ATHLETICS: USA Track & Field Board at war with itself, suspending two members with the USATF Annual Meeting starting Friday - The Sports Examiner - Your all-in-one coverage of Olympic-sports news, views, previews and results.
Definitely applause for the attempt, but fwiw I tried to attend in person, and the room was unmarked, doors were closed, when I poked my head in there didn’t seem to be space for spectators, and the check-in desk said it was not for public attendance. Does it count as transparency if you tell the public the wrong info?
Max Siegel is the one who needs to be suspended. USATF is operating in the red due to his salary (its millions, like an order of magnitude higher than someone in that position should be paid).. The sport can't be healthy when the USATF ceo thinks the sport exists to enrich him, like a personal fief, and takes few steps to grow interest in the sport.
What is going on with these 2 suspensions sounds like the opposite of transparency and truthfulness. They are trying to silence people with non disclosure agreements.
Max Siegel and Renee Washington need to resign. Both have been in their positions for far too long. Fiscal issues and stagnation justify their removal.
USATF desperately needs fresh thinking and new blood.
Definitely applause for the attempt, but fwiw I tried to attend in person, and the room was unmarked, doors were closed, when I poked my head in there didn’t seem to be space for spectators, and the check-in desk said it was not for public attendance. Does it count as transparency if you tell the public the wrong info?
I'm not sure what meeting you were trying to attend, but USATF's Annual Meeting is a convention with many meetings over several days.
You have to register to attend, someone off the street who did not register cannot attend.
USATF's board of directors meetings are open to the membership at no cost via Zoom, you have to email someone at USATF to get the link, they post details in advance of the meeting.
A few months ago, when we learned USATF sued its former Board chair Mike Conley as a result of the Jim Estes lawsuit, we wrote, "(We've) heard that this Jim Estes lawsuit had some teeth and could get REAL interesting."
That's proving to be the case. The situation continues to get more and more interesting. Get out your popcorn. Thank you Rich Perlman.
One of the suspensions appears directly related to the Jim Estes lawsuit. USATF has suspended Kristie Killough-Ali, a Chicago attorney, was elected as an Independent Director to the USATF Board in 2018 and whose term will expire in 2026.
I'm not sure how suspending a board member helps though. I love the board members response. Her responding truthfully to a lawyers requests in a lawsuit is not in violation of her board responsibilities.
Perelman wrote:
USATF President Curt Clausen, also an attorney, send Killough-Ali a prior letter on 20 November, which asked for her resignation and also included:
“At a minimum, it is likely you will be a critical witness in the Litigation – both with respect to USATF’s defense of Jim Estes’ claims and with respect to USATF’s claims against Mr. Conley. We expect your positions may be adverse to USATF’s interests in the Litigation.”
Killough-Ali replied to Clausen on 24 November, a day before the Board suspension letter arrived and noted, in part:
“1. The concerns reflected in your letter suggest that providing truthful information is inconsistent with loyalty to USATF, the organization. In fact, the opposite is true: honesty, transparency, and legal compliance are essential to fulfilling our fiduciary obligations.
“2. The letter conflates and confuses loyalty for our CEO & COO with loyalty to USATF. My fiduciary duty is owed exclusively to USATF, the organization – not to individual executives. Truthful testimony upholds that duty; suppressing it violates it.
“3. If legally required to testify, I will do so truthfully and in full alignment with my fiduciary duties owed to USATF.”
She called the 20 November letter “the most serious instance of retaliation” and asked for independent legal counsel to help guide the federation through the legal minefield of the Estes case.
Here is the initiail thread on the lawsuit against Conley:
USATF exists because of the Ted Stevens Act, we are recognized as the national governing body for the sport of track and field in the US by the USOPC and World Athletics.
Plenty of humans are sh*tty, especially those in positions of power. So while this situation is surprising, it isn’t exactly shocking, if that makes sense. Just wait until AI is responsible for making these higher-level decisions on its own, without scummy and tainted human interference.
Is anyone going in person this year? Trying to decide if I'm wasting my time driving down.
I am only attending virtually, but I know people attending in person, and if you already paid the extra $$$$$ to attend in person, seems silly to flush that down the drain.
Plenty of humans are sh*tty, especially those in positions of power. So while this situation is surprising, it isn’t exactly shocking, if that makes sense. Just wait until AI is responsible for making these higher-level decisions on its own, without scummy and tainted human interference.
But AI is being built by some of the worst scummy and tainted humans. Good luck with you techno-fantasies.
Is anyone going in person this year? Trying to decide if I'm wasting my time driving down.
I am only attending virtually, but I know people attending in person, and if you already paid the extra $$ to attend in person, seems silly to flush that down the drain.
Most people I spoke to aren't going this year and my hotel is still refundable so we'll see what I do.
