Flyfunston

Executive Committee disciplinary hearing held October 16, 2013

In attendance:

Tracey Story, Rob Johnson, Van Pelham, Charlie Nelson, Chuck Kranz, Dave Kiesling, Tom White.

The Executive Committee convened a special disciplinary hearing to discuss rule violations by 3 Fort Funston pilots. All 3 pilots waived their right to attend the hearing and to have witnesses present to speak on their behalf.

One pilot was suspended from flying Fort Funston for two months.

The second pilot was suspended from flying Fort Funston for six months.

The third pilot was suspended from flying Fort Funston for one year, followed by one year of probation. Any behavior by this pilot during the probationary year that violates club rules may result in a permanent suspension.

All seven Executive Committee members were unanimous in all three of the suspension decisions.

What are the charges and who are these pilots?
Thank you for keeping us informed !!

Out of consideration for the 3 pilots we will not get into the specifics on a public website, but a brief overview is as follows:

Ben was suspended for 2 months for his part in a head bonking incident.

Chris was suspended for 6 months for not cooperating with park police and for a tire incident.

Brad was suspended for 1 year, followed by 1 year of probation for his behavior at our 10/8/13 club meeting and for 4 additional incidents that occurred recently that put other people and our site at risk.

For those who may not know, cooperating with park law enforcement is a requirement of our special use permit and is one of our club’s rules.

If you wish to discuss this further you may contact me directly or any of our other board members.

Tracey

Due to some miscommunication with Brad prior to his 10/16/13 hearing, and in the interest of fairness because of it, we will schedule a new hearing for him.

Tracey wrote: “Due to some miscommunication with Brad prior to his 10/16/13 hearing, and in the interest of fairness because of it, we will schedule a new hearing for him.” That is an understatement. There was no communication. Brad did not “waive” his right to attend the hearing. He was not even notified about all the violations that were considered at the hearing. The Clubs’ hearing Bylaw, Article XI, was ignored. As the author of Article XI and as a past Club President, who probably suspended more pilots than all other Presidents combined, I can state with certainly that it was ignored.

Last week I notified Tracey and the other officers about the problems with the hearing. Some Club members, understandably, have been going to the GGNRA and USHPA because the officers haven’t enforced the rules. The rules must be enforced but they must be enforced correctly.

According to Tom White, Brad “waived” his right to attend the hearing. What actually happened was that Steve Rodrigues, who is not a Club officer, notified Brad about the hearing. Before the hearing Steve had talked to Tom, Tom told Steve he would consider a suspension of several weeks for Brad’s conduct at or after the meeting. Steve then contacted Brad and told him the suspension probably would be for a couple of weeks. Brad replied: “If that is what you are going to do, ok with me” and told Steve he would not attend the hearing. Instead of a couple of weeks, Brad was suspended for one year.

Tracey later claimed that Brad was suspended for his conduct at the meeting and “for 4 additional incidents that occurred recently that put other people and our site at risk.” Tracey never notified Brad about these incidents.

Another error was to punish Brad by suspending his flying privileges for one year for his misconduct at a Club meeting held several miles from Fort Funston. The proper remedy was to suspend or revoke his Club membership and not allow him to attend Club meetings.

Since the matter has been handled badly and the rules not followed, in the interest of fairness Tracey and Tom should consider not participating in the new hearing.