The SSA has a professional executive director. This is the position
that should provide the professional management, or who should at least
recognize his knowledge holes and call in appropriate resources such
that the Society is run in a professional matter, with appropriate
managerial/financial controls, etc. Plan, organize, lead and control,
that is what he is supposed to do. He in turn should be supervised by
an Executive Board, whose members, if they don't have management
expertise, should utilize folk with those skills to assist them in
appropriately managing the executive directorand entire operation. The
overall Board then should provide guidance and input etc to the
Executive Board Both the current executive director and the Executive
Board and the Board did not effectively perform their duties related to
this manner. Clean house. Move the office somewhere where a
reasonable number average members can get to it to visit, oversee, and
volunteer.
Janice Armstrong
Family member and long-time volunteer

Eric Greenwell wrote:
Sam Fly wrote:


Frank Reid wrote:

Frank, SSA was moved to Hobbs due to the efforts of Jack Gomez, Mr Hobbs
in his day, and Judge Hal Lattimore...Jack wanted it and Judge Lattimore
as a Director of Region 10 delivered it. Marion Griffith had a sweet
deal for a site near DFW Airport between Dallas and Fort Worth. But the
Judge had control of the BOD's actions, in those days.

I was there, and Hal (Judge) Lattimore (did not control the BOD's
actions. I certainly did not get any pressure from him. Sterling Starr
was in control of the process (not the outcome) and I think he did a
damn good job. He didn't seem like the kind of guy Hal could push around.

This is a "reprint" of a posting I made about Jan 2005:

"Warning: some details below may differ from the facts, due to imperfect
memory!

The decision to locate the SSA headquarters in Hobbs was not easy,
cheap, or done casually. I was a Regional director at the time (about 15
years ago) when it was decided to move the headquarters out of Santa
Monica, which had become extremely expensive to lease.

The process consumed considerable time and effort over many, many months
on the Director's part, as they sought bids from all over the country.
The primary bids came from soaring groups in Colorado Springs, Elmira,
and Hobbs. Each place made passionate presentations, describing why
their place was the best.

When it came time to vote, the majority of the Directors voted for Hobbs
as the best overall bid for meeting the Society's needs. All bidders had
strengths in different areas, but Hobbs (in the form of the city and the
county) offer of substantial financial assistance, other aid, and a
history of low labor costs, tipped the balance. At the time of our vote,
the Society was swimming in red ink, and this aid was crucial.

As a result, we acquired a fine new office building built to our
specifications in an area of excellent soaring, just across the street
from the airport where regional and national contests are held, and
where the National Soaring Foundation conducts its operation.

Re-locating the office is possible and would yield some benefits, but
the overall picture must be considered very carefully to ensure a net
benefit after the time and costs of finding a new place, moving there,
and continuing operational costs are included."

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Note: email address new as of 9/4/2006
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA

"Transponders in Sailplanes" on the Soaring Safety Foundation website
www.soaringsafety.org/prevention/articles.html

"A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org