The hearing is setup somewhat formal using Robert's rules of order. The Board speaks and then each party is given the floor for so many minutes to state their case. I believe I heard at the conference that the two objecting parties, Hennis and INFORM were given 10 minutes each. CGFI and the DRMS were given 20 minutes, with time allowed to respond, plus call witnesses. If you've ever seen a meeting that uses Robert's rules, you've seen people "move" to have something done or to vote - with a yea or nay at the end. There are lawyers involved, so it something of a court feel to it as well.
I'm not going to be able to make the hearing and it's possible I won't have time to even listen to the live feed - hope someone records it.
This one should be a lot different than 2010. Both Guyer and Wally actually get along better now. I could feel the friendly relationship between these two at the recent conference was 180 degree's different than what we all saw at the 2010 hearing. The tension is gone.
Wally caught up to me after the conference and we got to chat for awhile. I found out - Yes, he was the one that had to scan all our letters and petitions! I feel that for most of this process Wally was just a solder following orders; that personally he actually supports the company! The difference now? The chain of command has changed - for the better. I've given Wally a hard time over the years and still might rib him a little - but now see I might have been beating the messenger. Personally, he likes us investors and is a reasonable guy. I'll probably call him after the hearing to just say, "Hey!" If anything, we should all send thank you letters to Wally - but not yet! We don't want him to have to scan all those flippin things into the database.
Our letter and petition drive had a positive effect. In other words, it worked! It didn't cause a slam dunk, but it evened the field. One of my goals for the trip to Silverton was to see if we needed another petition. I don't think we do. It looks like the Governor, or somebody, "looked" into this for us.
At this point INFORM is the hurdle. At this late date they are trying to inject themselves into the process by wanting to call witnesses, have extra response time to other's testimonies and generally feel they are just as important as the state and the company. Problem is, they really don't have anything to complain about under the rules. I'm not even sure why they were given 10 minutes total - maybe the DRMS was trying to humor them. INFORM, and even Hennis for that matter had the pre-hearing conference to give evidence to support their objections. Lol, the only evidence they have is, "they want to go!" They really shouldn't be going and I hope the board see's this. The trivial arguments they have take time away from the DRMS and the company to state their case and come to an agreement the board can vote on. There isn't an infinite amount of time at these hearings. The agenda has the board meeting on Aug 9th and 10th. That is for everything they they have to rule on - the CGFIA hearing is just for a block of time on the 9th. I don't want INFORM or Hennis to go because of anything they have to say will sway the board, but it could take time away from what could be an important witness or key item the board needs to make a decision under the rules.
