As some of you know, Dave and I have agreed to represent the Vet "B" riders at the Nesc meeting to discuss some of the riders concerns. Dave spoke to Bonnis last night and she asked us to respresent the VET riders as a whole. That's fine with us, but we would like to hear from some of the other VET "A" and "C" riders. I typed this up last night and thought I would post it for everyone to read and provide some feedback. Let me know what you think.

Thanks

Date: 7/18/00

To: NESC (Bonnie Mikalson)

From: Ron Sabin and Dave Reminik

Re: Letter of concerns for NESC meeting on Saturday 7/22/00.

Mrs. Mikalson,

First I would like to say thank you for your time and the opportunity to discuss some of the riders concerns. Dave and I are representing the VET B riders and have had numerous conversations with them regarding their concerns. I would also like to mention that many of these concerns are valid for many other riders as well, ones that are not Vet B riders, although we DONOT represent them.

As you know, there has been a tremendous amount of animosity lately towards the NESC and certain track owners. We are all very well aware that we can not have all of our concerns met, however, we are appreciative of the opportunity to discuss them in a professional manner, in a professional setting. Some of the concerns are very basic and should be able to be rectified immediately, as others are not so simple. Below you will find some of the top concerns that we thought we should discuss at the meeting. Hopefully there will be more meeting like this one for the riders to express their ideas, concerns and solutions.

 Treated courteously and respectful.  Everyone of us is a paying customer and wants to be treated as such. We really dont believe this is too much to ask for. If we were ever treated the way we are at some of the tracks at your local Home Depot, we would never go back. Im sure we have all been mishandled in the past by a store employee, waitress, salesperson, etc. We have a voice in those situations, we can complain to the manager and our concerns are addressed immediately. This doesnt happen in the NESC, as a matter a fact, most riders are afraid to voice their concerns or displeasure for fear of being yelled at or worse, banned. This just cant happen anymore.

 Vote for our rider reps.  It seems that if these people are our true rider reps, then we (the riders) should be able to vote for them. As the rider rep, they should have more power than they currently do, they should have general consensus from the riders and vote accordingly. Is it possible to have anyone that wants to be a rider rep, put their name in and have it added to a list. This list could be sent out with the new memberships and be a mandatory item that is completed and returned with our memberships? Why should the NESC board assign them? Especially when most of the board is made up of Track owners?

 Suspensions  Suspensions should be voted on by more than one person. Why should one person have the say in a situation? The rider reps should be involved in these suspensions. It seems as though this has gotten a little out of control lately and some people have been suspended for silly reasons or suspended for a much longer time than the rulebook states.

 More tracks  The lack of tracks that we ride is VERY monotonous. This would not be as bad however, if the current tracks that we ride would make frequent changes or updates. CCC does a great job at this and the other tracks should take note. It also seems outrageous that the track owners are on the NESC board, this is like the fox watching the hen house, it is really a poor decision on the behalf of the NESC.

 Swift action on the Middleboro Ban of the 44 riders  It appears that the Middleboro incident has gotten out of hand and we (the riders) feel that the NESC should have stepped in and taken care of this already. If in fact they can prove someone has threatened another rider, than in fact that person should be dealt with accordingly, but there are riders that have been banned just for forwarding their entry fees. This is UNACCEPTABLE. If a rider chooses not to ride a track after getting there that day, for whatever reason it may be, that is their right. CCC has this policy, if you show up to race and feel the track is too difficult or dangerous for your ability, you can have your money back. It appears to us (the riders) that the track owner is trying to make a statement about what happened that day and is not willing to listen. This cant happen. The track owners shouldnt dictate to the NESC, nor should the NESC dictate to the track owners, however, the NESC should always have the upperhand, afterall the NESC is representing the paying customers.

 Current NESC President stepping down  Unfortunately, the riders dont feel that Yvonne Cote represents the riders or the NESC very well. He is very unapproachable and by a personal survey, 98% of the people we spoke to, they dont respect the man. Due to the nature of this letter I wont get into the exact words used by many riders, but I will say that people are VERY much against this man and how he runs things. The person in this position should be very approachable and have great customer service skills, Mr. Cote doesnt have these qualities. I personally know how hard it is to be in the customer service business and to continually strive to appease my customers. Im sure you know the golden rule of customer service, The customer is always right.

This is just a short list of things that Dave and I (for the riders) would like to discuss at the meeting on 7/22/00. I would like to remind you that this is a short list of concerns from your paying customer base and NOT the thoughts of just Dave and I. We do have other concerns that we gathered from the riders that we didnt feel where pertinent for this first meeting, perhaps we could bring them up at later date.

Thank you again for this opportunity and we look forward to hearing from you.

NESC Vet B riders represented by, Ron Sabin and Dave Reminik.

-- Ron Sabin (ThefourSabins@aol.com), July 19, 2000

Answers

Well said Ron. Good luck at the meeting Saturday....I hope you win! Please post the results.

-- L. Rogers (Laurie1213@aol.com), July 19, 2000.

Good luck Ron and Dave. See you Sunday.

-- scott fletcher (scott_fletcher@nps.gov), July 21, 2000.