of Parachutist has your ballot. I strongly encourage you to use that ballot and send it in directly to USPA headquarters. Avoid using photocopied ballots at the DZ. These ballots have been compromised in previous elections.

Mr. Heid is slightly misinformed about the happenings of the USPA board. Every jumper has a story about USPA doing something they do not agree with and visa versa. When a member gets on the BOD you do not suddenly become a Borg, a Stepford Wife or a lowly animal on Animal Farm. Maybe after 20 or 30 years some may become a Borg. Every member of the board has the right to be a free and independent thinker. Each may express views contrary to the ‘official’ USPA position. Only the Executive Director, President and FAI Delegate (in competitions) can make official statements on behalf of USPA.

There are many examples of policy and procedure abuse by staffers and the Executive Committee that have occurred recently. Space prohibits me from explaining them fully here, but you can read about them on MakeItHappen.com. They include the railroading of the elimination of the D-license exam and photocopied ballots. Both of these changes were later repealed because I and others called out the official rules and made USPA follow the rules. I know this caused conflict, but it is more important to the membership that the rules be followed and the desires of the membership be served, not the good ole’ boys.

In Sept of 2004, the executive committee passed an interim motion that did away with the written D-license exam. Normally, interim motions are run through the relevant committee. This one was not. Instructors from all over the country objected to this and wanted the exam reinstated. I consulted with current and former members of the board on how to correct the situation. I found a way to reinstate the exam without hurting anyone’s feelings and not having an interim motion defeated. Defeating an interim motion is a huge vote of no-confidence in the executive committee. Although the executive committee had taken up a motion that had no timeliness criteria and was controversial, two criteria explicitly stated in the USPA Governance Manual, the full board voted to refer the motion to eliminate the written D-license exam to committee with a vote of 19 to 2. In committee it was defeated and never came before the full board again. However, Mr. Mullins tried to bring the issue up again in the plenary session. I pointed out that the rules explicitly say the same motion cannot be brought up in the same session more than once. The motion was brought up as an interim motion, it was referred to committee and defeated. Mr. Mullins’ motion was ruled out of order.

In July of 2007, Mr. Worth presented changes to the Governance Manual pertaining to the election of the BOD. He stated that there were no changes in policy. Mr. Bagley said the same thing. There was something absolutely and positively wrong with these assertions. There were policy changes in the documents. Both Worth and Bagley stated during the plenary session, when the full board votes on the issue, that there were no policy changes. During the debate on this motion, someone again asked if there were policy changes. Again the board was told by Worth that there were no policy changes. Someone made a motion to call the question (that means to stop debate and immediately vote pending approval of the assembly). A large part of the changes were dry and boring. Many on the board decided to go for what is known as a ‘trust-me’ motion. The board approved the changes, although they did not realize that there were policy changes.

In December of 2007 I contacted Mr. DeSantis and informed him of the policy changes. They were that the ballots would be counted upon receipt and that photocopy ballots would not be allowed. At the Winter 2008 meeting DeSantis tried to make a motion concerning this. He could not even get the motion out of his mouth before being cut-off by the President. He was denied a fundamental right to make motions by the President. The issue was taken up again at the Summer 2008 meeting. At this meeting several board members realized that the proper rules for changing that section of the Governance Manual were not followed and were deliberately side-stepped to push forward an a genda promoted by a very select few. These board members brought up a continuing point of order and eventually rescinded the previous action railroaded at the summer 2007 meeting.

In the 1-800-Skyride investigation, the President overrode a decision of a RD and appointed another investigator for the situation. That investigator did NOT send the requisite notifications to the accused members, in fact he was directed to make no opinion one way or the other. The President then lead a motion through the executive committee to expel the members and their DZs. These motions were also passed by the FB. The expulsion date of the DZs was not properly stated in the motion passed by the board. Only after I brought this to the attention of the President and Secretary the following day did it get changed. However, they did not change the date with a proper and required interim motion, instead they just unilaterally pencil whipped the change. I inquired again about the interim motion (the one that was never made) prior to the Winter 06 meeting. I pointed out that USPA should follow the rules to the letter. My inquiries were dismissed and I am sure they annoyed the people with agendas.

During the ensuing years the USPA attorneys had read nearly everything I publicly wrote about Ben Butler, Cary Quattrocchi and 1-800-Skyride. They knew all that information and did not ask for a stay, where a negotiation for settlement would take place.

In the fall of 2007, the discovery process started. USPA provided a large number of documents to the USPA attorneys. A few days later USPA asked for a stay in the case. The lawyer saw several emails from me that where saying that USPA was not doing the right thing ie they were not following proper procedures in their dealings with the 1-800-Skyride issue. The lawyer then spun the story of a board member who has stated repeatedly that USPA had not followed the rules may be a detriment to winning the case. I can almost agree with the attorney on that. But what happened was that the executive committee interpreted it as all my posts and my personal websites, that do not purport to be any type of official USPA position at all, were the reason. Some of them did not know about my inquiries about the mishandling of the issue.

To this day all of my websites discussing the operations of 1-800-Skyride remain as they were or have been augmented with additional information about their operation, including the ruling against them by the State of Georgia. The fact of the matter is that I can tell the world what 1-800-Skyride is up to. I can educate consumers about what they have been accused of and what mandates the State of Georgia has placed upon them. I can educate would be jumpers or ballonists or vintage aircraft riders about documented deceptive practices. An absolutely, incomprehensible comment from the NW RD was that maybe a consumer advocate should not be on the board. The kicker here is that this same person has accepted walk-ons that have a 1-800-Skyride certificate, even though her DZ does not have a written agreement with 1-800-Skyride.

As to the agreement between 1-800-Skyride and USPA, the agreement has not been given to the three board members specifically named in the agreement. This agreement imposes some sort of liability upon those 3 people, but we do not know what it is because we do not have a copy of it to show our attorneys. I asked for a copy of it in 2007, 2008 and very formally by a motion at the Summer 2008 meeting. The motion was passed, amended to include Hill and Mullins, and had an additional stipulation about signing a confidentiality agreement, TBD, that USPA would provide. Several weeks later the USPA confidentiality agreement was sent to the 3 individuals. The document was 8-pages long. In contrast, the 1-800-Skyride confidentiality agreement is one short paragraph long. It is mind-boggling that USPA is withholding an agreement from three of its current board members in good standing that are named specifically in the agreement. The agreement was not negotiated by the full board. Only the Executive Committee was privy to that. Most of them had never read any of the relevant material in the case. The full board was told on Nov. 28, 2007 that it was a 'done deal'. The truth is that the agreement was signed the next day and there is a clause that allowed either side to make changes for the next 30 days, but none of us knew about that. The deal that the Executive Committee entered into with 1-800-Skyride was bad for the sport. The deal was good for the USPA insurance company and 1-800-Skyride, but bad for the sport and 3 members of the board. Keep that in mind when you vote.

These are prime examples of how a few board members or staffers with a personal agenda try to railroad the USPA into doing something it should not. Along comes someone that calls them on the issue. The agenda pushers do not like that. Principles of parliamentary law, that are legally binding to USPA, protect the rights of the majority, minority, individuals, absentees and all of these together. When these fundamental rights are violated it is the duty and obligation of members of an assembly to raise a point of order and demand that the proper procedures and policies be followed, otherwise the assembly may find itself in a unfavorable legal position.

I could go on.... and may well do so in the next few days.

Many people both on and off the board realized that we had elected a dictator as President for the 2005-2006 term. These people were looking for someone else to stand as President. Mr. DeSantis asked Mr. Worth to stand for President after the 2007-2008 election results were known in January 2007. Mr. Worth agreed to stand if elected. Mr. DeSantis then asked most of the rest of the board if they would vote for Worth if nominated. DeSantis gathered an overwhelming majority to vote for Worth.

At the board meeting, both Bangs and Worth were nominated. Then nominations were closed. When it came time for Bangs to give his campaign speech, he passed and turned the floor over to Worth. Worth was nominated second and would speak second. Worth promptly withdrew from the election. There were a majority of people on the board with an expression of "OMG - we just got hit with a sandbag!"

Bangs declared himself a winner by acclamation and USPA had the dictator again for another term. The Governance Manual requires that the election of officers be by secret ballot - even when there is only one person on the ballot.

Worth was appointed chair of the N&E Committee by the President for the 2007-2008 term.