Kevin,
The problems with the USRA structure are these:
1) Racers virtually always vote to benefit only themselves and their own racing. There's little or no concern for the raceways, the industry, or the overall hobby, not to mention the other racers.
2) In any organization, slots or otherwise, the best results occur when there are clear goals and a vision for the future, a consensus as to where the organization is heading with actions being undertaken to achieve those goals. The USRA leadership over the past few decades has not demonstrated any significant leadership in this regard.
3) In organized slot racing, rules stability should be a prime directive and again, the USRA has not been very effective in either understanding that concept or adhering to it.
4) A critical issue in almost everything in life is communication and the USRA has historically not acted as if this is an important factor. Don't forget that communication is a two-way street; leadership has to communicate with the membership and the membership needs to have a clear and effective channel of communication with the leadership. Again, the USRA has done poorly in this regard.
5) The USRA has shown for many years that recognizing and archiving the accomplishments of racers who excel at USRA racing is not much of a concern. Anyone know who won the Intl-15 class at the Nats in 1990 or where to find that information?
5) Not sure how many racers realize how small the USRA membership is. When I twice volunteered (I was not asked to do it) to count the USRA online vote a decade or so ago ago (because no elected official was willing to take on the task), the membership number was roughly 235-240 people worldwide (and there was a surprising number of non-US members) and a significant percentage of them did not vote. I also note that the site of next year's D2 Nats was determined by exactly 38 total votes. So to consider the USRA to be a "racer run" organization is misguided. At these numbers, the vote can be unfairly influenced and IMO this has happened in the past, especially regarding the sites for future Nats events.
Racer36, your nice comment regarding the the IRRA® rules sorta misses the point. The success of that organization is not based solely on the rules that define the types of slot cars raced, but IMO on the overall functioning of the organization. Yes, the specific car rules are important to an extent, but the overall functioning of the organization is the more important factor. In a successful organization, just like in an internal combustion engine, all functional aspects have to be optimized: fueling, induction and exhaust, timing, ignition, etc., to achieve a well-running and powerful result. The USRA for far too long has been more akin to a one-cylinder hit-and-miss engine that misfires more often than not.
In my opinion, of course...