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Time for some changes at Ames

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bsquiral

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Hello all,

My name is Jim Sheppard. Many of you know me from my shop Zero Hour Arms. Today I would like to inform you all that I am currently running for president of Ames Rifle and Pistol Club. I don't want to get into too many details, but I feel that lately the club has been heading into the wrong direction and is need of new leadership. I am very passionate about Ames and I will be always be there for all the members with my 100% drama free guarantee.

Thanks for your time and consideration for this Septembers elections,
Jim Sheppard
 
Best of luck Jim.

I hope you are successful.

The facilities are good, it's been the management that's needed a "make over" for a very long time!!
 
One of the odd things, although maybe not so odd, is that elections are rarely publicized. In fact, until your post, I never knew when elections were.

Good luck.
 
The club is not run according to any by-laws. It has evolved to become the private property of certain members of the executive board. All past and present members of the club who care should speak up here.
 
Garys said:
One of the odd things, although maybe not so odd, is that elections are rarely publicized. In fact, until your post, I never knew when elections were.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

When they were a 100% GOAL club and used TOM for their newsletter, the date of the annual meeting was publicized in TOM. When they dropped their GOAL status, they stopped publishing newsletters completely and posted a single copy in the clubhouse for any interested members to read. That went on for at least 7-8 months. A classic "eye-opener" to me was when Ira appointed me to count ballots with 2 other members. There was a tie for one BOD seat, so we had a run-off election for that position that night and the person who won was someone Ira didn't like. A month or two later, I attended the members meeting and the person who won was no longer on the BOD and the person who lost was now a BOD member . . . there was no public announcement or new election that I was aware of.


KDK said:
The club is not run according to any by-laws. It has evolved to become the private property of certain members of the executive board. All past and present members of the club who care should speak up here.
Click to expand...

In the 3-4 years I was a member I tried to get a copy of the bylaws/range rules (I find it easier to abide by the rules when I know what they are) and eventually the secretary told me that he'd never seen them in print either! I've been told that they do now publish them, which would be a good thing. Basically I found that they put up signs invoking rules, so one month doing one thing is OK, next month it could be a rule violation. There were contradictory signs on the indoor range at one time as well. It was announced that all range rules were passed at BOD meetings and all BOD meeting minutes were secret (a past president of Ames made a big stink about this at one meeting) and not shared with members. Also members were not allowed to speak at BOD meetings, thus no one attended unless their presence was requested. I decided that the best thing was to not renew and joined Mansfield F&G instead.

I hope Jim wins and is able to make a difference. The club has a lot of potential.
 
LenS said:
A classic "eye-opener" to me was when Ira appointed me to count ballots with 2 other members. There was a tie for one BOD seat, so we had a run-off election for that position that night and the person who won was someone Ira didn't like. A month or two later, I attended the members meeting and the person who won was no longer on the BOD and the person who lost was now a BOD member . . . there was no public announcement or new election that I was aware of.
Click to expand...

Well, to prevent that from happening again, they don't bother with elections anymore.
 
LenS said:
I do hope you are being facetious!
Click to expand...

Half. No election committees are appointed. President, treasurer, secretary, and vp are supposed to serve for a term of three years. Some of those positions have exceeded those three years without an election. Furthermore, people are appointed and removed from the board without election.
 
bsquiral said:
Hello all,

My name is Jim Sheppard. Many of you know me from my shop Zero Hour Arms. Today I would like to inform you all that I am currently running for president of Ames Rifle and Pistol Club. I don't want to get into too many details, but I feel that lately the club has been heading into the wrong direction and is need of new leadership. I am very passionate about Ames and I will be always be there for all the members with my 100% drama free guarantee.

Thanks for your time and consideration for this Septembers elections,
Jim Sheppard
Click to expand...

Good luck Jim, based on what others are saying, it should be a welcome change.
 
bsquiral said:
Hello all,

My name is Jim Sheppard. Many of you know me from my shop Zero Hour Arms. Today I would like to inform you all that I am currently running for president of Ames Rifle and Pistol Club. I don't want to get into too many details, but I feel that lately the club has been heading into the wrong direction and is need of new leadership. I am very passionate about Ames and I will be always be there for all the members with my 100% drama free guarantee.

Thanks for your time and consideration for this Septembers elections,
Jim Sheppard
Click to expand...


I joined the club at the start of the year and so far I've had no trouble with Ira or any board member. In fact they have gone out of their way to chat with me when I run into them and to help me out when I had questions. I thought everyone at the club was very polite and that there where no problems until you made that scene at the last meeting (was that part of your 100% drama free guarantee?). So I went online to try and find out more since half the stuff you where saying was about people I have never met. I ran unto your post here and the general Ames thread here.

http://www.northeastshooters.com/vb...-Rifle-and-Pistol-Club?highlight=Ames+R&P

As far as I can tell the big problem is that people don't like the inconsistent rules and want the club bylaws posted on the website or someplace easier to find. There was also talk of people being treated unfairly when they ran afoul of a rule they dint know about or that was just made up. I can sympathies with that and I think those issues should be raised at the next meeting.

Having said all that, the way you handled yourself at the last meeting was shameful.

You accused Ira of shady gun deals, taking liberties with the club money and ignoring elections rules. You also said he was running hundreds of people out of the club and that you had no problem spending 50K "To make this right". I assume you ment getting a lawyer.

I'm willing to have an open mind about this despite what happened at the meeting. You are obviously very passionate about this and I want you to back up the accusations you made. Give me and the other members some proof, especially new people like myself.

PS: This is the Ames website. http://www.amesriflepistolclub.com/news.html It has meeting notes going back to last September posted as well as club rules, but no bylaws. I only post this here because other people in this thread where saying that the elections where not held last year (they where in Septemeber) and that the meeting notes where only found in the clubhouse.
 
Sweet. I was advised to stay away from Ames. As I'm moving to Dedham soon, I really hope they turn things around because it would be a convenient place to practice.
 
Bob J said:
LOL! Ames BOD has spin meisters?

My shocked face ====>[shocked]
Click to expand...

My mistake, I wanted some information on this topic and was surprised to find a thread on it the night it actually happened. I assumed NES posters where more then trolls who would make personal attacks on my profile's credibility as opposed to my questions. I posted nothing but my first had observations and links to information on the club's website. I'll go look for information elsewhere.
 
Good Luck to you Jim, it is a great place but for the past few years ive felt more and more uncomfortable with being told to "take plate #'s" and watch and see what people are doing.
 
brazen said:
My mistake, I wanted some information on this topic and was surprised to find a thread on it the night it actually happened. I assumed NES posters where more then trolls who would make personal attacks on my profile's credibility as opposed to my questions. I posted nothing but my first had observations and links to information on the club's website. I'll go look for information elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Brazen, you registered on NES specifically to make a personal attack against Mr. Shepard. I'd be willing to bet that Mr. Shepard's recollection of the meeting is rather different than yours. Your motive for joining NES was clearly partisan and yet you claim to be objective? [thinking]
 
I was at the meeting less then 24 hours ago where all this happened. There where at least 50 other people there and some must be members of this site. I hope they will post here and back up my account of what happened. Otherwise I don't expect anyone but Jim to know if I'm telling the truth or I'm being biased.
 

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