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My man Dirty sent out this one via email earlier tonight. When I typed “business” in the title of this piece, I pretty much meant to type “racket.”
None of these fuckers had better be asking me for money any time soon. Actually, none of them had best ask me for money ever.
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What a bunch of tools. I bet at least one of em have a ‘we are the 99%’ sticker on the bumper of their audi turbo diesel wagon.
Forgetting USCF or whatever they are
Its always best to look at a 501 charity with respect to what actually goes to program percentage wise.
Look at the 990 for bikes belong:
http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2011/204/306/2011-204306888-08d9c1a1-9.pdf
I would want to know a whole lot more before i gave this folks a dime….
damn son. you wouldn’t happen to have a link to the rag that publised that would you? I would like to read the whole thing …
I don’t see anything wrong. We can’t all live on $10.75/hr working at the local bike shop.
What are they doing now the Tailwind money has stopped?!
@gringo – this is in the latest print issue of Bicycle Retailer
http://www.bicycleretailer.com/
If you’ve ever had a job in the nonprofit sector, you’ll be kind of encouraged seeing that people can make real money doing good work. These salaries are competitive with the private sector. Most nonprofit jobs pay next to squat.
I understand the frustration, but I think that @Ted brings up a good point. Call me a cynic, but these guys could proably be making a metric shitton more cash in the private sector. Here’s the obligatory TED talk:http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pallotta_the_way_we_think_about_charity_is_dead_wrong.html
That said, shit.
The confusion here arises from the erroneous assumption that these dudes are cyclists. They are policy wonks and chiseling money-grubbers.
When you compare those to corporate pay rates, they are paltry. Even in the bike industry. Think about what Mike Sinyard or John Burke make… Go out of the bike industry and it’s even more skewed. The average CEO pay is over 350% of the average worker for S&P 500 companies. THAT’S FUCKED UP.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/15/sp-500-ceos_n_3085601.html
Mr. jefe— not to quibbler, sir, as I agree wholeheartedly, but I believe you mean “35,400%.”
No one earns ten million dollars a year. These are guys who won the lottery… and they behave like assholes.
Hey all,
For what it’s worth, I used to work with the now Executive Director of Bikes Belong and the Finance Director when they were both at IMBA. I can tell you from personal experience that both those guys are incredible at what they do. Tim Blumenthal, the ED, has been in this business since the 1980’s and is one of the best advocates for cycling alive. He has the perfect melding of knowledge, diplomatic skills and political know how. He is, simply put, the best boss I’ve ever had. He works long hours and takes things to heart. He is irreplaceable in my book. Erik Esborg, the Finance Director of Bikes belong, isn’t just a bean counter. He’s been in the advocacy world for nearly 15 years and plays an integral role in:
A. Making sure the money used by the organization is used responsibly.
B. Leading the staff with amazing H.R. and impeccable service.
These guys rock. Any of us would be lucky to work for them. They earn those salaries.
Cheers – Dan
Hey Dan,
thanks for chiming in with that bit. I don’t doubt that most of these guys would OK to drink a couple pints with. Well shit, i don’t find anything wrong with making money either…
it’s just the knuckleheads from USA cycling making $300K while being completely out of touch and slowly killing our beloved sport.
It would seem like the USAC board of directors could probably get a better return on their investment if they spent that cash on something else..
see also:
http://drunkcyclist.com/2013/04/09/a-drunk-letter-to-usac/
If you want talented people fighting for increased funding for bike infrastructure you need to pay them. You want the best people in these jobs. As is pointed out in some of the comments above, these individuals can make more money in corporate America.
Sure we could send in a few criticalmass guys or overly passionate bicyclists with beards and flanel shirts to represent our cause, but that doesn’t seem to have worked out to well to date. I think its great they they are starting to pay for talent and make sure we have the right people speaking on behalf of bicycling.
For big jonny, Retro Italia (the guy selling bike parts on ebay), etc. all that amazing bike infrastructure in NYC, Boston, SEattle, Columbus, minneapolis, Chicago, Denver, Fort Collins, Seattle, Austin, etc. didn’t happen by accident. It makes your ride safer and puts new people on bikes.
We can’t all be hipsters riding old italian bikes or fixed gear bikes through traffic. Most Americans want safe places to ride. The work being done by The Alliance, Bikes Belong Transportation Alternatives, Active Trans, The League, IMBA etc. helps grow this industry by putting more people on bikes.
My hunch is that BJ was referring to the USACycling part of that list…
The issue isn’t that these guys (at the top level of their industry) are making 6 figures, It that the USAC guys are doing a SHIT JOB of serving their base constituents. In that regard all they are doing is protecting their backsides and riding the gravy train.
ITT: jealousy