AlanK, Yes, we, as shareholders in a public company, should give serious consideration to any well-formulated plan to replace the BOD. Why? Three quick reasons:
1. The BOD has failed their fiduciary responsibility by placing their self-interest at odds with the common shareholders best interests. It now makes sense why the BOD have held relatively few common shares. Their RS plan looks more and more like a long-planned and calculated action by CB which they, the BOD, rubber stamped. While I think Mr. Bitters should be well compensated in a manner that would link his gains and our gains, I did not invest in AMEP to fund CB's retirement at my expense.
2. The BOD has overseen a virtual blackout of news, whether it be PRs or updates on the website, for well over a year, including a good amount of time following the end of the BDC. Does anyone know, for example, what percentage the company gets of wells drilled? Some seem to think that once we give them what they want, the news will flow like water. My friends, history tends to repeat itself. If Mr. Bitters displayed poor shareholder relations in the past, can we honestly expect it to improve once he and his brother have gained control in the future should the RS pass?
3. The BOD has failed to present a business plan to back-up their RS proposal. They have failed to reveal anything of substance in regard to other options explored. What we have been given in terms of a "plan" would fail to make a passing grade in most Business 101 classes.
Though I am a long who has a long record of trusting Mr. Bitters and giving him the benefit of doubt, I now fully support any responsible plan to replace the BOD.
Sabregold outlined a plan of action on July 5th that I think we should give serious consideration to if we can't get things going now in regard to replacing the BOD with competent members. His plan, copied below, is worth reading again:
-------------------
So here is where we are at currently.
We have a proposal by managment that dilutes shareholder ownership while exponentially increasing management's ownership.
POD)
1)No one will argue that management works hard and deserves payment. However, no one ever asked CB not to pay himself, nor did anyone ask him to put his own money into the company. That does not warrant the onerous R/S details.
2)Will the vote pass and if not is dissoultion an option. IMO the vote will not pass. Dissoultion is not an option either. CB has not the authority and if he dares to default on that note without showing a judge that he exhausted all means possible to protect shareholders it will look like Adelphia cable. Translation: Prison...CB will not take that gamble.
3)So what are we left with. We are left with a stock that will remain with 500M shares but "may" have some cash-flow issues. More importantly, we have shareholders giving management a vote of no confidence by shooting down this proposal.
4)What then? We then have to determine if CB can be trusted to uphold his duty and work for shareholders to do the only thing that matters. Get the stock price up by doing his job to the best of his ability. I have stated many times here. This is all about CB getting paid. When the R/S is shot down CB will understand fully that he works for us and not a select group of shareholders that he can easily manipulate.
So here is what I propose we do and this is just a suggestion.
1)Vote no
2)After the R/S fails begin the process of electing a more diverse BOD as many here suggest. This would be beneficial on many ends.
a)We would expect CB to either resign or get aligned with the new bosses.
b)We would expect more timely updates on drilling via the website.
c)We would eliminate JC and his salary.
d)The new BOD would establish a relationship with a bank of their choosing and get a LOC, like most businesses do.
e)We would list exact locations of acreage and list comparables and what they were transacted for so we know how much the acreage is worth.
f)Reserves, we would commission a study to determine reserves.
What we need now is for the R/S to fail. Once it fails, I will assist in getting the process started to elect a new slate of directors.
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
AI
