The record

Board members hold the club in trust for its members. Here is that duty, and what this board did with it.

The duty

NYCC is a New York not-for-profit corporation. Its directors are fiduciaries: they manage money and decisions that belong to the members.

Care
Directors must act “in good faith and with the care an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances.”
N.Y. Not-for-Profit Corporation Law §717(a)
Loyalty
The members’ interests and the club’s purpose come before a director’s own interests, and before loyalty to fellow directors.
Common law; see NY Department of State guidance on director duties
The club’s own rule
A director with “a financial or personal interest” must “fully disclose the nature of the interest and… withdraw from discussion, lobbying, and voting.”
NYCC Bylaws, Art. III §11

What high-performing organizations share

Google’s study of its own teams, Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and BoardSource’s principles for nonprofit boards land on the same traits. Risk Up Front, a method for running complex projects, names four.

  • Transparency

    A shared understanding of the facts.

  • Accountability

    One person owns each result.

  • Integrity

    Do what you say.

  • Commitment

    It will be so, even in the face of circumstance.

This page looks at two of the four: transparency and integrity.

What happened

  1. 1Oct 24, 2024Transparency

    Colin Taber, then VP Rides, running for President

    Posted in the club’s election channel when members asked about the website.

    “We have spent well into the 5 figures. And let me tell you, we are not spending wildly. … We are going for cheap and good! The team is right now focused on the last stages of delivering the initial version.”

    The factsThe board’s own figures put website spending at $60,468 by the end of 2023 and $104,605 by the end of 2024. “Five figures” was about to become six. The “last stages” lasted another nineteen months: the site launched in May 2026, and by October the club had spent $198,712 on it.

    The dutyThe number. Members asking what their dues were buying were owed the dollar amount and a straight account of where the project stood.

    Club Discord; NYCC voting item, Website Funding, Mar 1 2026

    Evidence for 1
  2. 2Oct 24, 2024Integrity

    Colin Taber, then VP Rides, running for President

    A campaign promise, made while he was running for President.

    “The MVP version … of the site will be launched in the upcoming months, i.e. before the next riding season gets under way.”

    The factsThe 2025 riding season came and went on the old site. The new one launched in May 2026.

    Club Discord

    Evidence for 2
  3. 3Nov 2024Transparency

    Michael Diener, then leading the website project

    Four member volunteers with deep professional experience, Scott among them, went through the project’s code, specs and schedule, and wrote to him with what they found.

    “There has been virtually no progress on the app for the past five months. … It’s unclear what features/user stories are complete 15 months into development. … The scope of this project requires more than a single engineer and the project isn’t set up for collaboration.”

    The factsThey warned that the plan was too ambitious, that one paid contractor was a bottleneck, and that the club “could do much better” on cost. They offered to help fix it. No board minutes mention the letter, and the approach did not change. Months later a new contractor took over and the project carried on as before.

    The dutyPut the warning in front of the board. A board told by its own expert members that a project this size has stalled has a duty to look before spending more.

    Letter to Michael Diener, Nov 2024; board minutes, Nov 2024 to Mar 2025

    Evidence for 3
  4. 4Feb 2, 2025Transparency

    Colin Taber, President

    Over the last week of January, Scott posted a working rides app in the club’s general channel, with the club’s ride history loaded, and kept adding features in public as members asked questions. Just before midnight on February 1, the night before the club’s members’ Zoom on the website, Colin wrote that “this discussion needs to continue offline, and not out here confusing everyone.” Five minutes later:

    “Until this point, I thought we were just looking at ride history. Something interesting, but certainly not anything duplicative of the current effort to make a new site that is well underway. Please reach out privately to continue any further discussion.”

    The factsScott had already reached out privately, two weeks earlier. The official project was not “well underway.” Two months earlier its own volunteer engineers had reported virtually no progress in five months, and within weeks the board would record that it needed a new developer. The new site launched sixteen months later. The next morning a member replied that it was “a great discussion to have publicly.”

    The dutyA comparison in the open. A working alternative, built at no cost to the club, was exactly what members on that Zoom should have seen. Taking it private kept it from them.

  5. 5Jul 28, 2025Transparency

    Colin Taber, President, and Michael Diener, Technology Director

    Colin posted a link to the project’s status page in the club’s Discord. A member asked for it “in plain old English”: “When is this expected to be completed? … What is the current spend against budget?” Two weeks later Michael Diener answered that the page “now includes detailed timing and budget information!”

    “Someone asked recently about the website status. It’s posted regularly in the newsletter, but in case for some reason you don’t get that, here it is.”

    The factsThe answer to those questions lived on that page, and the page has since been rewritten in place, at the same address. It is now titled “Website Improvement Status” and thanks the team for the launch. The 2025 dates and budget figures members were pointed to are gone, and nothing marks what changed or when.

    The dutyA record members can go back to. Status reports that are overwritten cannot be checked against what happened.

    Club Discord; project status page, then and now

    Evidence for 5

    • The “Website status” thread, Jul 28 to Sep 9 2025

      The “Website status” thread, Jul 28 to Sep 9 2025

    • The same status page today

      The same status page today

    • The same status page today, continued

      The same status page today, continued
    • The status page, live
  6. 6Sep 8, 2025Integrity

    The board

    Approved $43,000 more so the site would be “ready to launch within the next thirty to forty days.”

    The factsThe money left out the design. The same minutes say the $43,000 did not cover the final design, which had no price yet, and that the designer had stepped back from the project. The developer only builds from finished designs, so the launch date depended on work that was neither paid for nor staffed. The site launched eight and a half months later.

    The dutyFund the whole plan before accepting a date. A careful board asks what the launch still depends on, and pays for all of it, before it approves money on a promise of thirty to forty days.

    Board minutes, Sep 8 2025; NYCC voting item, Website Funding, Mar 1 2026

    Evidence for 6
  7. 7Oct 15, 2025Integrity

    Michael Diener, Technology Director

    Gave the board a launch window of December 15, 2025 to January 20, 2026.

    The factsTen weeks later, 28 of the 40 development items were still blocked waiting on design.

    Board minutes, Oct 15 2025; project status page, Dec 22 2025

    Evidence for 7
  8. 8Oct 2025Members first?

    The board

    Scott reviewed the code the club was paying a commercial developer to write, and found critical security flaws the web team did not know about. The board had them fixed.

    The factsAmong them: live payment keys in use in test environments, and members able to change what they pay from their own browser. These are basic mistakes for a paid professional to make.

    The dutyGet what the club pays for. Members’ money bought professional work, and the board’s job is to insist on it.

    Scott Weinstein; code review of the new site

    Evidence for 8

    • Scott’s code review of the new site, Oct 20 2025. Held by Scott Weinstein.

  9. 9Dec 2025Transparency

    Michael Diener, Technology Director, and the board

    The board recorded $155,500 budgeted for the website and voted $3,600 more.

    The factsFour weeks before the vote, the project’s own status page showed about 1 of 35 development items complete and 71% of the development budget spent. Three weeks after it, the page showed 1 of 40 complete, 28 of them stuck waiting on design, and 77% spent. The minutes never mention it.

    The dutyLook at what the money bought before adding more. The project’s own page showed one development item in forty finished. A careful board reads that before it votes, and puts it in the minutes.

    Board minutes, Dec 3 2025; project status page, Nov 5 and Dec 22 2025

    Evidence for 9
  10. 10Jan 7, 2026Integrity

    Michael Diener, Technology Director

    Announced a new launch date of February 1.

    The factsThe designs the developer needed were not finished until February 6, five days after the promised launch. The board’s own March funding request says so.

    Board minutes, Jan 7 2026; NYCC voting item, Website Funding, Mar 1 2026

    Evidence for 10
  11. 11Jan 14, 2026Integrity

    Michael Diener, Technology Director

    Three weeks after his status page showed 1 of 40 items done, he wrote to Scott. “Next.js” was his name for the member-built site.

    “I would like to explore immediately stopping work on the Membership App and focusing all product and design effort towards launching Next.js…”

    The factsThe person responsible for the project had said in writing that the club should consider stopping it. At the next meeting the board heard both sides, took no vote, and recorded only that “Members were encouraged to work collaboratively.” The official app carried on.

    The dutyA decision. When the director in charge doubts his own project, the board owes members a clear choice on the evidence, not a call to collaborate.

    Direct message to Scott Weinstein; board minutes, Feb 4 2026

    Evidence for 11
  12. 12Feb 18, 2026Transparency

    Colin Taber, President

    A member asked the board to post its minutes for November and December 2025 and January 2026. Colin replied within two minutes:

    “I can provide an update and informal summary. Give me 24 to 48 hours please.”

    The factsThe member answered that they wanted “the official minutes, which have been voted on and approved.” Three days later the board posted ten months of 2025 minutes at once. The November 2025 minutes have never been posted: the next three sets of minutes each say they are “under review.” The minutes for January to June 2026 went up together on September 27, 2026. July to September are not posted.

    The dutyMinutes posted once approved, without being asked. Minutes are how members see what the board decided and spent. A summary from the President is not a substitute.

    Club Discord; board minutes as posted on nycc.org

    Evidence for 12
  13. 13Feb 22, 2026Integrity

    Colin Taber, President

    Two weeks after the February 9 date was missed, and the “earliest possible” date of February 16 with it.

    “The website project is moving forward at a rapid pace. Launch is not very far off.”

    The factsThe site launched on May 25, three months later.

    Club Discord

    Evidence for 13

    • Colin’s February updates

      Colin’s February updates
  14. 14Spring 2026Transparency

    Colin Taber, President

    At a board meeting on Zoom, the board voted up to $20,000 more for the website. Another board member voted yes and asked that Scott, the elected Webmaster, join the project to oversee it. As Scott recalls it, Colin answered that Scott was too disruptive and not welcome. Scott voted no. The money passed.

    The factsNone of this is in the posted minutes. Afterwards Scott was no longer invited to web committee meetings, and he lost access to the team’s workspace: links Michael Diener had sent him in January now read “You don’t have access.” That workspace is Michael Diener’s personal ClickUp account. The club’s website project is run from a director’s private account, and he decides who can see it.

    The dutyOversight, on the record. A request to oversee a six-figure project deserves an answer in the minutes. And the club’s project belongs in an account the club owns, open to the directors members elected.

    Scott Weinstein’s account; NYCC voting item, Website Funding, Mar 1 2026; board minutes, Mar–May 2026; ClickUp; emails between Scott and Colin, Oct 21–22 2026

    Evidence for 14

    • NYCC voting item “Website Funding”, Mar 1 2026 (board document)

    • 2026 minutes as posted2026 minutes as posted

    • Michael Diener to Scott, Jan 17 2026: links into the team’s workspace, as Scott sees them now

      Michael Diener to Scott, Jan 17 2026: links into the team’s workspace, as Scott sees them now

    • What the workspace shares with Scott today

      What the workspace shares with Scott today

    • Scott to the President, Oct 21 2026

      “Colin has unilaterally removed most of these from my remit, but I will see to my fiduciary responsibilities where I can till my term ends.”

    • Colin Taber to Scott, Oct 22 2026

      “Scott - for the record I disagree with your characterization of my actions with regards to your remit, or at least I’d call it a simplification.”
  15. 15May 11, 2026Integrity

    The board

    Minuted that defects in already-scoped work “will be addressed without additional funding.”

    The factsThree weeks later it allocated $3,000 more for “technical fixes and operational improvement.”

    Board minutes, May 11 and Jun 3 2026

    Evidence for 15
  16. 16May 26, 2026Transparency

    Colin Taber, President

    On launch day, a member wrote that the new site would not show her past rides or ride details, and asked, “Why was this changed?????” Colin replied:

    “…rides have to be listed in the new site as the old data was not transferred. This is not my favorite part of the plan, but it was decided and it’s not reversable now.”

    The factsIn 2023 the board’s plan was to “explore low-cost options to ingest some ride history data to the new site.” As late as January 14, 2026, Michael Diener was still writing about “ideas I have to incorporate the old data.” No minutes record a decision to drop it, and the data was not lost: the member-built site, tools.nycc.org, had the club’s ride history loaded and open to members. “It was decided” doesn’t say who decided. Colin’s February update had the same gap: “It was announced the new website target date was Feb 9. … The earliest possible date that’s been shared with me is Feb 16.” Announced by whom? Shared by whom? His posts never say.

    The dutySay who decided, and when. Members cannot hold anyone to account for a decision nobody made. Accountability means one person owns each result.

    Club Discord; board minutes, Sep 2023

    Evidence for 16

    • The question and Colin’s reply, May 25–27 2026 (member’s name hidden)

      The question and Colin’s reply, May 25–27 2026 (member’s name hidden)

    • Colin’s February updates

      Colin’s February updates

    • Michael Diener to Scott, Jan 14 2026: “incorporate the old data”

      Michael Diener to Scott, Jan 14 2026: “incorporate the old data”
    • Board minutes, Sep 6 2023
  17. 17May 28, 2026Members first?

    Colin Taber, President

    Three days after launch.

    “There is a privacy issue we’re working, where the ride leader’s email address will be sent to any club member subscribed to ride listing updates that would include that ride. We are working to size and close this issue but it may take a few days.”

    The factsFour days later a ride leader asked for a timeline on the fix. The Technology Director answered that a volunteer had posted one and it would be deployed once reviewed. There was no date.

    The dutyA date, and an apology to the ride leaders whose addresses went out. The volunteers who lead rides are the club.

    Club Discord

    Evidence for 17
  18. 18Jun 1, 2026Transparency

    Michael Diener, Technology Director

    One week after launch, replying to a member in the club’s public channel.

    “If you do encounter a bug, like non-persistent mobile login, simply visit the Support page and submit a support ticket or bug report. This routes the issue to the correct people and doesn’t spam the membership in Discord.”

    The factsThat week members had been locked out of logging in, some had been charged twice, and the site was sending ride leaders’ email addresses to other members. The public channel was the only place members heard about any of it.

    The dutyProblems reported where members can see them. Moving reports to a private ticket queue hides how the site is doing from the people paying for it.

    Club Discord

    Evidence for 18
  19. 19Jul 6 and Oct 3–7, 2026Transparency

    Colin Taber, President

    On July 6, Colin wrote to Scott that nyc-rides.bike, a domain Scott owns personally, was “listing rides from our current site,” and asked him to take it down. Club data on a personal domain was Scott’s mistake, and he took the site down that day. In October another board member wrote that the board had “recently became aware” the site was still live, and asked for a meeting. Scott answered that nyc-rides.bike had been down since July, and that what was running was tools.nycc.org, on a domain the club owns, which he linked to in the club’s Discord. Colin replied:

    “This unauthorized use of live NYCC data needs to be taken down.”

    The factsThe July request was fair, and Scott acted on it the same day. The October one treated as news a site on the club’s own domain that had been in plain view for two months. Scott had posted links to tools.nycc.org in the club’s general channel on August 3 and August 14, and on August 8, the day after Colin posted in the same channel, he pointed a member to it for past rides. Scott took it down on October 7.

    The dutyLook before ordering it down. A shared understanding of the facts starts with looking at them, and a board confident in its own site has no reason to remove a companion site which adds features without data conflict or user confusion.

    Emails between board members and Scott Weinstein, Jul 6 and Oct 3–7 2026; club Discord, Aug 2026

    Evidence for 19

    • Colin Taber to Scott, Jul 6 2026

      “Several reports have come in that nycc.bike lives at nyc-rides.bike. I suggest you take it down. It is no longer appropriate, especially since you are listing rides from our current site.”

    • A board member to Scott, Oct 3 2026

      “We recently became aware of the fact that your competing website - nyc-rides.bike - is still live and is actually allowing members to log in (using their actual NYCC passwords). … I’d like to schedule a meeting with you and other Board members … to discuss the matter.”

    • Scott’s reply, Oct 3 2026

      “I took down the domain nyc-rides.bike that was hosting the site when asked. It was an unintentional mistake to have NYCC data on that, non-nycc domain. … tools.nycc.org is operating. That should be no surprise to anyone involved in the club. I post links to it from our discord channels.”

    • Colin Taber to Scott, Oct 2026

      “This unauthorized use of live NYCC data needs to be taken down.”

    • Scott to the board, Oct 7 2026

      “I’ve taken tools.nycc.org down.”

    • #general, Aug 3 2026

      #general, Aug 3 2026

    • #general, Aug 7–8 2026

      #general, Aug 7–8 2026

    • #general, Aug 14 2026

      #general, Aug 14 2026
  20. 202026Members first?

    The result

    Since 2023 the club has spent $198,712 on its new website. Over the same years, fewer members rode with the club: 1,272 in 2024, 1,231 in 2025 and 1,166 so far in 2026.

    The factsMany things move ridership, and the website may not be the cause. But the club’s biggest investment of these years has not turned the decline around.

    The dutyMeasure the return. Spending on this scale needs a goal members can check, such as more members finding and joining rides, and a board that reports against it.

    Club ride records, Jan 1 to Oct 16 of each year; NYCC voting item, Website Funding, Mar 1 2026

    Evidence for 20

    • Club ride records, Jan 1 to Oct 16 of 2024, 2025 and 2026

    • NYCC voting item “Website Funding”, Mar 1 2026 (board document)

  21. 21Oct 2026Integrity

    Michael Diener, Technology Director, running for re-election

    In his statement on the club’s 2027 board nominees page, which members read before they vote. The previous webmaster is Scott.

    “The previous webmaster, who is running for my seat, refused to collaborate on the project when the board voted his preferred approach down. He insisted on working independently on a separate site that was never authorized, accessing NYCC data and passwords without permission or oversight.”

    The factsMichael Diener was the director responsible for oversight, and Scott asked him. In January 2025, shown the ride-history app with the club’s rides loaded, he wrote that it was “perfect as a stand-alone Ride History app.” In October 2025 Scott asked him outright, “Do I have permission to use the NYCC look/style” for it, and he answered “Makes sense.” In January 2026 he wrote to Scott that he would like to explore stopping work on the official app and putting all effort into Scott’s. As for the vote, no minutes record one. The only meeting to discuss Scott’s approach, in February 2026, heard both sides, took no vote, and recorded only that “Members were encouraged to work collaboratively.” The minutes that could show otherwise have not been posted: November 2025 has been “under review” for most of a year, and July to September 2026 are missing.

    The dutyThe record, including his own part in it. A director who tells voters the board voted owes them the minutes that show it, and his own messages on what he approved.

    nycc.org/2027-board-nominees; ClickUp chat, Jan 14 and Oct 1 2025; direct message to Scott Weinstein, Jan 14 2026; board minutes, Feb 4 2026; minutes as posted

    Evidence for 21
  22. 22Oct 2026Integrity

    Michael Diener, Technology Director, running for re-election

    The same statement, on the same page. “The previous webmaster” is Scott.

    “I am delighted that Ismail, a current team member, will become the new NYCC webmaster. … Having a webmaster who actually contributes to the NYCC website and collaborates with the team on technical solutions will be a real step forward for NYCC.”

    The factsHere is what Scott contributed, much of it from outside the project. He reviewed the paid developer’s code before launch and found critical security flaws: any paying member could have changed what they pay, taken full control of the site, or pulled every member’s contact and emergency-contact details. Most were fixed before launch. He made the site’s automated tests actually run; until then nothing checked a change before it went live, and Michael Diener now tells the board that “every change must pass those tests.” And he built eny.nycc.org, Escape New York’s own site.

    The dutyCredit where it’s due. A director describing a colleague to voters owes them the record of what that colleague did, not just whether he did it inside the director’s project.

    nycc.org/2027-board-nominees; Scott Weinstein’s code review, Oct 2025, and security audit, May 11 2026; the club’s code repository; board minutes, Apr 15 2026; Michael Diener’s email to the board, Oct 18 2026

    Evidence for 22
    • Michael Diener’s candidate statement

    • Scott’s pre-launch security audit, May 11 2026. Held by Scott Weinstein.

      “I count 7 launch-blocking vulnerabilities … Several are zero-effort full admin takeover from a normal member account.”

    • Scott’s change to the club’s code, Jun 5 2026: “Makes CI actually run the test suite”

      “Previously the Tests workflow only booted Rails … and exited green — bin/rails test was commented out, so nothing verified behavior or gated main.”

    • Michael Diener to the board, Oct 18 2026

      “Every change must pass those tests before it goes live, so all website improvements have stopped, and if something breaks on the site, we couldn’t ship a fix.”
    • eny.nycc.org, the Escape New York site
    • 2026 minutes as posted (Apr 15: the Escape New York site demo)

The vote

Michael Diener is running for re-election as Technology Director. Board members are accountable to members once a year, at the ballot. Read the record and decide.