Cascade member? WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Mad Pick · Mar 22, 2021

Are you a Cascade Shooting Facilities member? Or do you know someone who is? We need your help, so please send the link to this thread to members that you know!

Short and sweet version:
Please return your Cascade board ballots IMMEDIATELY when you receive them, and we ask for your support for:

President: Derek Mirkle
Vice-President: JoDee Ferrell
Treasurer: Arlene Martin
Master at Arms: Darin Puryear

We would love to have you attend the April 5th member meeting to hear about some important issues that we are facing, and you can bring your ballot to the meeting if you haven't mailed it in.

The full story:
Cascade is holding its board election on April 5th, and this will be the most important election that we have had in many years. Unfortunately, the existing board has delayed mailing of our ballots, so there will be very little time to get them turned around and returned by the April 5th deadline. If you don't mail your ballot with plenty of time for it to arrive, please attend the April 5th meeting and deliver it by hand!

So what's so important this time?
Yes, Cascade is an amazing range and we love it! However, the direction of the club is not what it needs to be to ensure our future. Unfortunately, some current members of the board are not interested in improving our trajectory, and are doing everything they can to maintain the status quo. A great example is the recent email that we received from the club president, where he not only announced the election (a good and proper thing to do), but also provided his own personal endorsements for the board, on club letterhead, and sent to all members. How is that fair to the other candidates, who do not have the same access to the entire membership? Would we accept such a move from a government official? This is very unethical "thumb on the scale" behavior, and it's an indication of how important it is to them to maintain the power that they have.

Fortunately, a number of active club members have recognized that we need to do better. One of those is Curtis Bingham (our very own Rutilate here on NWFA, you might know him from all the Easy Actions of the Day in the fight for our rights in Olympia!), who put out the call for folks who are qualified to serve and have a keen interest in making the club better . . . and some very good people responded! After some discussion, they realized that they shared some very important common goals:

Facilitate greater youth access
Youth are the long-term future of our sport, and the club must do a better job of creating opportunities for youth to participate in all the shooting sports. Yes, we have a Juniors program now, but its scope is extremely limited and it has very low participation. There is HUGE potential to do better in this area!

Enable female shooters
Women are the immediate future of our sport; they are the fastest-growing segment of the shooting population. The club needs to do a better job of welcoming female members and spouse members into the club activities. In fact, the club is considering an amendment at the April 5 meeting that will essentially shut down all outside trainers from using the facility, most notably the hugely successful women's training program provided by Adventure Protection that has brought large numbers of women to the Ladies Days at the Range and to the waiting list for membership, and perhaps even more importantly into the sport and the rolls of pro-2A voters. Please plan on attending the meeting on April 5 to hear more about how this amendment would hurt the club's efforts to enable female shooters.

Increase transparency and member involvement
The most common refrain from members at the range is that they don't have any idea what is going on with the club. There hasn't been a newsletter or meeting minutes published and sent to the members for years. Many members have been frustrated because they've offered their services but have been rebuffed. The club can do a much better job of engaging members.

Improve 2A support
Our 2A rights are under attack like never before, with all the branches of government in both Washington state and Washington, DC under anti-gun politician control. We need to do a better job of informing members about what is going on in Olympia and DC and helping them stand up for their rights.

Ensure a successful lease renewal!
This is where it all comes to rest. The club has a 30-year land lease with King County that must be renewed within the next 5 years. If we don't start doing a better job with the issues above, we're going to find it very difficult to demonstrate that we're fulfilling the lease terms that require us to demonstrate that we exist for the PUBLIC good. The King County Council is not 2A friendly; we need to demonstrate we're doing the right things to ensure our lease is renewed. The very future of our club depends on this.

All of the candidate statements can be found here:

https://membership.cascadeshootingfacilities.org/resources/CSF%202021%20Board%20Candidate%20Statements%5b14790%5d.pdf

You'll notice some striking similarities between some of those candidate statements . . . and that is intentional. As discussed above, they share common goals to improve our club, and they will work as a team to achieve these goals. We are asking for your support for these candidates:

President: Derek Mirkle
Vice-President: JoDee Ferrell
Treasurer: Arlene Martin
Master at Arms: Darin Puryear

What can you do to help?
We need everyone's support to help ensure that we have a successful future as the best range in the region! Please:
1) If you're a member, chime in below. If you know a member, forward them a link to this post so they can see what we are trying to achieve.
2) If you want to discuss anything in more detail, the candidates are more than willing to do so, in this thread or by email or phone. Derek can be reached at (425) 432-3534 or [email protected].
3) PLEASE make sure your ballots are returned before the meeting on April 5th! The club has delayed the sending of the ballots to the last minute and with the postal mail as it is, there's a real risk that your ballot won't get back in time. Please mail it back immediately when you get it, or drop it in the mailbox on the back wall of the club house kitchen, or bring it to the meeting on April 5th.
4) We would love to see you at the April 5th meeting so you can weigh in on the amendments that are being discussed—one will increase membership, another will shut down the women's training program and potentially other valuable programs as well, and the last one will reduce frivolous amendments that haven't been well thought out.

Please support Derek, JoDee, Arlene and Darin . . . and the future of the club that we love. Thank you!

Mad Pick · Apr 1, 2021

MadPick said:
Unfortunately, some current members of the board are not interested in improving our trajectory, and are doing everything they can to maintain the status quo. A great example is the recent email that we received from the club president, where he not only announced the election (a good and proper thing to do), but also provided his own personal endorsements for the board, on club letterhead, and sent to all members. How is that fair to the other candidates, who do not have the same access to the entire membership? Would we accept such a move from a government official? This is very unethical "thumb on the scale" behavior, and it's an indication of how important it is to them to maintain the power that they have.

And guess what? THEY HAVE DOUBLED DOWN ON THE UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR!

If you're a member, by now you've probably seen the email that the current club vice-president (who is running for office!) sent today, using club letterhead, to the entire membership. In that email, he lauds the work done by the current board, and trashes the ideas and efforts of those who are running against the incumbents. Don't get me wrong, he's entitled to his opinion and to share it, but using an official club email to the entire membership is WRONG by any measure, and it provides a great illustration of the entitled behavior that we are trying to replace.

One of the priorities that our slate of challengers has put forward is to promote the shooting sports with women. In today's email, the vice president extolled the accomplishments of the club (read: incumbents) in this area; he listed a handful of women (by name) in the club who are good shooters, as evidence of the club's great accomplishments in this area. Did any of you, as you read that email, think, "I'm not a racist, I play golf with a black guy"?

We have asked the board to give us "equal time" and send a response out to the entire membership, as they have done . . . twice now, in fact. We are awaiting their response, which we do not expect to be favorable.

Cascade is a great club. But we need to be so much better than this!

Folks, by now it's probably too late to safely mail your ballots. Please, PLEASE bring your ballot to the meeting next Monday (April 5th), and help us get some new blood on the board! You don't need to stay for the whole meeting if you don't want to, but please bring your ballot personally to drop it off; you can't have a friend bring it for you.

Thank you!

rutilate · Apr 1, 2021

Oh look! I'm the subject of an entire email from the Cascade VP to all of its members!

I would have a very hard time paying Facebook or Google for this kind of broad advertising!

In a previous post, I mentioned that some members of the current board at Cascade Shooting Facilities were going to great, unethical lengths to remain in power.

And as MadPick said, yesterday, they doubled down—and did it again.

As those who're club members will have seen, the current VP (and current election candidate) complained that I am out to destroy the elections and by extension, Cascade Shooting Facilities. My get-rich-quick, money-grubbing efforts to continue overpriced women's classes at the range means that we're hogging ever-scarce club resources from paying members.

And because we here at "Action Ventures" as the VP called us, more properly known as Adventure Protection, clearly stand to lose so much, I'm pulling all the strings of the puppet candidates who're running for election, like the Wizard of Oz.

What a lark.

Yes, we (me, my wife, daughter, and son) teach classes at Cascade. What is the actual impact on the club? We use the classroom (which is never used by members), and we use one of five pistol bays for 2.5 hours on a Saturday afternoon, twice a month. We specifically time it for afternoon, as that is when the pistol bays see the least amount of member pressure. Quite often, we're the only ones on the entire pistol range.

Are we charging money for the classes? Yes, we are. We have four paid instructors and 3 other volunteer instructors who work one on one with the students, keeping their finger off the trigger and pointing their muzzles down range, and personalizing instruction for their individual level. Most other classes only provide a single instructor, barking commands with everyone expected to keep up. We provide coffee, donuts in the AM, a complete lunch, water, and snacks throughout the day. We provide extensive handouts for their learning. We provide eye and ear protection for them to take home, and a 3d-printed firearm dummy training replica that enables them to get comfortable with the firearm and safe practices without having everyone point firearms at all their neighbors during class. We provide all the ammo for all the students. We provide ~25 different firearms for them to try on for size so they can choose the firearm that perfectly fits them rather than what someone behind the gun counter tells them to buy. The women tell us that we're hands-down better than every other class they've taken. Women travel from all over the state to take these classes—from Portland to Bellingham and even Alaska.

We've taught over 500 women during the last 3 years. They've told us that prior to our classes, they'd regularly voted AGAINST gun rights. And now they're taking weekly action with every single Easy Action of the Day that I've created and posted on the Washington Civil Rights Association page where I volunteer 10-20 hours / week working to help protect gun rights in Olympia. In fact, three have even testified in front of Senate and House committees and made a huge difference. How many club members are fighting this hard for gun rights?

The VP also said yesterday "we have a ladies program" and then named four women who shoot. Out of 1250 members.

That ladies' program? I started that. We lobbied very hard to create the women's shooting entity and experienced a surprising amount of pushback from the current board in doing so.

The monthly Ladies Day at the Range has 2-4x greater attendance each month than any other entity at the range.

The four of us volunteer for 6+ hours every month at the Ladies Day at the Range, and have done so for the year+ that the women's entity has been in existence, and for a year before that. To reduce the burden on the club RSOs, we recruited for and volunteered to staff a women-only RSO class hosted by Cascade and taught by club trainer Steven Powell; it was so successful that we've now done three for the club. All of these attendees are either club members or on the club waiting list. We've recruited a very enthusiastic group of women volunteers who're also volunteering to help every month in support of the women's entity. Some have gone on to get their instructor certifications, RSO certificates, and even started competing in the club 3-gun events as well as USPSA competitions.

How about the bylaw amendment the VP said I was creating to give power to the board and then replace the board so I can have my way? This one is rich. The club is currently running a bylaw amendment that essentially eliminates all outside training. Yes, this'll absolutely impact us, but we'll find another range who'll welcome our classes and volunteerism. It isn't about the money for us, and those who've contacted us to ask all know this. I can make far more money in one day at work than the profits of two classes a month. We do this as a labor of love for the women. There surely isn't any other reason to do this as the hourly wages if we computed them are a pittance.

But the bigger tragedy is the loss to the club of an opportunity to create a safe, nurturing environment for women to safely learn how to shoot firearms and defend their lives and loved ones.

Recently, ~20 of our course graduates (members and waiting list members) wrote letters to the board and the person who drafted the amendment, begging them not to shut down the classes. Their stories are heartbreaking: domestic violence, carjacking, brutal home invasions, or being trapped amongst rioters and more. And their stories were inspiring: they said post-training they've finally found peace and confidence after years of anxiety and PTSD.

The same VP responded to each letter saying, "The board whole heartedly (sic) supports all training at CSF and is not interested in changing the programming…." Somewhere that wholehearted support changed.

The VP went on to write, "We have no say in whether or not a bylaws (sic) change is presented or voted upon by the club."

I drafted an amendment that would make the process more closely mirror the state legislature, providing greater transparency and ability for members to make a more well-informed decision on proposed bylaw amendments. The amendment ensures that PRO and CON statements are sent with the voting ballots, ensures that everyone understands the impact of the amendment on the club, members, community, and on the 2A battles. And it gives voting members (not the board, as the VP said) the ability to table an amendment instead of sending it out to all members.

I cannot imagine how this amendment helps me personally, contrary to the VP's claims. If I had nefarious purposes, I would certainly not run this amendment. My amendment is designed to squash ill-advised or perhaps even dangerous amendments from being passed to an unsuspecting membership—and puts in the membership's hands all the information they need to make better decisions.

If you were to ask the candidates if I'm the one pulling their strings, they'd violently object. I brought a few together, and they decided to run as a slate and launched their candidacy on their own.

And they each have a very different opinion on the two letters sent to all members decrying their candidacy. They've reached out to the current board requesting equal access to the club membership list, because to use club resources to promote your own re-election and discredit your opponent is clearly unethical.

As anyone can see by looking at the candidate statements, there is a profound difference between the amount of thought that went into how to improve the club.(https://membership.cascadeshootingf...SF 2021 Board Candidate Statements[14790].pdf)

Some candidates say vote for me because I've been around for 10 years—and anybody who hasn't volunteered X number of hours need not apply. Other candidates have clearly put some thought into specific areas the club could improve --areas based on their experience the club is lacking.

Regardless of what you might think about me—focus on the candidates.

Which candidates, based on the statements you can read are going to help the club be more inclusive, more welcoming, and more open—and help us all fight for our rights to defend ourselves and our loved ones?