Ronnie - this is for you

[Peter Gariepy]

Got this message today.

Ronnie, before you ban someone - please run it up the flagpole here.

 

======

 

To: AACA Authorities

 

RE: Corruption at Buick Reatta Division-

 

To whom:

 

This is a Formal Complaint. I do not expect any outcome- but I would enjoy at least an acknowledgement. Because of Ronnie Boring (aka "Ronnie") refusing to actively participate on the Forum while I was active- and using the PM system to campaign against me- he successfully poisoned many other Members attitudes towards me. So- (obvious to the prior Moderator Mr. Earl, of what he told me) he (Ronnie) and 2 other Members goaded me into an argument over something really stupid- and my big mouth got me suspended until January-something. A quick view of my Profile will clearly show the offending Members visiting my profile page just before this altercation occurred. How and where/why did this all start?

Years ago (2011) I got my '89 Reatta, and joined ROJ. Because of his hospitality- I referred to him as "Uncle Ronnie". A few Members here at AACA ribbed him about his Nephew buying a Reatta, his Nephew this & that- to the point that Ronnie took offense to it, and called me- threatening to ban me if I didn't stop. At the same time- other Members of AACA were criticizing my work to my car, and being very rude. So- I told EVERYONE to _ off, and I left.

Last year- I attempted to return to AACA only Shortly later- Ronnie recognized me, and was so abusive that Padgett had to step in. Since then- every post I make, every topic I create- is scrutinized by Ronnie and his "Lapdogs", artificially skewing other Members opinions of my posts and work. Ronnie has also repeatedly openly stated that "Nobody posts anymore because of you (me)".

Now- he's been made the Moderator, word has spread that I am "on leave", and everyone is posting again, and lined up to kiss his ring (among other things) and his prophecy is made to look true- so his plan to exile me is a success.

From 1976 to 1981-ish I was my Uncle's Apprentice at his Garage. From 1981-1995 I was a full time General Mechanic, at the same Garage. I know my way around vehicles of all types, makes, and models.

I came here to AACA (and ROJ) with intentions of helping others, not myself. Every step of the way- has been uphill. Therefore- I have come to the conclusion- that the few who run the Forum- felt threatened by a real Mechanic, so I am not deserved by anyone there. Let them figure out their little problems, on their own.

When my hiatus is over- I will just remain silent- never to post again. However- I do wish to please retain my Member status.

Sincerely, Robert E. Spencer

labcourier142hhr@verizon.net

[MrEarl]

Peter, Ronnie, I am tied up at th moment but as it was I who suspended Robert for 30 days, I'd like to explain this better. I'll return shortly to do so. 

[Ronnie]

I'm reading what he wrote and trying to absorb it all. This is something I expected. I will respond soon.

[Ronnie]

When I applied for the the Reatta forum moderator position I said I would treat everyone fairly, including Robert (89RedDarkGray), and I meant it. Therefore I think it would be appropriate for another moderator to handle this complaint and take any action that you see fit. (Against me or him)  I really don't want to see Robert leave the forum but if I remain as the moderator I don't want to see him continue with his abusive ways when he returns.

 

Here are the facts that I know about Robert's complaint.:

- I did ban him from the forum on ROJ (Reatta Owners Journal) as he said. The reason was primarily due to his abusive posts to other members as well as grandstanding and demanding attention. It is his nature to do that. Trying to reason with him several times did not work so banning him from the ROJ forum for good was my only option.

- I have never banned or suspended anyone on the AACA forum    

- I did stop participating in the forum for over two months because I didn't want to have any conflicts with him. During that time I signed into the forum every day to read every post that has been made. I came back and started posting again because the Reatta forum was in decline and I want to do what I can to make it better.

- I know of no campaign by PM or otherwise to poison members attitude toward him or anything else. I have discussed him in PMs with other members. It was not always me who initiated the PMs. Many members of the Reatta forum feel as I do that he is paranoid and liable to go off on any forum member at any time. If you read between the lines in his complaint you might come to the same conclusion.

- I have never goaded anyone to do anything on this forum concerning Robert.

- I have called his hand when he make irrational statements on the forum or starts posting links to other websites that really don't have anything to do with the Reatta forum. I have also reported his posts several times.

- I have told only one person about Robert being suspend who asked why he was no longer posting. We communicated by my personal email. I requested he not tell anyone else about the suspension. I don't know if he told anyone else or not.

 

I could go on about the fine points of this complaint but there is no need. If anyone has questions for me I will be more than happy to answer them. I'm sorry that me being appointed moderator has resulted in controversy.

Ronnie Boring

   

[R W Burgess]

Thanks for the update guys!

 

Wayne

[MrEarl]

 

 

Peter et al, as I mentioned above,  it was I who gave Robert a 30 day suspension/ban for his repeated inflammatory posts which consisted of sentences in caps and bold letters and at times very abusive language.  I read his "Formal Complaint" above and pretty much consider it in short .... hog wash.  As I stated in his last warning/suspension in the Note for Moderators (see below) " I spent a couple of hours, at least, going through his posts over the last year or so paying particular attention to posts that contained discussions with Ronnie. Based on that I made and stand by my comments made to him in the Note for Member in both the first and second warning. 

With that made more clear I'll address more of what I think you were trying to make a point of in your post  - running the banning of members up the flag pole. Had this been a permanent ban, I most certainly would have ran it by the senior forum leadership. If I was wrong in the assumption that I had authority to suspend then please advise and I will act accordingly in the future. Perhaps some guidelines for standard procedures such as this would be good to put out to all the moderators, especially since we have some new ones on board. I see there have been replies while I have been typing so will leave it at this and say no harm meant.

Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note for member

 

On May 3rd you were given this warning.

There have been reports of your continued use of inflammatory language towards others within your posts. Please refrain from using any such language that might lead to hurt feelings, confrontations or arguments. I understand that you sometimes are just expressing your opinion but as reported, it  sometimes comes across as argumentative or rude. Otherwise your knowledgeable and helpful posts are appreciated. We will appreciate your help in correcting this in the future.

Remarks made by you in a thread "As Our Reatta Age" were clearly inappropriate and that while I understand you may have felt somewhat provoked, such remarks and manner of speech can not and will not be tolerated. We feel that while you often have a tendency to overreact, take things and comments too personally and then express yourself in an abusive manner to others we also realize you share much knowledge and ideas to the forum. Therefore instead of a permanent ban, we are hereby imposing a 30 day suspension from accessing the site. We hope that upon your return you can better control your expressions and comments toward a more harmonious relationship with others.You will regain access to the site on January 6, 2018 

Lamar

---

Note for Moderators

I have had some discussions with other Reatta forum members and they feel 89RedDarkGrey's sometimes disrespectful and obnoxious postings and his  I'm right You're wrong attitude is the reason their forum membership is declining. I spent several hours checking his, as well as others activity, to try and gain an unbiased opinion of their assertions and do see much of that they speak of.  Here is the most recent of his abusive posts

http://forums.aaca.org/topic/302506-as-our-reatta-age-what-happens/

 

I have sent him the following message.

 

On May 3rd you were given this warning.

There have been reports of your continued use of inflammatory language towards others within your posts. Please refrain from using any such language that might lead to hurt feelings, confrontations or arguments. I understand that you sometimes are just expressing your opinion but as reported, it  sometimes comes across as argumentative or rude. Otherwise your knowledgeable and helpful posts are appreciated. We will appreciate your help in correcting this in the future.

Remarks made by you in a thread "As Our Reatta Age" were clearly inappropriate and that while I understand you may have felt somewhat provoked, such remarks and manner of speech can not and will not be tolerated. We feel that while you often have a tendency to overreact, take things and comments too personally and then express yourself in an abusive manner to others we also realize you share much knowledge and ideas to the forum. Therefore instead of a permanent ban, we are hereby imposing a 30 day suspension from accessing the site. We hope that upon your return you can better control your expressions and comments toward a more harmonious relationship with others. You will regain access to the site on January 6, 2018

Lamar

[MCHinson]

Peter,

 

This guy is the primary reason we needed a Reatta focused Moderator. MrEarl has been dealing with his abusive behavior for quite some time. He has documented this in the Report Module if you wish to read all of his moderator comments and his multiple warnings. There have been multiple reports concerning this guy's posts over quite a long period of time. If MrEarl had not taken the actions that he had, I would have probably already taken more extensive action against him myself.

 

The fact that he is trying to complain about Ronnie here for actions that Ronnie has taken on his own website and is complaining on the wrong Moderator for banning him here is fairly clear to me that this guy needs to learn a bit about how to get along with others. Knowing the history of him causing problems on this forum,  I would say his complaint is totally without merit.

[MrEarl]

16 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

I could go on about the fine points of this complaint but there is no need. If anyone has questions for me I will be more than happy to answer them. I'm sorry that me being appointed moderator has resulted in controversy.

 

I think you explained it all very well Ronnie. Quite a bit better than my comment of "hog wash". And please don't consider that your being appointed moderator resulted in any controversy as that is precisely why you were appointed, to put an end to it.

Welcome to the world of Moderating

[Ronnie]

Quote

Now- he's been made the Moderator, word has spread that I am "on leave", and everyone is posting again, and lined up to kiss his ring (among other things) and his prophecy is made to look true- so his plan to exile me is a success.

 

I don't know how "word has spread" that he is on leave bit I think it is good news that everyone is posting again. Getting people to post again is the main reason I was willing to take on the job as moderator on the Reatta forum. Reatta forum members are posting more now that he has stopped posting. I doubt other forum members know that he was suspended. I guess other members thought he stopped posting because the last thing Robert posted before being suspended was this"

Quote

Ok- fine, buddy- have it your way. The big bad mean monster will never answer a stupid question, or give any advice on YOUR precious website again. Everyone who left "because of me" can come back, and hold hands around the campfire and sing Cumbaya.

 

Fair enough?

 

For the record. I have never worn a ring. I was a machinist until I retired. Smart machinist (the ones with all their fingers) don't wear rings.

[Ronnie]

On 12/14/2017 at 10:09 AM, Peter Gariepy said:

Ronnie, before you ban someone - please run it up the flagpole here.

Understood. I'll do that.

[Peter Gariepy]

Ronnie,

First, let me say thank you for helping with moderator duties.

This is a perfect example of personality conflicts.

As the other moderators will tell you, we get attacked personally for moderating. Therefore, dont take it personally.

Lets not communicate with him further. When if he returns, lets see if he honors his comment:  "When my hiatus is over- I will just remain silent- never to post again."

[Ronnie]

Peter,

Thank you. I'm happy to help out.

I hope the issue of the complaint is over. I've been wondering if I was seen as the troublemaker by others who read the complaint.

He does have a personality clash with me and several other members on the Reatta forum for sure.

I will come to this forum for guidance before taking any action if I start having problems with him when he returns.

 

[MCHinson]

Ronnie,

 

Don't worry about the other moderators being influenced by the complaint. Your reputation is what got you selected as a moderator. That guy's reputation is quite different. The wording of the complaint itself shows him to be even more immature than I expected from his previous posts.