Ma officials??

[ma_ref]

Originally Posted by Scrapper1

Local IAABO boards are supposed to follow the state board.

Key word: "supposed". And that's why 700+ officials enrolled with the MIAA during their first enrollment period right before the post season tourney? This was before the local boards gave us the green light and enrolled everyone as a board...

Local boards are telling each other and the MIAA that all the officials are unified, but the local boards are telling their membership something different. They're basically saying "this is our stance, but as officials you are independant contractors and can do whatever you want, and we can't stop you or punish you for doing it". You can't say you're going to boycott the post season tournament, and then have more than an ample number of officials register with the MIAA. They might not necessarily be top-notch, deserving officials that would otherwise normally have received a post season assignment, but the MIAA would have more than enough bodies to put 3 officials on court for each game.

Bottom line is that if the local/state board wants any true negotiating pull with the MIAA, the membership needs to officially unionize, which I'm not saying I support by any means. And the problem with that, is that this would drive away a lot of officials from the IAABO boards and push them to one of a number of independent, non-IAABO boards in the state.

[jkumpire]

That policy is insane. Nice idealism, bad reality. If ti is the teams that matter, then why do officials even need to be there in the first place? Let game management handle the post-game stuff, not the officials.

If they want that kind of show of sportsmanship, then do it before the game starts. More people would see it, and it keeps hassles to a minimum.

Sorry for you MA guys.

[tjones1]

I will be very surprised if this doesn't blow up in their face with serious post-game issues with the officials.

[ma_ref]

At our board meeting the other day, we were told the complaint was file Friday (12/5), and that the judge will hear the issue on Thursday morning. Not sure if this means that the judge will issue a ruling then also. We were asked to go and show up at the courthouse on Thursday to show our support on the matter, but I suspect that'll be tough for most people that hold day jobs.

Question: Anybody know who's paying for the legal services of the lawyer representing the state IAABO boards? I've got a feeling I already know the answer, given that most of the individual boards whose members I've spoken with haven't had their dues rate set this year yet...

[Jburt]

Originally Posted by ma_ref

Question: Anybody know who's paying for the legal services of the lawyer representing the state IAABO boards? I've got a feeling I already know the answer, given that most of the individual boards whose members I've spoken with haven't had their dues rate set this year yet...

it is my understanding that your feeling is correct. the state board has asked for a contribution from each member that wants the issue brought to court. if every official agrees it will be something on the order of $5. This was mentioned at one of our first meetings in October, so I'm not sure if it is still true or not.

[ma_ref]

Originally Posted by Jburt

if every official agrees it will be something on the order of $5.

Something I very, very, very much doubt.

So from how you describe it, it almost sounds voluntary. What happens if the contributions don't add up to the lawyer's actual charged fee? Who makes up the difference? Or is the lawyer more or less doing this as some kind of favor, and will just accept anything that the officials think is fair? Sorry for the questions, but my board has mentioned nothing at all about paying this lawyer, or the possibility of dividing the fee amongst the membership.

More to the point, if we are successful with arguing this issue before the judge, what if the MIAA decides to appeal the ruling? That's gotta mean more time, money, and expenses for our lawyer. Glad the individual board's state representatives thought this through and decided to check with their membership before moving forward.

Don't mean to sound sarcastic, and I'm not complaining about spending 5 bucks or whatever, just upset about this in principle. Another reason this whole thing stinks going on 1 and a half years now with no resolution in sight.

[mick]

Originally Posted by ma_ref

Something I very, very, very much doubt.

So from how you describe it, it almost sounds voluntary. What happens if the contributions don't add up to the lawyer's actual charged fee? Who makes up the difference? Or is the lawyer more or less doing this as some kind of favor, and will just accept anything that the officials think is fair? Sorry for the questions, but my board has mentioned nothing at all about paying this lawyer, or the possibility of dividing the fee amongst the membership.

More to the point, if we are successful with arguing this issue before the judge, what if the MIAA decides to appeal the ruling? That's gotta mean more time, money, and expenses for our lawyer. Glad the individual board's state representatives thought this through and decided to check with their membership before moving forward.

Don't mean to sound sarcastic, and I'm not complaining about spending 5 bucks or whatever, just upset about this in principle. Another reason this whole thing stinks going on 1 and a half years now with no resolution in sight.

Miichigan High School Athletic Association recently used some sort of Legal Insurance to contest a court question.

[Scrapper1]

Originally Posted by ma_ref

What happens if the contributions don't add up to the lawyer's actual charged fee? Who makes up the difference?

My guess is the state board will have to pay the difference. Of course, the state board's only income is from the local boards. So, each board might have to pay some sort of assessment fee or something to cover the costs.

Glad the individual board's state representatives thought this through and decided to check with their membership before moving forward.

Your individual board's "state reps" are your elected president, as well as your elected vice president or secretary. You voted for those folks and they represent you on the state board. Perhaps they should have given your local membership more info, or maybe your executive committee simply voted to pay the $5/member out of discretionary funds.

Another reason this whole thing stinks going on 1 and a half years now with no resolution in sight.

I agree that it's gone on too long. That is partly the fault of the state board, to be sure. But I think a resolution is now in sight, for better or for worse. Certainly by the tournament, we'll know 100% what the court's final decision is (even if there is an appeal, which I am hopeful will not happen).

[Jburt]

Originally Posted by ma_ref

Something I very, very, very much doubt.

So from how you describe it, it almost sounds voluntary. What happens if the contributions don't add up to the lawyer's actual charged fee? Who makes up the difference? Or is the lawyer more or less doing this as some kind of favor, and will just accept anything that the officials think is fair? Sorry for the questions, but my board has mentioned nothing at all about paying this lawyer, or the possibility of dividing the fee amongst the membership.

More to the point, if we are successful with arguing this issue before the judge, what if the MIAA decides to appeal the ruling? That's gotta mean more time, money, and expenses for our lawyer. Glad the individual board's state representatives thought this through and decided to check with their membership before moving forward.

Don't mean to sound sarcastic, and I'm not complaining about spending 5 bucks or whatever, just upset about this in principle. Another reason this whole thing stinks going on 1 and a half years now with no resolution in sight.

my understanding is that if EVERY official agrees it will be on the order of $5. If every official doesn't agree then the fee will be divided amongst the officials who agree to pay a fee. I DO NOT KNOW FOR SURE if this is/will be the case. but it is something that I have heard. it doesn't really seem fair that only some officials would pay the fees for others who elect not to and the result would benefit everybody.
I also believe the lawyer is a mass IAABO member.
And there needs to be some resolution soon.