John Donaldson
John Donaldson is not the longest serving PWC government relations guy, but he’s close. He had been in the power sports industry for over a decade when his then employer decided his gift for gab and ability to write completely confusing letters were a perfect match for dealing with politicians and legislators. Since the course change in his work history, Donaldson has worked for two of the biggest PWC manufacturers as well as having a turn at running the Personal Watercraft Industry Association. Donaldson says that these government relations experiences have helped him understand that it sure isn’t the government one learns about in a text book. Further in Donaldson’s past was his service in the U.S. Coast Guard and a few years as owner of a major power sports dealership in Southern California. This diversity of government, manufacturer, and retail experience qualifies Donaldson to help keep AWA members and others informed on the latest activities of government impact on the use of PWC in the PWC Nation.
Chris Manthos
Chris Manthos serves as executive director of the American Watercraft Association. When not riding, he dedicates his time to educating regulators and other officials on the realities of personal watercraft, in contrast to the fantasy world of the no-access crowd. He mows his own lawn, washes his own truck, served his country, pays his taxes, picks up trash on public roads, opens his own beer bottles, reads books, hunts, feeds his own dogs, doesn’t need government to tell him right from wrong, and deplores sanctimonious hypocrites, bullies, and know-it-alls, particularly the political kind. Wiley Russell Jr.
Wiley Russell Jr. is the dealer coordinator of the AWA and works closely with personal watercraft dealers nationwide, promoting PWC access for all enthusiasts, as well as promoting dealerships. He is a Virginia native and enjoys riding PWC as much as possible. | Tell me lies... |
| Written by Chris Manthos |
| Thursday, 09 July 2009 10:06 |
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I know that rearranging sock drawers or counting the fibers in the carpet is a far more productive use of time than listening to political windbags rant about how only they can square my life away, but I just had to hold and hear the show. I wasn’t disap- pointed. Aside from all the “citizens” asking questions were obvi- ously campaign workers throwing softballs so Mr. Candidate could hit his talking points, I was fascinated by the questions and stunned by the answers. One “question” brought up high speed rail; a much talked about yet nothing done subject around here. Mr. Candidate proclaimed he was going to get a slice of the $9 billion of your tax money earmarked for rail, and spend it on a high speed line between D.C. and Richmond. Oh, and by the way, the project would create 176,000 new jobs. Really? In Washington, discerning fact from fiction is a permanent mental exercise. Mr. Candidate’s statement was so ridiculous, I had to do a lit- tle fact checking. Consider this; the entire U.S. railroad industry em- ployees about 186,000 folks operat- ing 140,000 miles of track - a rough ratio of 1.3 folks per mile. Mr. Can- didate tried to sell voters that he would use our money to build a rail line 100 miles and somehow create 176,000 jobs: An obvious ratio of 1,760 jobs per mile. Even if you halved the number, it’s still a lie. In fact, it was so absurd I called his campaign afterward to confirm the number. They stood by the claim, but declined to go into any detail. The bad news is some voters actually buy into this kind of irresponsible speech. The good news is this inside the beltway salesman got smoked in the election. What’s this have to do with personal watercraft? Quite a bit actually. This integrity challenged candidate knew full well he was talking bunk, yet he did it anyway. The reason, sadly, like so many of their breed, lies in their conviction that the American people are ignorant, lazy, and just plain stupid. You see it in their actions when they tell us that to get out of debt, we must plunge deeper in debt than ever before. Or, “I voted for it, before I was against it”. And my local favorite; “the aver- age taxpayer won’t see a tax in- crease from our tax increase” begging the question of what is an “average taxpayer?” When elected officials from the town hall on up to the big house are allowed to make false statements and not be called to account, then what should we expect of policy makers and bu- reaucrats when it comes to our riding freedoms? When someone, or some group claims PWC are bad for fishy, birdie and muskrats because “countless studies say so” they’re lying. When state and federal agencies claim PWC need to be banned because it’s a “good idea,” they have nothing to back it up and they know it. When a park superintendent claims PWC are incapable of transit- ing publicly funded waterways because the nav markers are too far apart, he’s not just dishonest, he should find another profession. More disturbing is when one of our own in the PWC media blindly re- gurgitates the falsehoods of our op- ponents and promotes groups ac- tively working to restrict personal watercraft access. The AWA works to educate and enlighten via our safe boating pro- grams. We believe in individual liberty and full access to public wa- ters. We stand for equality just as we welcome open and honest de- bate. We relish responsible freedom while our opponents relish prohibi- tion and oppression. We cherish the wonderful diversity of the PWC Nation, while they cherish the exclusivity of the privileged few. When it is common for fiction to become reality in the freedom of access debate, then it’s time to insist your riding partners become AWA members. Far too long AWA members at all levels have carried the burden for other rid- ers. It’s time to spread the load out among the fleet. There is no other group throwing the foul flag on behalf of PWC riders. And if riders don’t start getting involved now, there may not be, under the crushing weight of lies. |
