MISSOULA — Members of the Adventure Cycling Association in Missoula believe its board of directors violated state law when it voted to sell the organization's iconic downtown headquarters earlier this year.
According to association members, the board refused to permit the group to present an opposing viewpoint on the sale. Rather, they said, the board only presented its position on the sale of the property, located at 150 E. Pine Street in downtown Missoula.
The association has owned the building since 1991.
"When I received the notification about the vote, I was concerned that the information presented was totally one-sided," said Matthew Cohn, a life member and previous board president. "I felt that members should have been able to learn about both sides of the issue to make an informed decision, but my request was ignored by the board, which was quite disappointing, to say the least.”
The board wasn't immediately available for comment on Tuesday. But in past publications, the board has cited the organization's “downward trend,” which it attributed to changing demographics, decreased demand and other external factors.
“After many months of collaboration, analysis, and discussion between staff and board, Adventure Cycling has made a difficult decision — we’re selling our headquarters and moving to a smaller space in Missoula,” the board wrote in an editorial published by Bicycle Retailer and Industry News. “This is just the latest in a series of challenging decisions we've had to make to ensure the financial future of our organizations.”
Several association members said they responded to the board with ways the organization could reverse its current challenges. Members also suggested that “poor decision-making by the current board was the real culprit.”
After several failed attempts to achieve an equal opportunity to voice alternatives to the sale, members asked the board to cancel the current vote on selling the property, throw out the results, address the violations and hold a new election.
“The organization received an offer and ran a member vote, which apparently violated MT nonprofit law and even some fundamental elements of fairness,” said Jim Sayer, a local association member. “ACA's founders and past staff leaders notified the board of the violations last week and other ACA supporters (in late November).”
Adventure Cycling represents the nation's largest cycling membership nonprofit and has played a significant role in Missoula's cycling fabric. It helped complete the Missoula to Lolo Trail and was present during the Montana Bikecentennial's 40th anniversary celebration in Lolo in 2016.
“The current board has not demonstrated that the $2.55 million the organization would receive from the sale of the treasured headquarters building will be used in a responsible manner,” members wrote. “Instead, they supported program and staff decisions that resulted in deep deficits and depleted the nearly-exhausted reserves by $2.5 million. Selling key organization assets without a solid recovery plan in place does not demonstrate good board governance.”
Results of the vote, which closed on November 24, are to be announced by the board by December 10.
