We can go around and around on this. I need someone to offically report to me that the other 1/2 of the program wants to commit and I will insure that they will be in Little League.

I don't know why anybody is surprised about this other than the fact that they can't believe someone would actually go through with something that would damage a youth program. I personally warned Andy during a softball game during regular season that I knew of 3 coaches wishing to defect and return to LL. I don't think he believed it at the time. I think he felt it might be just gossip. I also posted on here months ago this same information and Jeff and I and a Trumann board member and a Harrisburg board member discussed the possibility at length right here on this forum. I personally also told 4 Delta board members post season that Harrisburg stood to lose kids if they didn't act quickly. 2 of the board members I talked to were from different towns but they said their towns weren't in danger of losing members if they didn't act. The 2 board members from HB I spoke to were concerned and pushed Delta to make a decision, but they desired to make the decision as a group, showing loyalty. One even asked a couple of the people I said were leaving and they told him it wasn't true. So there was an attempt at secrecy here. I don't blame our HB board members. I think that the other communities in Delta underestimated the seriousness of this for Harrisburg. But I feel like we possibly should have made our decision based on what was good for HB not Delta. It looks like we lost 3 teams for sure, and anybody else that wants to sign up with Orville. Yes, we might gain from other towns, but, what a program we could've had if we had stuck together! It also appears that one of these communities HB thought was loyal to the Delta has also defected. I am now wondering if any community in Delta is going to show loyalty and stick together.

I think this answers my question and please correct me if I am wrong... City Youth as a whole cannot become LL this season. HB can submit individual teams just like Orville but will be separate from Orville's teams altogether. We can play home games at Harrisburg as long as Andy gives permission. We can resubmit as a group in 2010, but you will grant waivers for Orville's teams if they wish not to play with us as a group. IF we did this at Harrisburg, who would the sign up fees to? Jonesboro or City Youth? Would we have board members representing us?
If this is true, this is the exact scenario you described would happen if Orville acted first and got a approval with the board. I guess that's why I am not shocked. Thank you for your responses and I hope they get this figured out soon.

Are parents of kids in the Harrisburg area not voters of the league? I mean do those parents that pay fees to the league not get a say in what they do? Is the board not elected by parents? Does this Andy guy run the show himself without getting a general census poll of the people? Is there more than one board member in the Harrisburg league?

I'm not downing the Harrisburg league, only asking questions after reading these two pages.

Harrisburg had a meeting last week, open to the public about what everyone wanted to do. Wanna know how many people showed up?? 5, thats right 5 people showed up.

5? Wow, its hard for them to complain if they can't take the time to come to a meeting. It's for their kids, one would think that they would show some interest. I guess it's easier to sit at home and complain instead of trying to fix the problem...

NEABBFAN, I agree that people should voice their opinion and I definitely express mine. The point is, the people that up and decided to leave and join Little League separately from Harrisburg City Youth or Delta purposely did so. They knew Harrisburg's board members were going to vote to return to Little League because I told them after post season. They told me they weren't applying to join Jonesboro just because they were Little League, but also because they wanted to get out of City Youth and out of Delta. So, regardless of how many people showed up last week, it wouldn't have mattered because that group already made their decision, got approved from CPLL long before this meeting Delta had a week ago. This group knew if they beat Delta to the punch they were in LL and didn't have to answer to Andy or anyone else in Delta. That is how they wanted it. Andy is just over City Youth. He actually has resigned his board position from what I understand. Honestly, I don't think they have ever voted on the board members. I think they nominate each other. In 2007, our board looked much different and a new board was created in 2008 without some of the members and with some new members. I don't know how exactly it went down, but I know there was no publicly advertised vote and some of the ex-board members have told me they weren't even notified, so I doubt they notified the public. I frankly have no problem with who serves as far as the Harrisburg board goes. They are all great representatives. I feel Harrisburg got the short end of the stick this year because they waited on the Delta to make a decision which caused them to not beat the other group to the punch and in turn allowed our town to be broken up. No other community in Delta will face this problem according to what has been posted here. My position on this still is that what the other group did is look out for number 1, while our board members tried to do the right thing and remain loyal to the group and the community. I wish everyone could just play together.

Interest would have been shown if the public had knowledge of the meeting.

I agree with rerun. We have been playing, coaching, and provided sponsorship during the 4 years we have been at Harrisburg and I can say honestly I was informed of a board meeting twice and that is because I came to a board member with an issue. I have never seen it publicly displayed when and where meetings are held. I don't feel the need to attend them because I feel like I tell the appropriate people my concerns without attending. However, it is interesting to find out that board members are elected in other communities and the public gets a "say" in things. Even as a coach, my husband is only informed of "coaches" meetings. I have heard it said many times that it was supposedly up to the coaches whether Delta switched to USSSA and now whether it switches to LL, but the only coaches I know of that have been officially asked to vote have been the coaches that are board members. Several coaches were informed at the 1st coaches meeting last year they would be coaching under entirely new rules. We found out earlier because we asked. Some Delta LL board members were actually informed by Jeff Smallmon that they were not only no longer board members but that the "new" Delta had went USSSA. So, although I am pleased with who our representatives are, I can say without a doubt, the public is not well informed and we have not operated in a democratic manner. Could that have prevented this problem? That's a question for the the coaches and parents who have left.

Baseballdad did Andy not call people for yhis meeting i know i was told of it by atleast 5 different people.And not the 5 that showed up.

Harrisburg city youth can come into C&P LL as a whole without the 3 other teams already accepted.

Harrisburg's situation is of it's boardmembers own doing. Sky warned you folks of the peoples concerns. I came on here and explained over and over. All I recieved was sarcasum and name calling. I gave you guys advanced warning and no one beleaved me because I am the suposed bad guy. Which is not the case. I am an elected rep. Trying to do a necessary function. It is a no win situation but there it is. I am not going to let one group run rough shod over another and will see all that wants to play get that opportunity.

Now, I am still waiting on an official to contact me to inform me about Harrisburg Youth's wishes. I want to get those kid taken care of. Prograstination is why this group did what it did.

We (delta) will be having a meeting Dec 7 to figure out what we are gonna do. We understand whats going on and will decide accordingly.
Yes, there were phone calls made about the meeting.

I don't think the question was, do boardmembers get phone calls to let them know about meetings. I think the question was "is the public notified". And I don't understand why people are going on an on about the meeting a week ago. It wouldn't have solved anything even if the whole town showed up because Orville made his move a long time ago. The meeting the whole town should've been notified of was the meeting where a new board was formed and the decision was made to switch to USSSA, IMHO. You can't rely on making phone calls to 10 people to alert the parents of 200 + kids. That is NOT notifying the public. I think it is a disservice to the parents in Harrisburg to insenuate that they didn't have an opinion or wouldn't like to be at least partly included in decisions. Most don't come because they don't know. Obviously there are approximately 30 sets of parents in Harrisburg that very much wanted things to change and they took action. Look, I just talked to some, they feel the board is secret, meetings are secret, decisions are made without coaches and they felt they would be brushed off even if they tried to come to you guys with their grievances. They feel the whole program is corrupt. You aren't going to change their minds at this point. But they have the power to influence the other half of Harrisburg to sign up with them and abandon City Youth altogether. I have seen what they are doing over there. They are having entire parent meetings where everyone who signed up there kid with Orville is a part of decision making. That sounds attractive to parents. If I was a boardmember, I would be focusing on including the community in decisions right now and showing them their opinions matter and that their vote counts in some way. Why not take a vote for board members? This could be done easily when we hold sign ups. It's not likely our representatives would change anyway, but it makes the people feel like they are included. When you elect someone, you feel that person will be willing to listen to you when you have something to say because they appreciate your vote and your confidence in them. We have addresses for every kid who signs up. We could've easily sent mailout voting forms to everyone of them before we decided to jump ship on LL or to go back to LL, whatever the case may be. If 5 people vote then, its their own fault because they had every opportunity. The point is, it could be that people aren't involved because they haven't been included ever. Why can't we try it?

Outstanding comment This has been my point all the long. This switch was done by a few for a few. Majority of participants knew noting until it was too late. It is always better to have some sort of a opportunity to express an oppinion. I have although, seen open meetings have poor attendance during the off season.

I still await contact by Harrisburg Youth. One of the boardmembers posted on here that they voted to return to Little League weeks ago. If that is true, why have you not contacted me?

I have made a visit to Hot Topix.com to view the postings there and to add a post. Awaiting response.