Recently a proposal was sent out to all club reps by some of the JMA board members. A complete copy of this is available from your club rep, but it calls for a drastic change in the JMA bylaws eliminating the clubs as members and allowing only individuals to be members, and requiring them to pay dues. Two council meetings have been scheduled one on the 25th of April and a second one on the 3rd of May. The purpose of these meetings is to discuss and vote on this proposal. Lauren Secular, the club rep for the New York Chai Riders has shared this proposal with the club membership. What follows is the reaction from the club president and some members. I would invite and encourage all members of JMA clubs to share their thoughts on the subject as well.
From: Avi Kuperberg, President of the Chai Riders NY
I reviewed the proposed amendment to the existing JMA bylaws. The idea would be to have individual people be members of the JMA instead of clubs being members as is now the case. This idea has come up time and time again in the past and has generally been viewed with disfavor among the clubs. The JMA really has one purpose, which is to organize and operate the annual R2R event. Each club has a representative vote.
Motorcycle clubs, by their nature, work best when they are local. We know who we get together with, we make our own decisions, we elect officers with whom we are comfortable with. Once a national club is superimposed it weakens local autonomy, they will charge another set of dues and there is less accountability. Where will your new $54 annual dues go? (I am guessing that this will be the new dues.) If you don't like the way something is being done do you travel to Cleveland to register a complaint?
One large club can dominate the whole structure by weighting the votes on any given issue. Look at the Shul Boys, for example. The board membership of JMA has been primarily dominated by the Shul Boys of Cleveland for the past several years. The next slate of officers may continue to come from there. The baton does not necessarily get passed around.
Changing the JMA from an organization that supports the clubs to an organization for individual members, with clubs serving only as "affiliates" fundamentally changes the whole purpose and nature of the JMA. The council will, in effect, be voting themselves out of power. What does being an affiliate club mean anyway? It sounds as if the clubs would lose their influence while the JMA might be appealing directly to its membership.
The analogy that comes to mind, when looking for a similar national motorcycle organization is the American Motorcycle Association. Yes, people pay dues to be members, the AMA puts out a monthly magazine and they advocate for motorcyclists but how related can anyone feel to the board that runs it from afar and handles their finances? I am sure that the proposed new JMA structure will sound good, will propose to engage in charitable acts and it's nice to wear a JMA patch that makes us feel that we belong to something big. At the same time I am concerned that the local clubs (especially the smaller ones) might be swallowed up, and that local membership and retention might suffer.
I am happy to let the JMA remain a club of clubs for now with each club having a representative to vote in their interests. That is what we originally wanted when we first met to organize at the Harley dealership in Delaware and the Chai Riders of NY was a founding JMA member.
Let's all think about where we would like to see this go. I welcome other people's thoughts.
1e. Re: Proposal for Consideration by JMA Club Representatives From: Rich Richer Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2022 18:19:07 PDT My vote will be for continuing as is. Local control, no need for an overhanging organization with the inevitable overhead that comes with it but usually produces very little other than concentrating power in the hands of a few. I am generally against centralized control and concentration of power and this smacks of it.
1c. Re: Proposal for Consideration by JMA Club Representatives From: David Himber Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2022 08:36:54 PDT I totally agree with Avi and Michel! I so strongly agree that I DO NOT plan to pay any membership dues to JMA. I have been a member of Chairiders for almost as long as it has been a club and I gladly pay my dues. Not only am I a member but 12 of the years I served the club by holding office. I certainly hope the new proposed restructuring of the JMA is voted down!! David Himber חג כשר ושמחView/Reply Online | Reply To Group | Reply To Sender | Mute Topic | Top ^ | New Topic Rich “keep it decentralized” Richer Sent from Mail for Windows Attachments:
Re: Proposal for Consideration by JMA Club Representatives From: Michel Benarrosh Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2022 07:50:41 PDT
For whatever it's worth from me in Miami (where I STILL have not taken the steps to start the Chai Miami - for various personal and health reasons)...
I 200% agree with Avi K's sound and objective analysis. I feel that local clubs will be kinda "swallowed" over time, even though they do serve a well-defined local purpose. My experience with the Chai NY when I joined in 2005 has been nothing short of extraordinary on a human and Jewish standpoint. I would probably not have had the same experience in the new structure proposed. On the other hand, I also proudly feel I belong to a large community of Jewish bikers through the JMA, and that is plenty enough for me.
So I vote to keep the structure as it is now. Hag Sameah all.
Michel Benarrosh
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I disagree to the proposal, as put forth. i8t is not a question of "as always done..." but it is wrong since the ability and the difficulties of a members to take action based upon real knowledge will be very limited. but maybe this is the main reason why this proposal is put forward as we see it in front of us....!