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AMA DISTRICT III YEAR END REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2000 AMA DISTRICT III CLUBS AND PROMOTERS-2000 ROAD DIVISION 1. District III Road Division 2. Adirondack Riders 3. Americade, Inc. 4. Am-Jam, Inc. 5. American Spirit M.C. 6. Christian Motorcyclist Association-Redeemed Riders M.C.\ 7. Freedom Riders M.C. 8. Griffins Association of New York 9. H.O.G. Adirondack Chapter 10. H.O.G. Albany-Schenectady Chapter 11. H.O.G. Syracuse Chapter 12. Kaatskill Mountain Riders M.C. 13. Leatherstocking Touring Society 14. Blue Knights-New York Chapter Eight 15. No Whiners Allowed 16. Lake City M.C. 17. Roamers M.C. AMA DISTRICT III CLUBS AND PROMOTERS OFF ROAD AND RACING 1. Motomasters 2. Square Deal Riders M.C. 3. Claverack Motocross 4. Ken McGuire Specialties 5. New York State Off Highway Recreational Vehicle Association(NYSORVA) 6. Syracuse Area Trail riders Association 7. Thunder Ridge M.C. 8. Unadilla Valley Sports Center, Inc. 9. Royal Mountain Ski Area MODIFICATIONS 1. There have been no changes in by-laws and consititution 2. There have been no additional supplementary rules generated 3. District III- on and off road will continue the policy of sending all paperwork to AMA headquarters by Certified Mail, return receipt requested. 4. A detailed financial report is enclosed as part of this year 2000 report 5. The event calendar for 2001 has been formulated and is listed with sanctions submitted to your offices through Cherie Daniels who gathered them at the December 2nd Sanction Meeting. However, there could still be several events for sanction that have not yet been listed which are still in the formulation stage.
DIVISION CHAIRMAN’S REPORT DISTRICT III-YEAR 2000 There is a goodly amount to report for the year 2000. THE PAC- Last year at the Sanction Meeting, District III voted to set up the Political Action Committee(PAC), the first of its kind on a local level in AMA. The District seeded the PAC with one thousand dollars($1,000) of District funds. From that point, the PAC raised funds throughout the District by 50-50’s and jugs that were set up at events and at Club meetings. While there were no rides specifically planned to benefit the PAC, there were requests for ideas to be taken up at the Sanction Meeting in December of 2000 to help fund the PAC in the year 2001. Throughout the year 2000, and election year, the PAC was able to gain some influence with leadership in the State Legislature by dint of being able to contribute monies to a number of candidates who support our issues. The PAC was also able to afford fairly high priced fund raiser tickets for leadership in both the Senate and Assembly which gave Chairman Schwartz an idea chance to interact with the Speaker of the State Assembly, Sheldon Silver and some of his key assistants, such as vice chairman of the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee, Ronald Canestrari. Through judicious contributions, chairman Schwartz has been able to cultivate a very good relationship with the office of the Majority Leader in the State Senate. That relationship has helped see a real improvement in the number of bills sponsored for the motorcycle community in the Senate and their passage in that house. More on that later in the legislative report. Throughout the year 2000, Chairman Schwartz and Congressmen Dennis Petrie and Mark Catlin have made serious efforts to promote the PAC as one of our chief mechanisms to gain influence in the State Legislature. When we decided to start a PAC in District III, there were suggestions at the Sanction Meeting to seed it with more than the thousand dollars approved. Chairman Schwartz objected to that on the basis that a thousand seed money was enough to find out if our efforts at conducting a PAC would be successful. Those efforts have been very successful and the AMA-PAC is now known in the legislature and has helped considerably in terms of cultivating influence with decision makers in that body. As a result of this, Chairman Schwartz traveled to District 34 in Long Island to attend their District Meeting, late in the year. He made a presentation on the PAC and appealed to that District to join the PAC effort. The presentation was very well received and five hundred and three dollars($503) was raised at that very meeting and given to Schwartz to deposit in the PAC account. Credit must go not only to the enthusiasm of the Club officials in District 34, but especially to Ed “Doc” Szerlip who is now the liaison for District 34 to the PAC. With 34’s entrance into PAC activities, the PAC could now truly be called statewide. However, there is still District 4, representing the large western area of the state. Chairman Schwartz is making a presentation to District 4 on December 10 in Batavia and hopes to have that District join PAC activities for the year 2001. (AS SOON AS THIS MEETING TAKES PLACE, AMENDMENTS TO THIS REPORT WILL BE SENT IN TAKING NOTE OF THE RESULTS OF THAT MEETING.) By making the PAC truly statewide, we can accomplish much more, obviously, than if only one District were involved. Chairman Schwartz is very optimistic about the outcome of these efforts. At the District III Sanction Meeting held in Cobleskill, New York on December 2nd, the District approved a contribution of two thousand dollars ($2000) in District III funds to the PAC. Our PAC funds now stand at about five thousand dollars($5000) and we hope there will be somewhat more once everyone is on board. Chairman Schwartz is going to ask the other Districts to make an annual contribution to the PAC fund as a matter of SOP(Standard Operating Procedure). This would assure at least a few thousand dollars for the fund each year. As everyone knows, a PAC must be continually fed, as monies go out to various events and candidates. Hence, District III approved an idea to raise money for the PAC in the year 2001. The District will sponsore what we call a PAC RIDE-IN, to be held on September 16th. While the location has not been permanently set, the District is considering holding it at an area in the Saratoga State Park, which is in a central location in the state and easy to find and get to by main roads. The idea would be for all Districts in the state to sponsor the PAC RIDE-IN on that date. All Clubs from all Districts would schedule this ride for that day. Clubs could take any kind of ride they wished that day, but all would end up at the RIDE IN LOCATION as the destination for the ride that day. Starting time for the event at the ride in location would be at about 1 pm. Everything would be for the benefit of the PAC. The charge would likely be about ten dollars($10) or thereabouts per person. There would be hot dogs, hamburgers and the like, the cost of which would probably be born by one of several different methods. Either all Districts could contribute a third of the cost, the PAC could stand the cost or District III would stand the cost. District III would use its option of a free sanction and free insurance from National AMA for this event. PAC PROJECTS One of our main projects in the year 2000 was to support and get involved in local elections for state offices. In District III, the PAC supported the effort of 107th Assembly District Democratic candidate Dan Lynch who was running against an entrenched incumbent in a heavily Republican District. The incumbent, Bob Prentiss had never done anything for anyone except himself. Dan is a strong supporter of motorcyclists rights. In any case, we ran a fund raiser for him at Saratoga State Park, which he attended from beginning to the very end and raised about $1500 for his campaign. It was a very successful first time event for the PAC and showed that with the right motivation, at least some motorcyclists will get involved. Also, we had two Off Road Organizations show up with contributions which was gratifying. Lynch made a terrific showing in the election, coming closer to beating Prentiss than anyone had ever expected. Also, several of our members who had never been involved in politics before, volunteered to work in the Lynch campaign along with chairman Schwartz and AMA member Bob Boellner, doing the “dirty work”, like stuffing envelopes, making phone calls or distributing literature. Our efforts at getting AMA member to become actively involved in the political process will continue All in all, advancements in the development of the AMA-PAC in New York State have proceeded smoothly and successfully. Our hope is that with hard work and dedication we can make the AMA-PAC here an even better tool to reach our legislative goals and support those who support us! LEGISLATIVE WORK It was a very busy year for Chairman Larry Schwartz and AMA member Bob “Prospector” Boellner at the New York State Legislature. Both men lobby every week at the legislature while it is in session and work off session on possible legislation or improvements in the next session. We have been having very good success with our goals in the State Senate. Almost all of our proposed legislation passed that house. However, in the State Assembly, nothing got through. The main reason for this has been the Chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, David Gantt. Gantt is a stubborn enemy of motorcycling and motorcyclists and refuses to consider legislation with the word “motorcycle” in it. He, unfortunately, is one of those legislators who holds a grudge against us because ABATE in Rochester, his home district, held demonstrations against him this last year. One of them became quite ugly with a confrontation between demonstration riders and Gantt. We simply have to find ways around Gantt and one of the main ones will be to get the Assembly leadership to see that Gantt’s actions are motivated not by whether a piece of legislation is good or not, but by a personal vendetta against us. The PAC will help us get through to the leadership. Meanwhile, we continue to have our bills re-introduced and have some ideas for other legislation we think is necessary. Here is what we are working on: 1. A bill to RESTORE the ATV Trails and Maintenance Fund. This bill would restore the fund to build and maintain ATV and dirt bike trails. It’s very important to get this legislation, but there have been complications. The Motorcycle Industry Council(MIC) has hired lobbyist Heather Bennett to work on this bill, but so far, the proposals in the Senate and Assembly are not matched up and there has been no movement. Also, the main sponsor in the Asssembly, Michael Bragman of Syracuse was in a personal power battle with the Speaker and consequently lost any influence he had when his posts as Majority Leader was stripped from him. We need to find a new sponsor for this bill. 2. The Helmet Amendment, which would allow those 21 or over to choose whether or not to wear a helmet when riding. It may pass the State Senate this coming session, but has no chance in the Assembly whatsoever because of Gantt’s opposition. He will not let it out of the Transportation Committee. 3. The Grooved Road Bill which would mandate any community that is grooving road for repavement put signage up that is motorcycle specific warning motorcyclists of “grooved road ahead.” Influential Assemblyman Ron Canestrari is carrying this bill for us in the Assembly. He may be able to pressure Gantt to let it through. They downed it last year on the basis that there was already signage for rough road and it would be redundant. We are making our case that grooved road is much different than a construction area or regular rough road and hope our reasons will be convincing. 4. The Accident Investigation Bill to provide for more thorough investigation of motorcycle, bicycle and pededstrian accidents. There is no urgency on this bill from anyone, but we’ll keep promoting it. 5. Toll Reduction Bill which would lower tolls on the New York State Thruway for motorcycles. My hope is that we can convince the Governor’s office that it should be done administratively, rather than through legislation, but the bills are in. Gantt hates the Thruway Authority and this will did get through his Committee once. Maybe we can get it through again. It passed in the Senate. 6. The Anti-Discrimination Bill which would no action would be taken in the design, construction, operation or maintenance of any street, road or highway in the state that would discriminate against motorcyclists. Personally, I don’t think Gantt will allow it to be considered. 7. Motorcycle Safety Advisory Councils Bill which would establish such councils to seek out and report on dangerous road conditions for motorcyclists in each of D.O.T.’s 12 regions, report on them to the proper authorities and press for remedial action. I am working on getting introduced, a bill that would mandate Motorcycle Safety Awarness as a segment of the curriculum for any AUTO DRIVING CLASS given by either High Schools or Private Auto Driving Schools in the State. The State Education Department has again been totally unsupportive, not even wanting to talk about it. I have started the process of asking the Chairmen of both the Assembly and Senate Education Committees to sponsor a bill modeled after Virginia’s already existent statute on this. I also hope to be talking to officials in the State Transportation Department about what steps are being taken, if any, to investigate how to make crash barriers safer for motorcyclists. Right now, in New York State, guard rails are very dangerous in an accident, with their sharp edges and corners. In Spain, action has already been taken to make such barriers safer and I think something could be done in New York State. However, that is a battle that will take some time; probably a few years. Last year, I reported on our effort to get materials on the Motorcycle Defensive Drivers Course given by the Motorcycle Association of New York State(MANYS) distributed to all the High Schools in the state. The State Education Dept. wouldn’t consider it at all until I got some influential legislators to make calls and write. Those materials will be going to every Auto Driving Instructor, whether public or private this coming Spring when the new DMV Driver’s Manual comes out. INTERORGANIZATION COOPERATION One of our main goals this last year was to get a firm bond developed with other motorcycle rights organizations in the state. This has been accomplished. 1. Because of combined lobbying efforts, New York State’s main acitivist and I have led state ABATE and local AMA into a firm partnership. State ABATE has joined AMA as a club. I believe this is unprecedented, nationally. I joined the Capital District Chapter of ABATE. It’s my opinion that Motorcycle Rights Organizations MUST cooperate and be dealing from a position of power on the same page. I have encouraged other AMA members to join ABATE and other rights organizations. 2. The MRF-The Motorcycle Riders Foundation is doing a good job as the umbrella group for basically the ABATE organizations throughout the country. MRF does an outstanding job along with AMA in Washington on national and international issues that affect the motorcycling community. I am an MRF member and encourage other AMA members to join up. Another activity that has accrued some credibility for District III and AMA as well, hasbeen the time that Chairman Schwartz has put into giving seminars on How to Manage the News Media and How to Work with a State Legislature. He has been honored to have been asked by several organizations to give these seminars at national meetings of Motorcycle Rights leaders. So far, the seminars have been given at the MRF sponsored Meeting of the Minds in Denver, Chicago and Burlington, Vermont as well as for the Pennsylvania ABATE Legislative Conference in both 2000 and 2001. Also, he will be giving a seminar at the Introduction to Washington Seminar put on by National AMA in February of 2001. Schwartz also presented a seminar at AMA Congress this year. OTHER ITEMS 1. At this year’s Sanction Meeting, the District approved the concept of a District Grand Tour. It was decided to do research into it before making the effort. 2. The Chairman, Larry Schwartz, has been approached by some Off Road Members to come to an off road meeting again, sometime in the near future, to promote the PAC. He said he would 3. Greater efforts are being made to bring On and Off road members together. All Off Road Clubs will be sent an invitation to attend the PAC RIDE IN later this year. We have pushed the concept that all motorcyclists…whether they be road folks, or off road, ATV and Racing personnel are still all MOTORCYCLISTS. We need to stick together as one unit. Also, members of New York State ABATE will be invited to the AMA PAC RIDE IN in the continuing effort to consolidate the efforts of all motorcycle rights organizations. 4. We are looking for more ways to raise revenue for the District. There Is an idea for clubs to hold a ride, just to raise funds for the Districts’ general fund. We should try and find an idea for the off road and racing folks, to do the same. COMMUNICATION There seems to be a problem in communication with those at AMA headquarters about what clubs are chartered. At the Sanction Meeting, we noted that the Freedom Riders M.C., CMA-Redeemed Riders and the Roamers M.C. were not listed on the latest computer printout. All are chartered Road Division Clubs. We’d like to see this rectified for the next Sanction Meeting.
SUMMARY In summary, District III has made progress on several fronts, especially in legislative and political action. We hope to do even better with the further development of the AMA PAC fund and increased efforts at the New York State Legislature. One thing that has not been so good. We have lost several Road Division Clubs from our roster. They apparently could not sustain their membership or enthusiasm. However, there are indications that other clubs will join the District this year, including the Adirondack Touring Club from the Utica area which has 75 members. Respectfully Lawrence(Larry) Schwartz President, District III |
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