Scott and Cheryl McElroy
Well done Erik. This appears to be a board decision from a bunch of folks
that we all can agree have a complete focus on what is best for OBRA.
Employer and employee relations are typically not aired publically.
Onward and upward.
Scott
From: obra-bounces@list.obra.org [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On
Behalf Of Erik Voldengen
Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2007 5:21 PM
To: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Sal - Kenji - & the Murray
There's a lot more to OBRA than rider upgrades. I'm sure you have plenty of
denied upgrade examples. To counter those, I've got a teammate here in
Portland who couldn't get upgraded to a 3 by Sal, even though he clearly was
ready. Everyone has their special cases, but it seems to me the guidelines
are there when whomever makes the call for upgrades doesn't know the rider.
Regarding the business with Sal, I don't think we're owed any explanation.
OBRA has a board of directions, and this is their business. Those people on
the board are donating their time and effort for the good of the rest of us.
There's no reason their meetings and decisions need to me completely
transparent. Do we really want to expose these people to the stress and
irritation that would surely come from this?
Maybe Sal was let go. Maybe he didn't really want to the director job
anymore. There are a lot of possibilities. We don't know what the story
is; we only know the ending. That's fine with me.
Thanks Sal for all your hard work. We do appreciate it.
Onward,
-Erik
On 9/23/07, Jason Shucker < theshucker01@yahoo.com
> wrote:
Hello OBRA,
Let me start by saying this e-mail most likely will not be popular with the
majority of the list, but that's ok. I am going to say what I think a lot
of people have felt for a while now, and with the firing of Sal, and the
hiring of Kenji, I feel that now might time to bring this up.
First off, what the Murray's have done for Oregon Cycling has been great,
and without them, we would not have one of the best, if not the best states
in the country for cycling. Their endless dedication to our sport and our
state have been a great asset to all of us, and I have no problem thanking
them for all their hard work and efforts over the years. Thank You
Murrays!!!!!
That being said, for anyone living south of Salem, it has become painfully
obvious to a number of us southern riders that there is a HUGE bias towards
Portland area riders. I won't get into specific details, but Candi has had
no problem upgrading PDX riders who haven't "earned" their upgrade and in
all honestly don't deserve to be where they are. While riders in Eugene,
Medford, Bend, etc all have to get the exact number of upgrade points. I
even know of a few instances in-which a rider had the needed points, but
they were not upgraded because Candi did not want to. I have more examples,
but I don't want to get into details or name, names. Simply put, for all
the great things the Murray's have done for us, there has been a blatant
bias towards Portland riders and race organizers. This was something I was
hoping would change with the hiring of Sal Collura last year. Sadly though,
with his firing, it does not appear this will change
For many of us, we have no clue why Sal was fired, nor did we see any reason
for his firing. Myself along with many other riders thought he was doing a
great job and saw nothing different with Sal helping to run the show, then
we did while Candi was 100% in charge. However after one year, Sal was
fired for what appears was no reason. My thought, along with others, is
that simply Sal lived in the wrong zip code. How could someone from
Springfield, OR show biased towards Portland riders?
As for Kenji, I am sure he'll do a good job, he his a smart educated
individual who is passionate about cycling. However, aside from his great
blogging skills, I fail to see what he brings to the table that Sal did not.
Sal has been a bike racer for many years, he has promoted many successful
races, he has volunteered numerous hours to OBRA, and he is very passionate
about cycling and OBRA. Aside from the fact he lives outside of the 503
area code, I just don't see what he did wrong. Can anyone fill me into to
what Sal did wrong?
Thank you Sal for all your hard work, those of us in the Willamette Valley
appreciate you and all you do, and hopefully the fact that you were treated
in poor fashion from OBRA will not discourage you from promoting all the
races you provide to all of us in Valley. Without you, we would be screwed!
Once again, Thank you to the Murray's for all your hard work and dedication
throughout the years. Regardless of my opinion, without you and your
efforts we would not have the opportunties we have and I thank you a million
times over for you dedication to us bike racers.
And to Kenji A.K.A. "KMan", I know you will do a great job and help lead
OBRA into the future, I just hope this new job does not take away from your
blogging skills. And please remember to keep in mind, this is the Oregon
Bicycle Racing Association, not the Portland Bicycle Racing Association. :)
Shuck On It!
Jason
PS. I know there are probably mixed opinions, but I think the majority of
those of us in OBRA feel we are owed at least some information as to why Sal
was fired.
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