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Letters from supporters are listed here. We have a email supporters list. We send out occasional emails to the group. If you would like to join this group please email me at nneville@charter.nat

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Nick

 

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Wednesday, February 12, 2003

 Gentlemen,

I received a phone call from Jim McNeil yesterday at my home. I would like everyone to know that up until yesterday, Mr. McNeil had Absolutely NO
idea who I was. What prompted this phone call was an e-mail that I sent to hi asking what his basis for firing Mr. Stillman from the Frequency coordinator
position. Mr. McNeil is MY elected representative and receives MY dues
money to reimburse his travels around the district; therefore I feel justified
in being able to obtain a reasonable and rational answer to my questions pertaining to AMA business that is paid for with MY dues dollars.
 Mr. McNeil told me that he fired Mr. Stillman from the frequency
coordinator position after he engaged in "dirty politics" by putting up a banner at
the Birmingham RC club field. I then asked him if the "dirty politics"
included any lies or mistruths, and he began to hmmm and hawww and accuse me of not listening to him -- even though I was being completely silent on the
telephone!! When I finally got a chance to get a word in edgewise, I asked
him "So you fired Mr. Stillman because he ran against you for election,
not because he was failing as a Frequency Coordinator??" He then began to rant
about me not listening (again I was silent). At that point I reminded him
that the Frequency Coordinator position is extrememly important SAFETY
function to everyone in the district and especially to ME and MY SON and
that it should be handled by someone with experience above the normal
modeller. Which led me to my next question for Mr. McNeil. . .
"Mr. McNeil, how long have you flown RC airplanes?". . . a defeaning
silence. I had heard rumors that your Distict VP cannot and has not ever
flown and RC airplane and now I had the chance to ask him the question
directly. His answer was "That has nothing to do with anything". . .
"When, Mr. McNeil, is the last time you flew an RC airplane off of a buddy box --
Solo??" His answer was very halting and vague "Just the other day".
Guys, I lived with a pathological liar for seven years (my ex-wife), so I
am very well trained in the art of detecting a lie; so I challenge anyone
from Mr. McNeil's club to send me a photo of him flying an RC airplane solo or
vouch that they see him flying solo and I will get on this forum and any
public forum of Mr. McNeils choice and eat my words. I can tolerate alot
of things, but being lied to directly really gets my dander up!!
Now, back to the point of this thread. I asked him a couple more direct
questions about his qualifications to act as Frequency Coordinator - a
safety sensitive position in MY district affecting MINE and MY SON'S well
being. His answer - "I have all of the boxes (I assume he was talking
about frequency scanners) and send them out to whoever requests them". . . OK,
 that's nice, you can act as an equipment custodian, but do you know what
to do if a club is having a problem?? What qualifications and experience do
you have past sending out the frequency scanners to help them RESOLVE their
problems which affect the safety at that field. Once again, that deafening
silence then telling me I'm not listening (as I sit there in silence).
Next, he began telling me that he was doing a good job since there have been "no
complaints" so far as he was doing the frequency coordinator job. Ahhh,
the classic "no complaints" approval rating. I'm in no position to
independently assess whether there have been any complaints from any clubs, but if there are any out there, please pass them to me and I will be very happy to
contact him again and ask him to rebut his "no complaints" job approval
rating.
The rest of the conversation went very badly, with Mr. McNeil telling me
it was "None of my Business" to know what leadership positions he had been in
in ANY phase of his life, personal or professional that would qualify him
to put together a team of AVP's to manage this district's business. He then
got irate that I sent my original e-mail to all THREE of his e-mail addresses.
This caught me off guard, and I told him that I had two e-mail addresses
myself and that in this day and age it's really not a big deal. Kinda
confusing towards the end. Anyway, the 30 minute conversation ended with
him saying "You're not listening" to me about 20 times and then he hung up on
me. Well, so much for having a responsive ELECTED representative. I'm sure
that if anyone has any other questions of him they will have to get them in
quick since I am now certainly on his "do not call/e-mail/write" list.

Keith L. Hoard
Cordova, TN

 


Subject: Re: [AMA Dist V] R/C

I was at the Gator club fly in were Jim McNeil was given the opportunity to
try his hand at RC flying.  I did not observe one unkind word being spoken to
Jim.  He was treated with the same friendship and camaraderie as all the
other modelers present.

What we really need to talk about is Tony Stillman.  As many of you know, he
is running against McNeil in the next VP election.  He was also present at
the fly in and it was very interesting to contrast the two candidates. 
McNeil basically had nothing to say of relevance to modeling or modelers. 
Tony on the other hand showed himself to be very informed about current
issues and willing to express himself.  More importantly, he spent time
listening to different opinions.  There is no doubt in my mind that Tony
Stillman can best represent our district.

Bill Cassidy

From: Jack_G 
Lexington, SC

I met Tony Stillman at the Invitational Aerobatics Championship in Greenville, SC a couple of years ago. Tony was a competitor, and it was the first time I'd seen TOC type planes first-hand. He took a few minutes of his time between flights to talk to me, answered several of my "dumb" questions, and left me with the impression he is a truly nice guy.

At a time when he probably had every right and reason to brush me off, he didn't. That says a lot about him as a person. Watching him fly made it clear this guy is one hell of an RC pilot as well.

I've already signed one of the forms being passed around to get him on the ballot.

Tony Stillman has my vote in the election!

Jack