Unfortunately, you are in the same position as many other people, not really knowing who or what to believe. The best I can say is you'll have to do your own research. Or you could personally write Mr. Shortt and ask him any small number of pointed questions you like (pro or con), just be cautious you may not enjoy the treatment he subjects you to. My interactions with Joe Stockett have all been congenial if not always in agreement, Mr. Shortt... nowhere near so. Mr. Shortt has a history of this kind of vitriolic language and attitude in addition to projecting his own actions and fears onto others and pointing as if it's their doing, their fault and he's an innocent bystander. You can research much if it yourself by browsing the archives of this email forum or asking the right people. Many of us had thought he had softened over the years and might do well as president of POCA because he had good ideas and a strong desire to make them happen. In the end, I think we found out he appears incapable of changing his attitude and (especially language and treatment of others in his) interpersonal relations. The remaining board members decided his demeanor within POCA and the public image of POCA he was projecting was causing damage to the general membership and club overall, so they took action. I believe the illustration of his strong anger and vitriolic messaging about others reveals his true nature, and it's unfortunate because most all his alleged "miscreants" were on-board with the changes and direction; they simply couldn't stand the verbal abuse and other treatment Mr. Shortt dished out as a puppet-master on the Board, within the POCA Forum and directly to members. You may see me as one of the original instigators, that is primarily because Mr. Shortt threatened to sue me for something I had absolutely no knowledge of or involvement thereto. My response to him on that point served to open a floodgate of dissent by slowly revealing his true nature to others. I'm sorry my original actions of personal defiance dragged others through mud of Mr. Shortt's making; however, I am not sorry that the Board took action to remove him For the past many weeks I have tried to remain silent publicly as it only appeared to create more consternation on-line, which neither this email forum or the POCA forum needed. Both needed to get back to the common good of discussing our common interests. I'm responding now, because I believe you are in that position of trying to really discover the truth and it may not be easy as Mr. Shortt has distorted facts and in most cases totally misrepresented the truth in attempts to discredit long-standing and respected members of POCA who may not have agreed with him but were willing to work toward beneficial solutions to the club. In all that, he would consistently use demeaning and or vulgar language in an attempt to punctuate his point and try to make them believable; those who knew better, would kindly remind him of how he was getting things wrong, and he didn't like that. Why did the majority of board members approve changes that you see today? Because they agreed these changes were good, and even as Mr. Shortt has proclaimed... membership has gone up; I would credit that to the fact the new web site makes it easy to sign-up for the first time or even renew. There's no fight there. Where a fight developed was in his verbal abuse (shall we call it vulgar bullying?) of other board members and members at large. From an outside perspective it appeared the more the board passed in the way of changes, the more Mr. Shortt reveled in the power and the more he refused to change anything about his proposals; instead he would try to move his idea straight to a vote without any discussion or allowing any other board members to do research on facts. Within all this he would bully and use colorful language you might expect to find in a military training camp, but which has no place in a volunteer organization. There are many individuals who might give you personal testimony similar to mine and highlight all kinds of nasty things that Mr. Shortt did, or threatened to do. (Lawsuits... many, many, many (baseless) lawsuit threats) I would encourage anyone who wishes to continue this to please take it to a personal level and not share it with everyone on this email forum, or in the POCA forum; send emails directly to those you seek answers from. Please don't take that as a demand to stop posting publicly, as it isn't. (In contrast to Mr. Shortt who wrote such a demand last year nearly immediately after being confirmed as the new president of POCA), instead, sit back and recall how much has already been said, examine it carefully and ask yourself if more needs to be said. If it does, it does; and (like me) perhaps saying it will relieve you of a burden of secrecy. I wish the best for POCA. Sincerely, Asa Jay Quoting Effie Richards <erichards@zogob.sdcoxmail.com>:
What? If what you said is true, my apologies to Joe.
At this time, I don't know what and who to believe.
I'm signing off.
-- Asa Jay Laughton - sent from somewhere other than home ****************************************************** http://www.w7tsc.org http://www.teampanteraracing.com