Dear Woodro Part 2

From the NSMBA news feed this morning.

A small disclaimer from myself. Although I am a former director I no longer sit on the board and am not privy to the discussions that occurred prior to Vince's letter. I hope that all of this has been a time of learning for the current board of directors and going forward this ongoing dialogue will help them deal with future conflicts that affect all of us. I hope Lee can put away his hackles for now and Mark can learn to deal with Lee and Sharon in a more professional way. Then maybe we can stop all of this childishness and get back to doing what is really important doing it together as a community.

http://nsmba.ca/content/2015-07_open-letter-community-response-lee-lau

I'm fortunate to count Lee, Sharon, and Mark amongst my friends, and I admire their contributions to the trails we love, so it grieves me to see this dispute played out in this way. I don't have personal knowledge of all the events/history so I'm not about to pick sides, however I do have personal knowledge of one incident so I would like to set that record straight.

I was one of the two people Sharon was talking to when Mark joined our conversation at the Town Hall meeting. I've spoken to the other person that was there and we agree 100% that at no time was there any "shouting" or "screaming". It was a heated argument with voices raised equally on both sides but no shouting or screaming by either party. It was not a constructive conversation and left both parties frustrated. I had hoped at the time it would help vent some of the frustration and both sides were giving as good as they got so at no time did I feel the need to step in. Lee was not party to the conversation.

Martin

Skip/Martin - thanks for the clarification. I spoke to Sharon and she confirms that she did not want to talk to Mark and specifically said so. After he kept wanting to engage she did engage and she confirms that your account is accurate and that my shouting/screaming language was overboard.

I apologize for the exaggeration on my part and will leave my inaccuracies up without edits. That is my mistake and apologies to all for that. I would still like Mark to leave Sharon alone and to not initiate contact with her.

At this time the policy is not available online. If you would like a copy, please send an email to [email protected]

That's nice but this is really what we want to know the details of:

As for the alleged behaviour getting a free pass; the appropriate actions were taken in order to investigate and substantiate concerns brought forth and those with merit were address, privately.

This has quite clearly been made a public issue whether NSMBA recognizes it or not. As others have stated, no one has refuted any of the accusations other than some minor points of syntax, and this thread isn't going to disappear. The longer NSMBA remains silent on this issue, the more it looks like Lee Lau's allegations are true. For a volunteer organization that relies on the public for 'horsepower', this seems like a damaging image. Is it worth it?

I post this because I support the NSMBA and I think the road you're going down will hurt the organization in the long run.

I post this because I support the NSMBA and I think the road you're going down will hurt the organization in the long run.

yes.

at the end of the day the only real equity the NSMBA holds is it's reputation and public image. that image is in part directly responsible for the success of the organization whether that be in recruiting volunteers, obtaining grant funding or sourcing corporate sponsorship dollars to help fund the work the organization does. for the current and future success it is imperative of the organization it is imperative to protect that image and in some people's minds that is currently not happening.

if the organization feels it's best to have a cooling off period before attempting to reconcile the situation i don't necessarily feel that is a bad decision. however, if answers do not eventually come forth that decision may do more harm than good.

i don't think anybody is asking for employees to be fired or disciplined, or that employees or the organization itself make some sort of public apology. what i see as being asked for is an understanding of how things will be handled between the affected parties in the future. as noted in the letter both parties need to be accountable to this, but as also mentioned by other people the NSMBA has a greater duty handle itself appropriately even if they may be targeted unfairly.

i am going to bow out and respect the NSMBA's wishes to allow things to settle for a bit before returning to address the issue. i would only ask that the public is kept apprised of the solution that hopefully gets worked out amicably between both parties.

From the NSMBA news feed this morning.

http://nsmba.ca/content/2015-07_open-letter-community-response-lee-lau

Oh look. .someone with full knowledge of the situation stating that Lee's account of the events are "heavily biased and one sided" ..actually. here's the whole paragraph.

" I would like to point out that Mr. Lau’s recent online statements are heavily biased and one-sided, and that Mr. Lau has continuously ignored the effect of his own actions, particularly the actions he took to undermine what had previously been agreed to. Mr. Lau continues to aggravate the situation with his personal assault on Mr. Mark Wood, an NSMBA employee. Following a rather terse email sent by Mr. Lau to the NSMBA’s Board of Directors on July 7 2015, an online campaign was launched that sought to bring into question Mr. Wood’s standing in the community, his competence and his integrity. Accusations were tabled with the perceived sole purpose of discrediting Mr. Wood, tarnishing his reputation and potentially compromising his livelihood. Throughout this event, the NSMBA’s position has been to investigate matters of concern and to support our employees. "

Maybe everyone out there can now calm down a little and quit trying to roast Mark? Lee admits to embellishment for argumentative gain. .but only when called out on it. No mention of his own negative actions at all when it comes to his own undermining of previous agreements..He still continues to post on this thread with alter-egos…a little pot n kettle going on no doubt. Lee ain't no saint folks.

Q: What's the difference between a jellyfish and a lawyer?
A: One's a spineless, poisonous blob. The other is a form of sea life.

I joke, because this is way to serious for the fun I have on my bikes.

i am going to bow out and respect the NSMBA's wishes to allow things to settle for a bit before returning to address the issue. i would only ask that the public is kept apprised of the solution that hopefully gets worked out amicably between both parties.

Good idea. I think we all could use some time away from this. It will add perspective.

From the NSMBA statement:

At this time, the NSMBA does not wish to undertake additional discussion or mediation, as they have been known not to work or to only be effective for a short while. A solution to this situation cannot ensue until this online barrage has ceased and some time has passed. The escalation of this situation is not healthy for our association or our community.

As a primarily volunteer organization, with limited resources, we must remain dedicated to our mission and vision by remaining focused on our community and our trails. The NSMBA would like to see a cooling off period, a time for decompression. I will come back to review and seek solutions once some time and space have set in. I firmly believe this will yield solutions grounded in understanding and respect.

Isn't this just burying your head in the sand? Doesn't Mark have a history of harassing people?

Personally I cut all ties with the NSMBA a few years ago when the started getting into bureaucrat mode, this letter is just more proof of that…. trails for all as long as it's our definition of trail.

The NSMBA common sense, careful and non-social media motivated approach bears better hope of resolving anything than posting one-sided accusations in this forum.

It is exactly their way of responding that will attract people to get involved with the NSMBA because they adopt the approach of a good organization.

And I'm a little disappointed with Lee actually. He has brought a scathing online assault against Mark and been found to be embellishing his beef.

Looks like the NSMBA is on the correct footing. I appreciate their efforts. They have my full support. Kudos.

Well said.

Firmly in the peanut gallery over here but I've read the whole thread, and it's disappointing in several ways.

Maybe the NSMBA do employ a guy who acts like a dick, but there are a lot of dicks out there so the law of averages says most organizations are going to have trouble completely avoiding them. Despite this, they're doing amazing work all over the shore and 99% of the stuff they're doing is absolutely positive in my book. The Trailforks stuff was childish but I have a hard time seeing how it's such a big deal. From reading this thread it does look like Mark gets a lot of credit for a huge amount of trailbuilding and advocacy work. So most of us have something to thank him for.

On the other hand, Lee seems to be following a pattern of, embellish, get called out, apologize, continue to embellish, rinse repeat. If it's actually true that he's using sock puppets in this thread then that's inexcusable. Honestly I don't see why this needed to be public at all. Lots of us have personality conflicts with people we think are douches. We somehow manage to either deal with the conflict or successfully avoid the person without starting multiple page threads on the internet. Lee, get over it and move on. You clearly don't 'just want to be left alone'. You want to stir shit up and win a battle. But nobody else really cares and the people who did initially care are probably burnt out on it at this point.

I like Asian Adonis, it's a fun trail. I also like all the other new trailwork being done. I don't care who did the actual work and I certainly don't care about weird internet beefs. Let it die.

^^^ this.
And I want to compliment Mark for not responding to any of this - he is, in essence, leaving them alone.
As an avid rider and occasional trail volunteer, a huge thanks for all the work and advocacy from all parties.
Damn! The trails are just so good I gotta go out for a ride!

I like Asian Adonis, it leads you to a "hiking only" trail.

fyp

Originally Posted by gbot View Post
I like Asian Adonis, it leads you to a "hiking only" trail.

fyp

I wondered if anyone would mention that….

You may have noticed that none of the involved parties have posted to this thread for a number of days.

Until GBot bumped it today it was well on its way down the front page.

If you appreciate the countless hours of volunteer work that have gone into building the NSMBAs good name and/or the trail building and advocacy efforts of Mark and/or Lee please let this thread drop off into obscurity and hopefully let them sort things out privately.

Cheers,