They were afraid that Jose was on the phone call last night. I was grilled for several minutes if I was alone or did I invite anyone to the phone call. They were concerned that non-IDWSF members might be in attendance. I asked what were they hiding?
This whole issue comes down to money. IDWSF president’s first remarks during the initial board meeting discussing Sayer were, “How much money is this going to cost us? Is this really an issue?” No discussion about ethics or integrity. The VP wanted IDWSF to take a neutral view on Sayer. Before every discussion, they would say, “We talked with Sayer and WSF and they want us to…” Furthermore, the president let Sayer’s BIL and employee argue what direction IDWSF should take. Conflict of interest? The president didn’t think it was. If it weren’t for a few board members and past presidents of IDWSF pushing for Idaho, IDWSF would have never taken a stand. Well, they actually never did take a stand.
The VP is a yes man for Sayer and WSF. In my conversations with him after the first expulsion vote, I realized he never read any of the IWF emails. He was giving me Sayer’s auction sales pitch and talking about Sayer’s new Lottery tag bill (coming to you in 2018). It’s a dereliction of duty to represent an organization on an issue and not take the time to understand the issue independently of those involved in it.
I found out between meetings that one of the first year board members was on IDFG’s top 10 poacher watch list. Repeat offender. He has been arrested for trespassing, poaching and illegal guiding. When I asked the president if he knew about this (I hadn’t), he said yes, but he was only convicted of trespassing. It wasn’t a concern of the board.
My second expulsion vote was nothing more than retaliation for Sayer losing his chair. They were protecting a large donor. There was a 30 day campaign against me to ensure the VP had the votes. It was pretty clear that I don’t have first amendment rights if I’m the Treasurer of IDWSF, unless I would agree with them.
After the vote, the office staff who handles the books, banquet and lottery contract gave notice on her contract in protest. She won’t work with the incoming president.
I still have a few buddies on the board. The board used to be split between the SFW types and the BHA types. We kept a truce to work on wild sheep. Not anymore. The power has shifted to those strongly for auction tags, lap tags, bonus points and the Utah model of wildlife management.
Thanks for your efforts Bryan. No consolation I'm sure, but I suspect others feel as I do; your steadfast adherence to what you believe in is admirable and appreciated.