Irony of Tim Hanke's Victory

Does anybody else find it ironic that Tim Hanke campaigned for office
on an anti-corruption campaign and, upon winning the election, demands
more money for himself than any previous candidate has ever demanded.

Apparently, he believed his own campaign platform, that Executive
Board members and other insiders are stealing money from the
federation. He decided to run so that he can steal some of that money
too.

Clearly a case of projection. Hanke feels that others have done what
he wants to do himself.

Mr. Hanke wants his round-trip airplane ticket from Boston to Los
Angeles to be paid for by the USCF, plus he wants his hotel bills and
meals for a week to be paid for by the USCF, all this so that he can
"hit the ground running" when he becomes a member of the board.

These items combined will cost the USCF about $1500, money which the
federation does not have.

Just to explain: At the conclusion of the delegate's meeting in Los
Angeles on August 11, there will be a meeting of the new Executive
Board. This meeting will traditionally last two days. This means that
Mr. Hanke will be entitled to receive reimbursement for that ONE NIGHT
in the hotel. He will also be entitled to be reimbursed for his air
ticket back to Boston from that meeting.

However, instead Mr. Hanke wants a round-trip ticket and he wants the
USCF to pay for one week at the hotel plus meals so that he can attend
the various committee meetings and learn about them. These meetings
will take place under the outgoing Executive Board and Mr. Hanke can
attend only as a spectator. Mr. Hanke is definitely not entitled to be
reimbursed for his expenses in attending those meetings, assuming that
he decides to attend them.

Here is what Mr. Hanke has posted on this subject:

From:Tim Hanke )
Subject: Advance Delegate Motion 03-31
Newsgroups:rec.games.chess.politics
Date:2003-07-18 12:29:47 PST

The frigging process as it stands now is far from reasonable.

This morning I talked to Barb Vandermark, Frank Niro's assistant. I
asked her (among other questions) when I would hear anything official
from USCF about my election to the Board.

She said my election wouldn't be official till the Delegates ratify
the election. This won't happen till just before the new Board meets
on August 11. Obviously I will have to buy plane tickets to L.A. weeks
before that, if I am to get any kind of reasonable price and arrive on
time for the meeting.

But wait, there's more. Because I won't be a Board member till the
Delegates ratify the election results, USCF (per USCF President John
McCrary, whom Barb consulted) won't pay my expenses before that date.
Till August 10 or so, I'm a non-person as far as USCF is concerned.

Problem is, all the USCF committee meetings (Financial Committee,
Bylaws, etc.), where the real work gets done, are scheduled for
*before* the Delegates meeting. So if I want to participate in any of
the real work of the USCF's annual meeting, I will have to pay the
cost of several days of hotel & meals.

This does not exactly encourage me to attend the committee meetings
and hit the ground running, fully-informed and knowing all the key
people, when the new Board finally meets.

Meanwhile, all the members of the lame-duck Board are fully covered
for their expenses throughout the committee meetings, even if they
will not be on the Board any longer when the Board actually meets Aug.
11.

To me, this is all frigging ridiculous. I am fully prepared to give up
my hard-earned vacation time to help the USCF, but I was expecting at
least to get reimbursed for major out-of-pocket expenses. As a working
person, my time is money; I am also giving up my family vacation.

Tim Hanke