In the good 'ol days (pre 1998) when AOPA had assets of $0.75m, the excellent staff included GM Bart Beech. Bart was a well-qualified professional, able to deal with politicians & bureaucrats at all levels, capable of undertaking excellent research and his submissions were first class. When AOPA lost this resource and the funds were squandered, the work finished up being done by well-meaning directors, in particular Bill Hamilton.
It is a big ask to expect the individual board members to carry out this work and ultimately AOPA needs to have someone of similar prowess to Bart Beech.
The short-term problem is that AOPA doesn't have the funds to hire someone of this calibre so it will be left to the directors.
The danger in the past is that Bill Hamilton has done almost 100% of the submissions to CASA, AirServices and the Government. No-one else was allowed to contribute, there was no succession to Bill and he gained knowledge and exposure at the expense of the remaining directors. For good or bad, that is how AOPA has blundered on since 1998.
I believe that the concocted position of "Technical Director" should be abolished. Working groups of Directors need to be formed to generate intellectually honest submissions. There is no reason why some excellent people from the membership could not be co-opted to the working groups to provide their input.
Then exposure drafts should be published on the web site to give members the chance to comment.
Bill Hamilton should be involved with the working groups but not lead them. His knowledge, experience and corporate memory needs to be harnessed.
Russell