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"I think it is important that MCRGO members are informed about how we are being treated." - David K. Felbeck, President of MCRGO - October 24, 2003
2004 Resignations Jeanne L Kidle, Chapter Chair [January 24, 2004] It is after much thought and with sadness that I resign my position as Genesee County Chapter Chairperson. MCRGO has moved in directions I cannot endorse and the leadership is no longer responsive to the membership. I have watched dedicated activists be demonized and ousted without cause, and can tolerate no more. I have enjoyed doing things in our county, meeting all of you, and working with you at gun shows. I am not, however, abandoning the continuing fight for our second amendment rights. I will be very involved with two new gun rights groups: Great Lakes Shooting Sports Association (GLSSA.org) contact Rod Collins - rcoll4427@aol.com Citizens Alliance for Firearm Rights contact Barbara Stockford - bstockford@comcast.net Both groups are very impressive and off to great starts! I hope you will contact these people about the groups and join their membership ranks. I look forward to working with all of you again. Thank you for everything - Jeanne L Kidle jeankidle@juno.com 810.232.3207 Barbara A. Stockford, Director [January 26, 2004] Dear Members of the Board of Directors of MCRGO and members at large: Since my election, I have done my best to serve this organization well, as a member, a chapter officer, and as a director of this corporation. My goal has been to further the cause of firearms rights in the State of Michigan, and everything I have done, before and after my election, has been meant to further that goal for all of our citizens. Now, however, I no longer believe that I can participate in the direction this organization is headed. (Edited from original: sentences removed) I can no longer, in good conscience, associate myself with this. (Edited from original: Several sentences removed.) I don't wish MCRGO any harm, and in fact, I wish it the very best. Each person, each organization, who engages in the battle to preserve our right to self-defense is my ally, and I hope that MCRGO will always be able to say that preserving that right is its most important goal. I hope each of you can look into your own hearts and say that was your wish, also. With that, I renounce position as director of this corporation. I wish you well. With best regards, Barbara A. Stockford Pam Benzing, Affiliate Relations Manager [February 2004] To the Board of Directors: After much thought and consideration I have decided to resign as MCRGO Affiliate Relations Manager and as Chair of the 2004 Annual Meeting Planning Committee. I began to develop serious questions regarding the leadership of MCRGO when long-term, hard-working members were by-passed for appointment to the Board of Directors in favor of a person who had only been a member for a matter of months and who has no proven record of support for Second Amendment rights. The only qualifications offered in support of appointing that person to a seat on the Board were that he belongs to another organization which has purchased advertising in On Target and has purportedly brought an influx of new memberships to MCRGO. The fact that this other organization has been a client of Chuck's since before he became Executive Director of MCRGO also raises serious questions for me. The fact that the person appointed to the Board of Directors of MCRGO has close ties to persons who is under orders from the US Department of Labor regarding the misuse of union pension monies also raises major concerns. As the censorship of the MCRGO forum message board increased, so did my discomfort level with the message that was being sent out by the Board of Directors. The fact that Director Li was banned from the message boards, with no warning, for stating facts that made the rest of the leadership uncomfortable, tells me that the leadership of MCRGO has serious problems. I have watched Chuck and the rest of the Board shut out both Director Barbara Stockford and Director Neva Li so that they could not properly do the job to which they were elected by the membership. As Director Li continued to ask that MCRGO fulfill State laws and provide the records that she needs in order to properly do her job as secretary of the organization, the response from Chuck, Dale and others has been nothing less than vindictive. Director Li has poured her very heart and soul into furthering Second Amendment rights through MCRGO by giving freely of her time, money and hard work. When it became clear that the MCRGO forum message board was dying due to censorship, Director Li spent her own money to set up a message board where proponents of firearms rights could continue to interact and educate one another without censorship. You, the Board of Directors, under Chuck's leadership, are now rewarding Director Li for her dedication by instructing a Chapter Chair to exclude her from teaching the Eddie Eagle program which she worked hard to promote in his area, and by voting to revoke her membership in MCRGO. When it became clear that after more than a year during which there have been no committee appointments or assignments made, that MCRGO was no longer an organization in which the members were going to be included in doing the actual work of lobbying legislators in Lansing, Director Stockford resigned her seat in MCRGO and put her efforts into creating a group that would dedicate itself to putting to work those who wanted to be directly involved in the legislative process to further firearms rights. When my husband, who had been asking repeatedly since January 2003 for appointment to the MCRGO Legislative Committee without result, learned of the formation of the new group, he signed on immediately. The response from Executive Director Perricone and unnamed members of the Board of Directors was to infer that my husband could not be a "loyal" member of MCRGO while belonging to any other firearms rights organization. There are more reasons than I can list here, for my decision to resign, but they all add up to the fact that MCRGO has become an organization of fear and intimidation, lies and secrets which are being used to cover illegal and unethical practices. As an honorable person I cannot continue to represent such an organization. Please let me know how to go about returning the Affiliate Relations records to MCRGO. Sincerely, Pam Benzing State Representative Susan Tabor, Director [March 4, 2004] As of the date of this e-mail, I hereby resign from the MCRGO Board of Directors. Sincerely, Susan Tabor Phil Webster, Chapter Chair [March 8, 2004] To whom it may concern, Effective immediately, I hereby tender my resignation as Chapter Chair for Ottawa and Allegan counties as reflected in MCRGO literature both printed and electronic. Please remove all references to myself from these and all mediums. After serving as Chapter Chair for these and occasionally other counties for Seven (7) years I feel my time no longer has a significant impact on the rights I defend. Where I used to sign up many new members and collect well over $100 in an afternoon, I now sign up or renew one or two and cannot collect enough in donations to pay for the next shows table. MCRGO began as a coalition to merge the many small organizations into one powerful organization. This was accomplished. MCRGO now forces its resources to leave and again form many splinter groups. The organization is no longer responsive to its membership. The organization is blind to it's volunteers providing absolutely no support/direction to them. MCRGO has become an organization unto itself, existing only to satisfy the whims, salaries, and political aspirations of the few. You have all become so defensive of the criticisms of the many that you listen to no criticism at all. I no longer wish to be associated with it and will take you up on the suggestion in the last newsletter article to assist the ever growing number of other groups forming to fill the massive void that MCRGO once filled. I have mailed the following to the MCRGO PO box. These are memberships and donations from two gun shows and an amateur radio swap meet. I have a couple of hats and stickers remaining as well as a banner that may be picked up with prior notice. $100 for the following membership forms included. Dale Rhowmine Paid previously but never received membership Erich Burgstahler Larry Joymer Robert Holmes Orrin Dennis I have never been provided with current Trifolds so all I had were still reflecting $20 memberships. I supplemented the memberships with an additional $5 each from the general donations. $23 General donations/merchandise Receipt for Gun Show Table Receipt for MO's Regards, Phil Webster
Jeanne L Kidle, Chapter Chair [January 24, 2004] It is after much thought and with sadness that I resign my position as Genesee County Chapter Chairperson. MCRGO has moved in directions I cannot endorse and the leadership is no longer responsive to the membership. I have watched dedicated activists be demonized and ousted without cause, and can tolerate no more. I have enjoyed doing things in our county, meeting all of you, and working with you at gun shows. I am not, however, abandoning the continuing fight for our second amendment rights. I will be very involved with two new gun rights groups: Great Lakes Shooting Sports Association (GLSSA.org) contact Rod Collins - rcoll4427@aol.com Citizens Alliance for Firearm Rights contact Barbara Stockford - bstockford@comcast.net Both groups are very impressive and off to great starts! I hope you will contact these people about the groups and join their membership ranks. I look forward to working with all of you again. Thank you for everything - Jeanne L Kidle jeankidle@juno.com 810.232.3207
Barbara A. Stockford, Director [January 26, 2004] Dear Members of the Board of Directors of MCRGO and members at large: Since my election, I have done my best to serve this organization well, as a member, a chapter officer, and as a director of this corporation. My goal has been to further the cause of firearms rights in the State of Michigan, and everything I have done, before and after my election, has been meant to further that goal for all of our citizens. Now, however, I no longer believe that I can participate in the direction this organization is headed. (Edited from original: sentences removed) I can no longer, in good conscience, associate myself with this. (Edited from original: Several sentences removed.) I don't wish MCRGO any harm, and in fact, I wish it the very best. Each person, each organization, who engages in the battle to preserve our right to self-defense is my ally, and I hope that MCRGO will always be able to say that preserving that right is its most important goal. I hope each of you can look into your own hearts and say that was your wish, also. With that, I renounce position as director of this corporation. I wish you well. With best regards, Barbara A. Stockford
Pam Benzing, Affiliate Relations Manager [February 2004] To the Board of Directors: After much thought and consideration I have decided to resign as MCRGO Affiliate Relations Manager and as Chair of the 2004 Annual Meeting Planning Committee. I began to develop serious questions regarding the leadership of MCRGO when long-term, hard-working members were by-passed for appointment to the Board of Directors in favor of a person who had only been a member for a matter of months and who has no proven record of support for Second Amendment rights. The only qualifications offered in support of appointing that person to a seat on the Board were that he belongs to another organization which has purchased advertising in On Target and has purportedly brought an influx of new memberships to MCRGO. The fact that this other organization has been a client of Chuck's since before he became Executive Director of MCRGO also raises serious questions for me. The fact that the person appointed to the Board of Directors of MCRGO has close ties to persons who is under orders from the US Department of Labor regarding the misuse of union pension monies also raises major concerns. As the censorship of the MCRGO forum message board increased, so did my discomfort level with the message that was being sent out by the Board of Directors. The fact that Director Li was banned from the message boards, with no warning, for stating facts that made the rest of the leadership uncomfortable, tells me that the leadership of MCRGO has serious problems. I have watched Chuck and the rest of the Board shut out both Director Barbara Stockford and Director Neva Li so that they could not properly do the job to which they were elected by the membership. As Director Li continued to ask that MCRGO fulfill State laws and provide the records that she needs in order to properly do her job as secretary of the organization, the response from Chuck, Dale and others has been nothing less than vindictive. Director Li has poured her very heart and soul into furthering Second Amendment rights through MCRGO by giving freely of her time, money and hard work. When it became clear that the MCRGO forum message board was dying due to censorship, Director Li spent her own money to set up a message board where proponents of firearms rights could continue to interact and educate one another without censorship. You, the Board of Directors, under Chuck's leadership, are now rewarding Director Li for her dedication by instructing a Chapter Chair to exclude her from teaching the Eddie Eagle program which she worked hard to promote in his area, and by voting to revoke her membership in MCRGO. When it became clear that after more than a year during which there have been no committee appointments or assignments made, that MCRGO was no longer an organization in which the members were going to be included in doing the actual work of lobbying legislators in Lansing, Director Stockford resigned her seat in MCRGO and put her efforts into creating a group that would dedicate itself to putting to work those who wanted to be directly involved in the legislative process to further firearms rights. When my husband, who had been asking repeatedly since January 2003 for appointment to the MCRGO Legislative Committee without result, learned of the formation of the new group, he signed on immediately. The response from Executive Director Perricone and unnamed members of the Board of Directors was to infer that my husband could not be a "loyal" member of MCRGO while belonging to any other firearms rights organization. There are more reasons than I can list here, for my decision to resign, but they all add up to the fact that MCRGO has become an organization of fear and intimidation, lies and secrets which are being used to cover illegal and unethical practices. As an honorable person I cannot continue to represent such an organization. Please let me know how to go about returning the Affiliate Relations records to MCRGO. Sincerely, Pam Benzing
State Representative Susan Tabor, Director [March 4, 2004] As of the date of this e-mail, I hereby resign from the MCRGO Board of Directors. Sincerely, Susan Tabor
Phil Webster, Chapter Chair [March 8, 2004] To whom it may concern, Effective immediately, I hereby tender my resignation as Chapter Chair for Ottawa and Allegan counties as reflected in MCRGO literature both printed and electronic. Please remove all references to myself from these and all mediums. After serving as Chapter Chair for these and occasionally other counties for Seven (7) years I feel my time no longer has a significant impact on the rights I defend. Where I used to sign up many new members and collect well over $100 in an afternoon, I now sign up or renew one or two and cannot collect enough in donations to pay for the next shows table. MCRGO began as a coalition to merge the many small organizations into one powerful organization. This was accomplished. MCRGO now forces its resources to leave and again form many splinter groups. The organization is no longer responsive to its membership. The organization is blind to it's volunteers providing absolutely no support/direction to them. MCRGO has become an organization unto itself, existing only to satisfy the whims, salaries, and political aspirations of the few. You have all become so defensive of the criticisms of the many that you listen to no criticism at all. I no longer wish to be associated with it and will take you up on the suggestion in the last newsletter article to assist the ever growing number of other groups forming to fill the massive void that MCRGO once filled. I have mailed the following to the MCRGO PO box. These are memberships and donations from two gun shows and an amateur radio swap meet. I have a couple of hats and stickers remaining as well as a banner that may be picked up with prior notice. $100 for the following membership forms included. Dale Rhowmine Paid previously but never received membership Erich Burgstahler Larry Joymer Robert Holmes Orrin Dennis I have never been provided with current Trifolds so all I had were still reflecting $20 memberships. I supplemented the memberships with an additional $5 each from the general donations. $23 General donations/merchandise Receipt for Gun Show Table Receipt for MO's Regards, Phil Webster
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