One Board Member Resignation Already Confirmed, Others
Possible
ANN is monitoring problems being reported at the highest level
of the Experimental Aircraft Association arising out of failed
efforts to seek a successor for its current leader, Tom
Poberezny.
During Oshkosh 2009, ANN reported exclusively, that a successor
announcement that had been about to be made, was derailed
shortly before the decision was to be made public... a decision
that reportedly would have put GAMA's Pete Bunce at the helm of an
organization that had been run by the Poberezny family for
decades.
On July 29th, 2009, ANN reported that "The front-runner for this
position, GAMA Boss Pete Bunce was considered to have been pretty
well vetted and locked in until recently. However; internal
correspondence from Poberezny confirms reports that have circulated
in the last 24 hours... that Bunce has taken himself out of
consideration due to the fact that he feels that he can not get the
breadth of support he thinks he would need to take on this
position.
In a Tuesday afternoon email, Tom Poberezny informed EAA's
senior advisors and board members that "Earlier today, Pete Bunce
advised the EAA that he withdrew his name from consideration for
the EAA’s president position. He wanted a unanimous vote of
support from the Board and believed this was unlikely at the
upcoming Board meeting. As a result, the EAA search for a new
president is ongoing..."
Since the search appeared to be winding down, and a number of
top prospects had been passed over in favor of Bunce, a Thursday
morning board meeting will reportedly start the process anew."
The near-selection and subsequent abandonment of Bunce for
Poberezny's successor has not sat well with a number of EAA
luminaries -- both in terms of the loss of a highly respected
figure as a potential leader, as well as the manner in which the
process went astray.
Since then, the political fallout from that set of decisions has
resulted in one confirmed resignation of a prominent EAA Board
member (Vern Raburn) and reports that a number of others are
considering whether to resign or not seek re-election/reappointment
when their terms expire (please note that the term re-election is
used loosely... EAA uses a very tightly controlled balloting
process that ultimately results in minimal independent voting).
Further; some of the political infighting that has resulted has now
escalated into threats of legal action, allegations of personal
attacks, and something of a standoff between factions that have
been part of the senior decision-making process at EAA for a number
of years.
In one case, a demand has been made for a written apology from
EAA for actions/statements made by one Board member about another
-- with an associated threat of legal action if the situation is
not addressed. These statements directly relate to the failed
Poberezny successor search and confirmation process. The alleged
victim of these personal attacks, who states that he has
significant corroboration for his beliefs, is also calling for the
resignation/dismissal of the Board member that he feels has
slandered him. There's more, but we're waiting for additional
information before expanding this story.
Regardless; the situation is growing more negative, and doing so
in a rapid manner... with at least two major players now suggesting
that there may be a call for Poberezny, himself, to step
down... or even more extreme, an effort to force the issue.
ANN is examining memos and reports from a number of sources at
this writing and has calls/emails into the EAA HQ for comment. ANN
is preparing follow-up reports for dissemination as soon as more
information becomes available. Still; the continued troubles at EAA
and growing concerns over the direction of AOPA and its new
leadership leave much of the General Aviation world vulnerable and
in disarray at a time when much of its interests are under attack
or exposed to negative scrutiny... hardly a positive situation for
the GA world. More to come...