The Revelation: The Ad Hoc Committee

The way our Texas Section is set up is for the Officials Committee to make all the policies and major decisions concerning officials in Texas but alas, this is not always the case. An "Ad Hoc Committee" is a committee that is basically appointed by the Sectional Chairman for a specific purpose and has not and never should be intended as a permanent committee or subcommittee. In Texas, that is not the case. During Cheryl Jones' tenure as Sectional Chairman the ad hoc committee existed but was merely to strengthen and improve the schools and the organization in Texas; however, that changed dramatically under the direction of our new Sectional Chairman.

We have an ad hoc committee that has been functioning for at least the last 6 years because I have been a member of the committee for that length of time. During this time we have correctly addressed specific issues that were raised when the total Officials Committee was not in session--and that is the role of an ad hoc committee. HOWEVER, in the past two years that committee has been deliberately expanded to reach far beyond their limits. Here are some specific examples:

1. In 2007, the ad hoc committee met at Bruce Sampley's home to discuss all issues concerning the Texas Section. Because all committees took an oath not to tell what anyone said specifically in the meeting I will not reveal any of those confidences; however, I will share specific issues that were dealt with and their outcome.

At this meeting there was a lengthy discussion of officials schools and which locations should host a school. Much attention was paid to being "diverse" and "tolerant" so we moved the national school from San Antonio to the Rio Grande Valley to appease the powers that be.

It was also at this meeting that it was decided to remove Sammie Poulsen, Susan Burns, and Tippy Garza as instructors. There was a very lengthy and personal discussion of each of these instructors and it was unanimously voted to remove them as instructors. Since I have been maligned and slandered throughout the entire country by one of these officials I am herby stating openly that I was NOT the one who recommended her removal; however, I did vote to do so in unanimous agreement with the rest of the committee. This offended former instructor knows who all was on that ad hoc committee but continues to malign me whenever possible as the "one who kicked her off the instructor's list".

At this ad hoc meeting we also went into lengthy discussion about who we felt was worthy to be selected as official of the year. Bruce Sampley then made the formal presentation at the annual Officials Committee meeting. There was much personal discussion of each of the recommendations which is far outside the scope of any ad hoc committee's responsibilities.

2. In our 2008 meeting at Bruce Sampley's home we discussed specifically who we would permit to be considered for "Official of the Year". Those names were then submitted to the Officials Committee at their annual meeting. Since I was not at that meeting I do not know who was selected.

At this meeting we also went into an indepth discussion of schools, their locations, and their instructors. It was decided that we would not let San Antonio host another national school since they never have enough attendees. It was also at this meeting that it was decided to remove Don Brandy as an instructor and the responsibility of informing him of his removal was given specifically to Bruce Sampley. The meeting was held in August and Don was never informed of this decision until all teaching assignments had been made and then he called Bruce and asked specifically if he had been removed.

There was also a very pointed discussion about removing another instructor but specific direction was given by the Sectional Chairman not to remove this official because of her gender and race and we could not afford another lawsuit.

These are just a few of the specific things that have been discussed and decided in the Ad Hoc Committee and even though I was in attendance, I can assure you that all, if not most, of these decisions were well out of the realm of this committee's responsibilities.

The sad thing is that the EVERY MAJOR DECISION that is ever discussed in the Officials Committee has been decided beforehand in the Ad Hoc Committee meeting.

Perhaps it is time for the Officials Committee members to take a stand to actually do what they have been commissioned and appointed to do.

Note: In a phone conversation with Bruce Sampley in September he threatened me with decertification if I revealed any of the details of these ad hoc committee meetings. If that is his choice, we'll see how it sorts out in the courts.

Basically, it was time to tell the truth and the facts...