THE BURNING EMBER 20

THE AMAZING

DISAPPEARING PRESIDENT

PART 2

Well, it happened again, the bullfrog again failed to perform his required duties and show up to the all of the local meetings that he is required to attend. He has been almost a complete no show at any meetings since April. It seems as though he is trying to avoid being held accountable for his actions over the last few months. One might think that with nominations for local offices coming up next month Greg Stinson would not miss an opportunity to try and perform some political maneuvering. However, his fear of having to answer for his failures and blunders it seems is keeping him from showing his face in public. He rarely even says anything, although one my sources forwarded a copy of an e-mail that Stinson sent to several members of the local executive board implying that they were mentally ill; another personal attack instead of working together for the good of the local. I guess he senses some degree of security hiding behind his computer screen or his caller id, where he does not have to face people who are seeking answers. His fear of being held accountable keeps him in hiding. Along with this fear he seems to have great contempt for the members of the local. Let me explain. The membership is the highest governing body of the local. Stinson was directed by the membership to not come into the office a couple of mornings a week in order to allow the office secretary and the local Secretary/Treasurer time to do their work without being harassed by Stinson. Well, in recent days the bullfrog has decided he can do whatever he wants—completely disregarding the direction of the membership. My sources relayed to me that Stinson did show up at the local executive board meeting last week; the first one in months. When questioned by other members of the local executive board about his failure to abide by the directives of the members his response was that he was not going to let the membership dictate when he could come to the office. Wow again, he acts in complete defiance of the directives of the membership, though he does not have the courage to state this in front of the membership meeting. This single act alone is a far more serious than any of his other blunders. Even his messing with the stewards list, his sneaky video recording of people in his office, his underhanded agreements with management, and his failure to perform his required duties as local president all pale in comparison. By refusing to do as he was directed by the membership he is stating that he can do anything he wants as local president and can completely ignore any oversight by the members like some sort of petty dictator. Well the time to start making changes is fast approaching. The first step will be the nominations of people for local offices. The nominations will be held at the October General Membership Meeting. That meeting will also provide another opportunity to hold Stinson accountable and to get answers to questions that have arisen the last few months. One only needs to review the posts on this blog prior to the meeting in order to refresh the memory. After the nominations are made then the political campaigning will start. I am certain that the bullfrog will continue to skulk about the plant as he has done the last few weeks in a vain attempt to gather votes. Maybe he can use some of his old campaign literature; I have some copies, where he promises to go after management to protect the rights of members. Members need to keep in mind though that Stinson has failed to go after management and has instead inflicted numerous problems and blunders on the local since he has been in office.

In the meantime, join the other members at the October meeting and start supporting the good candidates the will come forward. You can also come and demand that Stinson account for his misdoings; I doubt that you will get any intelligent answers. You can call on his 503-819-7298.

You can also e-mail him at orbulldog1@verizon.net, gstin29803@aol.com.

THE BURNING EMBER 19

MEMBERS STILL SEEKING ANSWERS,
BUT NOW LOOKING FORWARD

As the September meetings draw closer, the number of members who want answers continues to increase. These people want explanations for the bullfrog's past blunders so that fixes can be made. Some members are looking into contacting the Dept. of Labor so that an investigation from that agency can be made into Stinson's failure to provide accountability for his use of the local's funds. I have heard that one of the other executive board members is looking into contacting the County D.A. to file possible charges for invasion of privacy and illegal recording of conversations being done by the bullfrog at the local office. All of this is being done in order to contain the bullfrog and minimize the damage that he has done to the local. As I have stated before, I will continue to report his blunders and failures so that members are made aware of what he does so that necessary actions, including motions at the membership meeting, can be made to keep him on a very short leash. I personally want to get to the business of reporting on management's stupidity. Along with seeking answers and making efforts at damage control, many members are now anxiously looking to the October meeting when nominations are made for local offices, knowing that that will be followed by the election, finally giving the members a chance to put the bullfrog behind them. We have already seen some names pop up for the various offices. I am pleased at the names I see coming up--I hope to hear more. It would be great if the problems of the past few months shakes the members from their collective complacency and causes more members to become active in the running of the local. The bullfrog will quickly become a faded memory, if we put good folks into office. It will take a lot of work and effort to get the word out. I would like to hear more from any candidate for any local office. If any, and I mean any candidate, wants me to put something up about them they can pass the info on to almost any steward. Most of the stewards know how to get a hold of me. So, let's get to it already.

THE BURNING EMBER 18

BULLFROG SUPPORTER
MAKES A FEEBLE CROAK

I just love the comments that pop up sometime. I do not agree with some of them, but usually, I just let them go, but one of the comments on the last post deserves a little attention. It seems that we have an individual who elected themselves to speak on behalf of the whole membership. I would be curious as to how this person came the conclusion that the whole membership is sick of the “old timers” I wonder if they did a mail in ballot or just a phone poll—whatever the case it sounds as though someone is angry that the bullfrog has failed to perform and wants to blame the rest of the local executive board for bullfrog’s failure. Fact of the matter is that for the most part all of the other members of the executive board, especially the local vice president, secretary/treasurer, and Poker editor have gone above and beyond the call in regards to making sacrifices of time and energy in the attempt to correct the bullfrog’s gross errors and to keep the local functioning. Business has been getting done and will be done in spite of the bullfrog’s bungling ways. I have continually pointed out specific things that he has done. Other members of the executive board have not called for trusteeship, other members of the executive board have not involved management in the affairs of the local, and other members of the executive board have not used the local’s funds without accountability. It amazes me how anyone could be so naïve as to assume that the problem is the rest of the executive board when all of those folks have been able to disagree on issues, yet they come together and support the cause even if it is not what they had wanted.

As far as the Greg this and Greg that, well maybe Greg and his puny cluster of supporters should look at the things that have been brought to light and come to the realization that maybe the problem is Greg. Now, I am not sure, what the commenter meant by “old timers,” but most of the executive board have not been in the positions they are in very long, maybe one term in office is an ‘old timer.’ The bullfrog however has been on the local executive board for more than five years, I wonder if that makes him an “old timer.” A closer examination of the make up of the local executive board would reveal a very divergent group of people—many different backgrounds and levels of experience and a wide range of years as stewards and officers. Yet they get the job done. However, the few people who support the bullfrog say that the rest of the executive board is the problem. Hey, wake-up and do the math. A person only needs to ask why is it that nine other people are always wrong and one person, Stinson, is always right. It makes no sense that such a diverse and experienced group of people, along with an overwhelming majority of the membership, would be wrong and Stinson would be right time and again. Let it be noted, however, that broad generalizations such as “old timers” without any specific definition is just a weak-minded way of poisoning the well and in reality makes a pretty feeble stab at those who are doing the job. Along with that, stating that we need new blood is also just another generalized pathetic argument used to attack others when a person cannot identify specific facts to support their arguments.

Now, as far as cleansing and purging the local of its mentality, again we have another generalized attack without specifics or facts; using a term like ‘mentality of the local’ is just a bombastic generality. No, definitive points are made only an indiscriminate attack on others without any supporting arguments. The beauty of such a mindless attack is that a person does not have to think of anything to support it; just toss it out there and hope the stink sticks. As far as “purges” are concerned, over the last two years Greg Stinson has been identified as the only weed in the garden, I do not believe that we have to burn down the whole garden just to get rid of one weed—selective hoeing works quite well. As a final thought, the current assortment of executive board members gets along very well, with one notorious exception, and they have done a super job keeping the local afloat in spite of Stinson's blatant attempts to scuttle it.