My resignation

I think most readers are aware I offered my resignation as VP.

When I ran for VP I wanted one year to work on Rules and Bylaws. I wanted the opportunity to get rid of the obscure stuff that could be brought up that tended to disrupt meetings. I wanted to get rid of the stuff that said one thing in one place and something else in another place.

For the most part, that's been accomplished. Getting the Rules of Play to not contradict the Bylaws was easier than I thought it would be.

I am confident the proposed rules changes will achieve the reason I ran for the office. There will always be stuff coming up that no one anticipated. No Bylaws or Rules will ever be complete or all-inclusive.

I had a great committee to work with. Rick Lowery and Steve Terronez gave me insight and viewpoints I couldn't possibly have had on my own. We've gone through our recollections of meetings and Directors decisions and we think we have all (or most) of them that were not recorded in Bylaws or Rules brought back to the Directors.

It took less than 6 months to achieve the goals I had when I ran for the office. The WDA needs more people with experience serving on the Council. It is for those reasons that I offered my resignation as VP.

WDA finances

It seems the WDA has been on a record-setting course of spending money lately. There was no Directors meeting in June. The lack of a June financial report and the amount of money the WDA is pouring into darting right now raised some questions with some members. Several asked me to review the financial records of the WDA.

I wasn't expecting any problems, but when I looked at the financial records - I was shocked. Shocked, shocked, shocked I tell you. Not at the dismal state of the WDA's finances but at the great state of the WDA's finances and the tremendous efforts some people have made.

After paying the entry fees for 2 Youths to go to the National Youth Playoffs and after adding $1,000 to the blind draws at a Regional Qualifier that sent Dan Zimmerman and Leanna Clifford to national-level competition, the WDA's finances are healthy.

The bank balance is about what we're used to seeing on monthly financial reports.

Dan and Christy Zimmerman must be recognized for their outstanding efforts at raising money for the Youth Leagues. It's mainly their efforts that raised about $1,500 for the Youth. A significant amount of that came from outside the WDA. The darters in Wichita will support the goals of the WDA, but at some point our pockets get a little thin. Money from outside the WDA is critical. Dan and Christy did one of the best jobs ever seen in this organization of working hard to achieve the goals of the WDA.

Due to those efforts the Youth Fund has enough money to pay the travel costs of sending our Youth Darters to the Nationals without taking it out of the WDA Treasury.

The Frog Leagues have made a generous contribution to the WDA.

The only expenses we have coming up between now and the Air Cap are the Turkey Shoot, the postponed Spring Fling, and probably a qualifier or 2. Those aren't major expenditures and League fees look to be in great shape. I project a very comfortable balance in the bank after the Air Cap.

June Leaders

Pardon me for being a little slow with this update. PPD updates at this stage of the season are pretty meaningless because ppd's pretty much stop moving around this time of the season. There was a period when Thursday night ppd's were updated once in the 3 weeks. That doesn't affect league play, but it makes it a bit pointless to update the League Leaders.

I just flat missed the final Monday night results.

Thursday night as of June 14, 2007

PPD Leaders

1 - Kraig Moore - 18.47
2 - Dale Casey - 17.22
3 - Gary Boisen - 16.96
4 - Clint Phillips - 15.08
5 - Brett Rogers - 14.91
6 - Tony Jessup - 14.57
7 - Mike Seeley - 14.29
8 - Rich Pike - 14.03
9 - Kenny Chamberlain - 13.96
10 - Dave Rosendale - 13.77
11 - Alan "Bubba" Leffew - 13.59
12 - Richard Cranford - 13.1

Thursday Night W/L Leaders

1 - Tony Jessup - 17/3 - 85.00% - 14.57
2 - Clint Phillips - 19/9 - 67.86% - 15.08
3 - Merlin Suderman - 17/9 - 65.38% - 9.15
4 - Dale Casey - 13/7 - 65.00% - 17.22
5 - Alan Bubba Leffew - 9/5 - 64.29% - 13.59
6 - Jim Dunham - 17/10 - 62.96% - 11.36
7 - Gary Boisen - 18/11 - 62.07% - 16.96
8 - Shawn Russel - 16/10 - 61.54% - 10.65
9 - Richard Cranford - 13/9 - 59.09% - 13.1
10 - Brett Rogers - 7/5 - 58.33% - 14.91

Monday Night PPD Leaders

1 - Dan Zimmerman - 24.3
2 - Brent Timmermeyer - 18.47
3 - Rich Pike - 17.82
4 - Gregg Turner - 17
5 - Tony Jessup - 15.84
6 - Matt Rathbun - 15.42
7 - Randy Gillis - 15.17
8 - Terry Hassler - 13.74
9 - Alan Bubba Leffew - 13.39
10 - Mark Redeker - 13.32
11 - Jeff Prince - 13.08

Good news and bad news

Good news: The Regional held at the Legion had an outstanding turnout. Dan Zimmerman and Leanna Clifford qualified to go to a National shootout for a chance to play on a team representing the USA.

Bad news: The $1,000 added by the WDA for the blind draws was never brought to the Members or the Directors for a vote and that is creating some controversy.

Good news: The Legion produced an excellent menu of meals, snacks and "bar food" to serve at the Regional Playoffs. The Legion brought in a chef experienced with service to the expected crowd.

Bad news: The darters evidently weren't very hungry. Total food sales didn't cover the cost of the food the Legion bought for the Regional.

Good news: The Youth Fundraiser at Sedgwick County Park is expected to have a great turnout and raise money to help send 2 Youths to the National Youth Championship.

Bad news: The cancellation of the Spring Fling and the announcement of the Youth BBQ fundraiser were approximately simultaneous. The cancellation of the Spring Fling was attributed to a question of "fiscal responsibility". Was it impossible to hold both events? The cost to the WDA for Spring Fling is about $80. I can't imagine that an $80 expenditure raises a question of "fiscal responsibility".

Unfortunately, the good news is running short, but there's still some bad news coming.

A financial report hasn't been seen since the March report. There have been several requests by different members to review the WDA's financial records. There has been no response to those requests. I am one of the members requesting to review the WDA's financial records. I have informed both Kraig and Ron and given them both a second request after getting no response to my first request.

I have received requests from several members to review the WDA's financial records. These requests have ranged from "I want to see where we're at" to "I demand to see what's going on and if there's any question I'm hiring a CPA and I'm going to make sure the WDA pays for it".

When I reported that to Kraig, his response was that I should stop making up imaginary people to further my own agenda. My wife is not an "imaginary person". She's the one demanding an audit. Those who have known me and Robby more than a few days have probably figured out that she's her own person, I don't pull her strings like a puppet, she's an independent thinker and I'm the last person who could influence her to "further my agenda".

I am confident there's nothing "funny" going on with the WDA's finances. I'm confident the WDA is on sound fiscal footing. I am confident that a review of the WDA's financial records will dispell the financial questions among the membership. I am confident a review of the WDA's finances will reveal there was no question of "fiscal responsibility" for cancelling the Spring Fling. Unfortunately, that will bring up the question, "Why was the Spring Fling cancelled"?

I am confident that if I can review the WDA's finances I can resolve some questions some members have. I don't want to get 3 months of financial statements at the next Director's meeting and have to wade through them and take up all the Captains' time figuring out how everything in the WDA is working.