N.L.A. Lawsuit

What happened about the lawsuit J.H.J. was supposed to be launching? Seems this subject has just disappeared never to be heard again.Just curious,made for some good reading though! http://limos.infopop.cc/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_confused.gif

That lawsuit, you may recall, was based on a number of factors that may or may not have been resolved by the election. Generally speaking, the election went favorably (except for one candidate), and the first meeting of the directors in Las Vegas had great promise. As a result, it appeared that it was likely unnecessary to resort to litigation to effect the changes necessary and to effect compliance with the by-laws. As days have gone by, it appears that the old adage "the more things change the more they stay the same," is a wise adage indeed. Scott Solombrino got elected with great promises and has disappeared from the forum, as have David Seelinger and Ron Sorci. Meetings continue to be held unlawfully and the song is the same song just being sung by different people. As for me, I've made a decision that the problem with the NLA is really a poblem with the industry, i.e., there aren't enough smart and experienced business people to populate a national trade association board of 16 people, to say nothing of the twenty-something people who think they are on the board. The the other old adage that you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear is also a wise adage, and equally applicable to the industry and the NLA. I've gotten busy doing productive things with smart people and my view of whether the NLA will ever be reformed is now very simple - it won't, notwithstanding the protests that will come from a few people, like Scott Solombrino. Everyone has their own agenda for running for NLA director, and it has nothing to do with the good of the industry or the association, and I have no further time to waste or interest in reforming NLA. I once thought that a new association would be the answer, but the same problem still exists - this is not an industry run by M.B.A.s, or even B.A.s, and although there are many good people with good intentions, some of whom are even good businesspersons and good at what they do, but the fact remains that the industry as a whole is barely up from the shoeshine industry, or, as an old friend used to say, you can't make a thoroughbred horse out of a jackass. I have clients who pay me a lot of money for my advice, which, if I do say so myself, is very good advice, so I've decided not to waste it on NLA. I'm busy working on procedures and manuals for ISO 9000:2000 cetification (as Wade Randolph knows), and I think those efforts in the long run will be a greater contribution to the industry than pissing up the NLA rope. I've met some really good operators and we communicate by e-mail and phone, and I am pleased to have made those relationships and I consider them valuable. Time will tell whether I'm right or not, but if anyone wants to quote odds I'll take them.

James H. Joseph
Pegasus Chauffeured Motor Cars
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
jhj@pegasus-pittsburgh.com

So the big question is...when does your NLA membership expire and will you be renewing?

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To all readers: The NLA board has been hard at work for its members! We have made a number of changes as a result of the new board that was installed in las vegas.I have been on the road for a full month and it is impossible to post under those circumsatnces but I can tell each and every NLA member that we are making many positive changes that will be better for all members. Within the next few weeks I will be sending out my first press realease outlinig what has been done. I am working very hard to improve member services and the idea of open meetings. In las vegas we were able to pass a number of major motions,all minutes from board meetings will now be posted on the NLA website for all to see! All NLA meetings for the year will be held in D.C.,and we are in the middle of reviewing the budget of the association. Things take time but we are on the right track and I can assure you that many changes are taking place. I have spent a lot of time understanding some of the issues and we will have lots of news to report soon. The New board will do a great job for its members so dont lose faith. If anyone has any questions please feel free to call me at any time. I am here to serve the members. Thank you

Our membership was up in mid to late January. We renewed. The considerations at that time were - first, there was a prospect that the board would change in composition and the behavior of the association would change to conform with the by-laws; second, I didn't want to give the Cory Rozen's of the world the pleasure of saying that they ran us off; third, we couldn't file suit if we were no longer a member; fourth, places like limos.com only recognize one national association to put a logo next to your company name and we would appear to be at some kind of a disadvantage to goofy consumers that think that membership in NLA is meaningful in some way - I'd really like to take a consumer poll on that though. We also belong to TLPA and regularly get useful information. I'm not touting it as a replacement for NLA just yet - it's just way better than NLA

James H. Joseph
Pegasus Chauffeured Motor Cars
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
jhj@pegasus-pittsburgh.com

Scott,

Hey thanks for the update-- can you post the NLA News here? Or at least a summation - there are a lot of people here who are evaluating the NLA.

Of course, we did not renew and still are evaluating re-joining. I would like to know whats going on and the changes being made. I think because we are no longer members, we won't be getting the updates.

THANKS FOR THE INFO!
Michael

PS: Where were you at the LCT Show? I didn't get to see you.

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