Here we go again or you thought your Division was bad

[Rick Shellhouse]

And with division election time approaching NJ once again begins to remind me of the fact I really am just tired of the focus being on egos and self granted feelings of moral superiority...name calling...mud slinging and petty power trips.

Background I recently received an email from Steven Caputo seeking my support in the upcoming election...(see next post for letter in entirety) as I have severe issues with the current chairpersons personal attacks against my wife when she ran against him needless to say it was a no brainer....

I then get delivered a copy of a mailing from the current chairperson ( I still haven't received a copy in the mail go figure) which is in the next post after that....

So from this point you can stop reading the thread....or continue at your own risk now that you know what its about.

I just never seek to be amazed.....ESPECIALLY considering ...less than 3 years ago...NOBODY WANTED TO RUN THE DIVISION you practically had to just show up and raise your hand and go "Ill do it" and you were voted in...


Rick

[Rick Shellhouse]

Dear Friend:
I have decided to seek election as NJ Division Chair. I have assisted in assembling a group of 24 candidates for the various officer positions, executive board membership and National Congress membership and I am asking for your support for the entire group but most especially me. I would
like to share with you why I am running.

Since starting fencing 37 years ago I have been fortunate to have learned from some of the greatest figures in the sport. At Princeton Stan Sieja introduced me to fencing. I didn’t have much talent but I really enjoyed the sport. Most of what Stan taught me was about being a gentleman for whom honor, sportsmanship and the love of family and friends were the highest aspirations. He also turned me into a lifelong advocate of the sport of fencing and supporter of college fencing whom he feared would be slashed by scurrilous, cost‐cutting athletic directors.

I was in awe of the way that Tony Orsi’s coached my teammate and friend, Lee Shelley, into a spot on the Olympic team and was honored by the many lessons about fencing and life that I learned at Tony’s knee when he was in the twilight of his years. One of those favorite lessons was that, Fencing is about motion and emotion,” a concept that I think about every time I get on the strip. Tony was a true gentleman—a man of honor and graciousness.

I learned about being a fencing parent from watching Mark Holbrow, Vladimir Lilov, Frank Mustilli, Al Peters, Rey Gonzalez, Yakov Danielko, Albert Chikayev, Mike Pederson, Bill Reith, Donna Stone, and Michel Sebastiani teach my children, Steven, Ibby, and Sarah. My dedication to the USFA comes from
years working with some of the our finest leaders—Irwin Bernstein, Steve Sobel, Barb Lynch, Dennis Mautone, Kalle Weeks, Dr. Sam “D’Ambola, Bill Latzko, Denise O’Connor, and Bob Largman. I have named only a few of my many fencing mentors and heroes. In sum, I have spent a large part of my
lifetime as a student of great people learning about a great sport. I am truly fortunate.

Two common threads among all of these fine people are sportsmanship and civility. Stan and Tony were all about civility and I am certain that they would have been deeply upset over the sad state of personal relations in the NJ Division over the past few years. Over the years we have all engaged in
good faith disagreements but never did we allow those disagreements to devolve into baiting, character defamation, threats of litigation, and outright hatefulness. This is very foreign to me based upon my fencing pedigree. That is why I am running for Chair.

Many of you know that this past year has been turbulent with our daughter, Ibby, undergoing a stem cell transplant and recovering from Leukemia and with Mary, Steven Jr. and me traveling back and forth to Boston each week to visit Ibby in the hospital and support her in her fight for survival. My
plate has been full. But, beginning with the Garden State Games last year and through the past several months I have realized that someone had to step forward and return the NJ Division of the USFA to a state of civility. As I attended competitions with my daughter in venues that were far less equipped than some of our NJ Division clubs and was told that our clubs would not be permitted to host the top NJ Division events because of a fear of dissention and litigation, I decided that I had to step up and
reintroduce some common sense to the USFA.

I truly respect all of the hard working participants involved in the debate and my candidacy should not be seen as an attempt to diminish the value of anyone’s past contributions, especially those of my colleague and Medeo teammate, Vince Paragano. However, I strongly believe that the division should focus on meeting the needs of its members and its competitors rather than bickering over bad blood. The actions of the tournament committee and division and especially with regard to division finances must be transparent. Division leaders and especially the tournament committee should be educating
our younger members about character, sportsmanship and self‐discipline, not showing them how to squabble. I am hoping that because of my involvement in this sport for four decades I will have an opportunity to make peace among disagreeing factions and to advance the interests of the sport, our
clubs, our coaches, and our competitors as we finish this decade. To provide some insight into my own plans for the division, I have prepared a Fencers’ Statement of Rights which I intend to place on the table for discussion by the executive committee and division members.

I really need your vote to enable me to move the Division ahead. If you cannot vote by proxy because you are a candidate and want to vote for yourself or a friend, then please cast your vote for the rest of
the candidates by petition and me in person. Otherwise, please sign the enclosed proxy statement and return it to me immediately. I must have it in hand by July 22, 2008.

Please join me in this effort to return sportsmanship and civility to the New Jersey Division. With the growth of fencing in New Jersey we should focus on propelling the division and its fencers—especially its youth, cadet, and junior competitors, towards the greatest level of achievement and success and we
should contribute to the strengthening and expansion of our fine club system.

Very truly yours,
Steven A. Caputo

[Rick Shellhouse]

July 15, 2008

Dear Fellow Members of the New Jersey Division;

I recently received a copy of Candidate Steven Caputo’s recent campaign mailing. That campaign mailing sets out his support for many of the “petition candidates” and his proposed “Fencers Bill of Rights”. The mailing also included an in accurate assessment of the Division’s activities, and an open proxy that does not permit the fencers who signs it to vote for candidates of their choice but requires the signer to grant “my unconditional proxy to exercise my right to vot3 for any individual from the New Jersey Division of the USFA nominated during the 2007-2008 year to fill any elected position…”.

By now, most of you know that the Executive Committee will be mailing out appropriate proxies with full disclosure of the candidates, the issues and YOUR rights. Basically, the blank proxies which some of you many have been pressured into signing are null and void. You have a chance to make up your own mind without someone else spinning the facts or hovering over your shoulder.


It must be emphasized that the campaign mailing and Bill of Rights would have been n=better received [and more informed] if it had been authored and supported by persons who had actually volunteered their services for Division sponsored events over the past year or two.

The four “Petition candidates” for the officer positions (Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer) have spent less than 5 hours in total over the past 18 months on Division sponsored events and duties. By comparison, the officer nominees – Ann Strauss-Weider, Debbie Bratsko, George Bowden, and I – have spent hundreds of volunteer hours working at Division events, handling fencer advocacy issues, addressing concerns of “fencing parents” and running the business and tournament affairs of the Division.

Other than the limited duties on the Nominating Committee undertaken by Nicole Mustilli Lechner, none of the petition officer candidates volunteered to serve on a single committee, volunteered to assist at any Division function or offered to help with Division business. Whether it would be volunteering to direct, helping to set up or breakdown strips, assisting with event registration or simply pulling up tape after events. ANY good faith help from PETITION candidates1 would have been appropriate and appreciated.

By comparison, before I took office as Chairman, I helped direct tournaments, ran event registrations, conducted demonstrations, wrote articles for the Division newsletter and served on committees. I read the Division By-Laws and did the nitty-gritty work. They have done none of these things leading up to the current election. Basically, they now want to be the heads of a business without putting in the sweat equity – or without bothering to learn the business’s current state of affairs.

1 I do note that although noted as a “Candidate by Petition” on the ballots, Paul Apostol is really considered a NOMINATED candidate. I am proud to say that I was his first signatory.

Mr. Caputo’s “bill of Rights” and suggested changes to the Division would be more accurate if he had actually worked on or made any study of the Division affairs over the past year. True, Mr. Caputo has had various personal family issues that he has had to address. We are all very sympathetic to his situation. Nevertheless, he did have time to coach a high school fencing team and to attend (as a spectator) Division qualifiers. When he was asked to pitch-in and assist at these Division qualifiers, he declined to do so.

In reality, the “Bill of Rights” merely restates the set of goals that the Division is well underway towards addressing. Having inherited the problems left behind by Mr. Mustilli and prior administrators, the Executive Committee has already been undertaking many of the tasks set forth there.

Certainly, there is considerably room for improvement. However, as an all-volunteer organization and one of the largest Divisions in the United States, the New Jersey Division is recognized for the variety of events and strength of its fencing.

[Rick Shellhouse]

As for Mr. Caputo’s campaign position that epee events and other events should be limited to clubs that meet certain criteria (e.g. grounded strips, etc.) when one fully examines the limiting criteria that Mr. Caputo, Mr. Mustilli and their messenger’s have been espousing to anyone who would listen, it is obvious that only two clubs would ever meet those criteria; Mr. Mustilli’s NJFA and COBRA fencing.2 That same proposal was authored by Mr. Mustilli – and led directly to his overwhelming recall a mere 8 months ago.

Can you imagine a Division in which only two of 33 clubs would be permitted to conduct Division sponsored events? No more sanctioned Epee events at Bucks; No more sanctioned Sabre events at Medeo; No more sanctioned Foil events at Clinton; No more Y-10, Y-12 or Y-14 qualifiers at Atlantic; No more sanctioned foil or epee events at Atlantic, No more saber opens at Bergen Fencing; and so on.

Mr. Caputo’s campaign Bill of Rights also asserts that Division sanctioned events and qualifiers should be conducted at clubs. What Mr. Caputo has not told you is that it was originally the intent of the tournament committee to conduct ALL of its qualifiers over the past year at clubs. However, the Division was threatened with yet another lawsuit by NJFA if NJFA was not awarded the New Jersey Division Qualifiers or if any club other than NJFA received that award.

In reaction to that threat of litigation, in deference to many fencers’ aversion to fencing at NJFA’s facility and to create a competitive balance and “neutral ground” for these important qualifiers, the Executive Committee voted to conduct qualifiers and Division sanctioned events at neutral sites.

2 Interestingly enough, the largest Epee Open even in New Jersey, the Flynn Memorial Epee Open, and the NJSIAA High School Championships have been conducted on ungrounded strips for years without a single complaint.

Privately the Petition candidates (most notably Mr. Jantos, Mr. Lomuscio and Mr. Mustilli) have been promising club owners that the “surplus monies” in the Division treasury would be divided between the clubs on a qualified, pro rata basis. This campaign promise ignores critical facts:

1. The money does not belong to the clubs. Any surplus truly is the property of the Division, and should be used or preserved by the Division in strict accordance with the Bylaws and Division spending guidelines. It is not buried treasure to be divided up among clubs. To this end, the current Division leadership is trying to find ways to use the surplus to reduce event fees next year.
2. NJFA has been packing the membership list by having non-fencing parents of non voting aged fencers signed up so as to skew their size [for “pro-rata” division purposes]. Basically, the NJFA leadership is even fooling other club owners.
3. Distribution of the Division Treasury would violate the Division’s non-profit status.


As for that last factor [non-profit status], we have been advised that under IRS guidelines, a non-profit organization such as the New Jersey Division cannot disburse or remit funds to for-profit enterprises, it can only disburse its surplus to other non profit organizations.

And what is the only fencing club organized as a non-profit enterprise in New Jersey? You guessed it – NJFA. That would mean that “qualified and “pro-rata” distribution of the treasury as proposed by NJFA and Mr. Caputo would be made only to NJFA. If that sounds like self-dealing, welcome to the New Jersey Division if the Jantos-Caputo-Mustilli slate is elected to office.

The Division has had its fill of NJFA initiated, NJFA funded and NJFA-greed litigation. That litigation card has been played over and over again. Most recently, litigation was threatened when the Executive Committee voted to require that all candidates for office provide disclosures so that that membership would know about any adverse financial interest or conflicts (see candidate Bill Lomuco’s message board post at http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group...A/message/2106).

Many of the communications on message boards and on fencing.net by representatives of NJFA and many of the Petition candidates have often threatened violence and/or litigation when they do not get their way. By way of example, please note the threat Mr. Janto on fencing.net “There is bitterness, there is real hate and a need for vengeance. There will not be peace.” (see post string at NJ Division wants to fission).

The most recent threat of litigation involves the proxy forms. As has been the practice in tour last 2 elections, the Executive Committee has prepared proxy forms for distribution to the membership. This uniform proxy format and the distribution with numeric controls is meant to ensure that each member: (a) be given full information regarding the candidate choices for each position; (b) be given full information as to how to withdraw the proxy, and (c) be given the proxy in such a way that its use is free from undue influence.

Finally, I want to emphasize that this is not an NJFA bashing and that I bear no animosity towards that Club's coaches or its membership. I am thrilled with the success that my GOV. Livingston NJFA athletes have achieved at the high school and USFA levels.

However, what is troubling is the attempt by NJFA’s officials and ownership to steal the Division’s assets, to grab its income stream and to control its competition calendar to the great detriment of the other clubs and the bulk of the Division membership. If this Division is going to grow and prosper it has to be done wit h the cooperation of all clubs and the Membership\. One club cannot be permitted to grow bigger by dominating Division affairs.

I have no personal animosity towards Mr. Caputo. However, I do believe that he is under the influence of NJFA’s operators or that he lacks the experience to control their actions.

The membership now has a critical choice to make, it can either re-elect the NOMINATED Executive Officer list and the NOMINATED Executive Committee [and Paul Apostol] to a full term to complete the fine work that has already started, or it can turnover the reins (and the treasury) of the New Jersey Division to the likes of George Janto, Frank Mustilli, Bill Lomuscio and others by bringing the PETITION candidates back into power.

If the latter is the choice, be prepared for a Division in which all open sanctioned events are held at only 2 clubs and in which the outrageous and tactics of Messrs. Lomuscio and Janto become the official policy and standard of operation of the Division.

Does the Division truly want the rantings of these characters to be the official voice of OUR fencing community? That prospective certainly is not a pleasant and would not be for the betterment of our Division. It would be a Division controlled by 1 club’s operators – and NOT the membership at large.

I urge you to vote for the NOMINATED candidates in the upcoming ballot or designate me or Debbie Bratsko as your proxy to vote at the upcoming election meeting. THIS IS YOUR DIVISION. HELP US TO CONTINUE THE FINE WORK THAT IS CURRENTLY UNDER WAY.

[Rick Shellhouse]

I can provide scans of both mailings to verify if asked.

[KD5MDK]

I move that New Jersey be administered by a Dictatorship of Someone from Far Away. We'll appoint some efficient person from Nevada or Wisconsin* to make your decisions and keep local troubles out of it.



* Locations chosen at random.

[Welted 24/7]

Oh, you mean other people think the New Jersey division blows too? I went to a tournament there within the last few months. The "refs", such as they were, were all members of the host club and all went to the same high school as their clubmates who were fencing in the tournament that day. By some strange coincidence, the top four were all from the host club. Nobody was happy with their calls all day when another member of the host club was involved, and some fencers actually requested a different ref, which was denied. They also got my division wrong on the initial seedings(how you get "New Jersey division" out of "Hudson-Berkshire division" I'm really not sure), and when I pointed it out and asked them to fix it, it was still wrong on the DE seedings.

It was, by far, the shoddiest excuse for a competition I've ever been to, and I haven't gone back to NJ to fence since then. What a disaster.

[Rick Shellhouse]

OK now here is where the fun starts....

The executive board of the NJ division has voted that and this is copied and pasted from a USFA bulletin sent on behalf of the NJ division

" There are three ways to vote in this election. The three ways are (1) attend the Annual Meeting in person, (2) mail in your official confidential ballot or (3) mail in your official confidential proxy. You can attend the Annual meeting on July 27, 2008 and vote in person at that time or, if you cannot attend the meeting, you can vote by mail. If you vote by mail but later decide to attend the meeting and vote in person, then your vote in person at the meeting will be counted and your mail-in vote will not be counted. You may also assign your vote using the official proxy form enclosed with the packet of materials. If you also send in a ballot, your ballot will supersede your proxy and only the ballot will be counted. Voting in person at the meeting supersedes all proxies and mail-in ballots. The official ballots and official proxy forms will be mailed out in the next few days. "


OK the first thing is I haven't received my "official"proxy or ballot yet... election is 9 days away

Second the current administration is aware of proxy existing granting the "opposition" the right to vote them and so now outlaws the other proxies...

Nothing in the bylaws stated they can do that...they reply nothing states we CAN'T ... (ummm they are the folks who recently rewrote the bylaws incidentally)


...more to come

[Rick Shellhouse]

From Mr Paragano's mailing

"the four “Petition candidates” for the officer positions (Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer) have spent less than 5 hours in total over the past 18 months on Division sponsored events and duties. By comparison, the officer nominees – Ann Strauss-Weider, Debbie Bratsko, George Bowden, and I – have spent hundreds of volunteer hours working at Division events, handling fencer advocacy issues, addressing concerns of “fencing parents” and running the business and tournament affairs of the Division."

From NJfencing.org
Current Officers
Vincent Paragano - Chair
Debbie Bratsko - Secretary
Anne Strauss-Weider - Treasurer
Current Executive Committee
George Bowden


Ummm so we give them extra credit for doing what they were ELECTED to do in the first place?????

Now this is a sore subject with me as in a previous election Mr Paragano attacked my wife wanting to know "what she had done for the division" ignoring the birth of our child, while coaching a high school team, while starting a equipment supply company for the sport,.....

Guess it should be pre-approved before it counts

R

[oso97]

Hey, guess what...

The rest of the country simply DOESN'T CARE ANY MORE about the insanity that denizens of the State of New Jersey insist upon continuing in.

[dekko]

Hey, guess what...

The rest of the country simply DOESN'T CARE ANY MORE about the insanity that denizens of the State of New Jersey insist upon continuing in.

Ab-so-f'n-lutely!!!

[HDG]

This is baseline for a Gold Coast Division election…

[Rick Shellhouse]

Hey, guess what...

The rest of the country simply DOESN'T CARE ANY MORE about the insanity that denizens of the State of New Jersey insist upon continuing in.

Yeah but its good for a facepalm or giggle...


depending on your sense of humor....


R

[AndrewH]

You know, I keep considering a switch to Metro. Maybe this will be the year...

[PeterGustafsson]

Hi!

Random levity, do not read further if you do not like my particular brand of humor.

I move that New Jersey be administered by a Dictatorship of Someone from Far Away. We'll appoint some efficient person from Nevada or Wisconsin* to make your decisions and keep local troubles out of it.



* Locations chosen at random.

Why not even Far, Far away?

Would not Shrek be the right one to control this unruly bunch, and the Cat in Boots the the appropriate new section coach for classical fencing?

Seriously: I hope NJ fencing can, every single one of them, exhibit a modicum of civility to each other.

Have a nice time!

Peter Gustafsson

[Rick Shellhouse]

You know, I keep considering a switch to Metro. Maybe this will be the year...

Metro....


Heck Escrime has corporate offices in Nevada.....I asked could I use that address....lol..


R

[piste off]

Hey, guess what...

The rest of the country simply DOESN'T CARE ANY MORE about the insanity that denizens of the State of New Jersey insist upon continuing in.

Yeah, we gotcha opinion... Right Here!!!

R-

[whtouche]

Yeah but its good for a facepalm or giggle...


depending on your sense of humor....


R

Reading through 5435 pages of NJ political garbage DOES NOT represent an opportunity for a face palm or a giggle or any other sort of levity.

[piste off]

Reading through 5435 pages of NJ political garbage DOES NOT represent an opportunity for a face palm or a giggle or any other sort of levity.

Agreed.

I don't care who you are, where you live, what your level of sense of humor is you can't help but feel sick after reading that stuff.

I really respect the people in fencing that run things (divisions, tournaments etc.). We all owe them a lot. But it is hard to understand people's true motivations sometimes. I tend to want to believe everyone is doing it for the good... which is why reading this stuff reminds me of how I felt when I learned Santa Claus is not real.

R-

[erooMynohtnA]

I move that New Jersey be administered by a Dictatorship of Someone from Far Away. We'll appoint some efficient person from Nevada or Wisconsin* to make your decisions and keep local troubles out of it.



* Locations chosen at random.

I would rather drink my own urine for a week. (But not if everyone knew about it.)