January 18: "On Tuesday night, a proposal was made by Gary Newsom and Peter Giannatos that the club revert to being a private entity, operated by Peter and Gary. The proposal was well received by those in attendance, who seemed to be strongly in favor, but in the interest of giving all an opportunity to weigh in on the decision, and to honor what is still at this point our constitution, it was decided that the proposal be publicized to all membership for a period of two weeks. During this time please feel free to ask any questions or express any concerns. On Tuesday, February 1 immediately before the start of the weekly round this matter will come to vote by all members in attendance."

As a member in good standing of the Queen City Chess Association; why wasn't I personally notified by letter or e-mail? I might have learned about this "internal take-over" had I visited the QCCA website sooner, but I do so sparingly, since the site is so poorly maintained and is rarely updated.

I researched the QCCA Constitution which is posted on our website. I was shocked to find that the rules had been completely ignored. Posting your intentions on the website for 14 days (as opposed to the 90 days required by the constitution) and allowing the few players who showed up on the 18th to endorse this decision was not the proper procedure. In my view, given the communal nature of the QCCA for a situation this important, each member should have been individually notified by E-mail or personal letter explaining your (and Peter's) intentions and giving association members ample time to respond. Anything short of that is deceptive and leads me to consider that there may well be an ulterior motive. So, I guess that last Tuesday night, the handful of members who did show up, made this extremely critical decision forcing all of our members to comply?

Furthermore, the statement that "a proposal was made by Gary Newsom and Peter Giannatos that "the club revert to being a private entity" is rather confusing? When was it ever a private entity? I thought it was a brand new club specifically designed to accommodate the collective rights of each individual member. Which begs the question: How does making the Queen City Chess Association a private entity benefit our members?  Will this help to get the 2010 Greater Charlotte Championship play-offs finally scheduled (we were promised they'd be scheduled last month)? Will the website be updated more regularly? Will members now have access to the financial records?  Will the money in the treasury be equally divided amongst all remaining members or will it end up in your pockets with no accountability? The last QCCA financial statement, published in July 2010 showed a balance of over $3,000! Who know what the balance is now?

In their declaration of intention to "make a motion," one critical explanation was omitted. Why are Gary Newsom and Peter Giannatos seizing the QCCA and making it their own personal property?  I can think of several reasons, none of them charitable.

It is my view, that this is a selfish action and will only result in our members losing their rights to vote and run for office. We will no longer have a say so in how our organization is conducted nor be able to monitor how the money is distributed.

This all smacks of selfish profiteering!

Disappointed,

Bill Wright

USCF Life Member &
QCCA Member in Good Standing