SPAR to "get rid of" Membership?

[zoo]

Even almost a decade ago, back when I had my rentals in Springfield, SPAR was still controlled by 5 or 10 arrogant and insular folks (probably mostly the same ones today), who were concerned with their own agenda, which usually never included anything that would be remotely important to the other 99% of the neighborhood.

Ok, I wasn't in Springfield then, so I'm not sure, but...

Weren't the folks running SPAR a decade or so ago the same ones that are now complaining that it's ineffective? Can anyone out there name who was in charge of SPAR then?

[strider]

Zoo: Weren't the folks running SPAR a decade or so ago the same ones that are now complaining that it's ineffective? Can anyone out there name who was in charge of SPAR then?

Ahhh...this falls into that category that one should really at least have a clue what the answer is to the question one asks in cases like this. 

It depends on what you consider "almost a decade".  If you go back ten years....to 1998, SPAR and HSCC were separate organizations.  HSCC had the city's ears and was getting full funding through it's grant.  It also was working closely with the Women's Club on various projects.  HSCC was very respected by the city, while Phil Neary was both hated and respected by the community, depending on who you were and what you wanted to do. SPAR was barely surviving.  SPAR really didn’t seem to be doing much.  And SPAR was not respected by the city at all. They did seem to try to get membership from amoung the new comers, but the only real “power” as far as organizations go was HSCC.  SPAR's reputation was pretty much as ChrisUFGator has stated.  Rita Regan and Michael Trautman were very prominent in the SPAR inner circle. 

There were, by the way, reasons for the reputation SPAR had and to be honest, it was not really Rita's or Michael's fault.  In fact, both of them should be credited with saving SPAR at the time.

Move forward a couple of years or so and Louise DeSpain begins to be seen.  She was the President of SPAR at least a year, I believe, before the merger.  Meanwhile, I saw what was what and who was who and I ended up on the HSCC board.  The first year of "new" SPAR Council, I was indeed VP.  It was only because I was one of the “chosen” HSCC people to be carried forward to the new organization.  It is important to note that many in the community were afraid that the new organization would end up too much SPAR and not enough HSCC.  They appear to have been right. 

At the very first board meeting, Louise DeSpain began to ignore the bylaws.  I called her on it and she just found a way around them and did what she wanted anyway.  I also was "nominated" to be among the 1/3rd of the board that had to stand for re-election the first year rather than serve a three year term.  I declined to run again, probably to Louise's relief.  Louise, by the way, was "nominated" for the three year hitch.

So it seems that some of the people who caused so much mischief "back when" are still causing it today.

Not the answer you were hoping for, was it Zoo?


edit to clarify.

[ChriswUfGator]

Ahhh...this falls into that category that one should really at least have a clue what the answer is to the question one asks in cases like this. 

It depends on what you consider "almost a decade".  If you go back ten years....to 1998, SPAR and HSCC were separate organizations.  HSCC had the city's ears and was getting full funding through it's grant.  It also was working closely with the Women's Club on various projects.  HSCC was very respected by the city, while Phil Neary was both hated and respected by the community, depending on who you were and what you wanted to do. SPAR was barely surviving.  SPAR really didn’t seem to be doing much.  And SPAR was not respected by the city at all. They did seem to try to get membership from amoung the new comers, but the only real “power” as far as organizations go was HSCC.  SPAR's reputation was pretty much as ChrisUFGator has stated.  Rita Regan and Michael Trautman were very prominent in the SPAR inner circle. 

There were, by the way, reasons for the reputation SPAR had and to be honest, it was not really Rita's or Michael's fault.  In fact, both of them should be credited with saving SPAR at the time.

Move forward a couple of years or so and Louise DeSpain begins to be seen.  She was the President of SPAR at least a year, I believe, before the merger.  Meanwhile, I saw what was what and who was who and I ended up on the HSCC board.  The first year of "new" SPAR Council, I was indeed VP.  It was only because I was one of the “chosen” HSCC people to be carried forward to the new organization.  It is important to note that many in the community were afraid that the new organization would end up too much SPAR and not enough HSCC.  They appear to have been right. 

At the very first board meeting, Louise DeSpain began to ignore the bylaws.  I called her on it and she just found a way around them and did what she wanted anyway.  I also was "nominated" to be among the 1/3rd of the board that had to stand for re-election the first year rather than serve a three year term.  I declined to run again, probably to Louise's relief.  Louise, by the way, was "nominated" for the three year hitch.

So it seems that some of the people who caused so much mischief "back when" are still causing it today.

Not the answer you were hoping for, was it Zoo?

To answer your question, I began buying in Springfield in 2000, and was out of it by 2006. I went back to school, and now attend FCSL.

As to the rest of your comments, I agree 100%. That is exactly why I never had any use for SPAR. They alienate virtually everyone they come into contact with for one reason or another, including the very people who are trying to help the organization, and a small group of weirdos controls things so tightly that the only choice you have is to vote with your feet.

The only member-based support SPAR has ever had was, in my view, individual homeowners. The other investors I knew, people who owned 15 or 20 different properties, and including myself, all despised SPAR.

I personally think that the community would be far better served by the formation of a new and separate membership-based organization that would operate on a consensus basis. Something might actually get done then, besides for pissing people off.