What leadership? I was a member of BFW for several years, and although my participation in the federation activities with the possible exception of the annual bike-to-work-week was rather passive, there was very little leadership I saw in BFW in the things I wanted to see, namely, more advocacy in environmental/health protection concerns that affect bicyclists.
As far as I'm concerned, there is no group with a better purpose for raising hell about the deteriorating shape of our environment than bicyclists. They are fully exposed to all the elements of the environment which surround them while bicycling, including the pollution from automobile traffic and other sources. Yet the BFW has remained neutral over the years about most environmental threats, even when a massive state highway improvement and expansion plan was proposed back in 1999. So when I finally confronted the former executive director about my concerns with BFW's lack of visible support for environmental issues, she suggested I always had the option to not renew my membership if I wasn't pleased with the direction the organization was taking, which I eventually took her up on. Yet I still have no way of knowing whether she was carrying out her objectives, or if instead it was the BFW Board's orders that has held the organization back from being environmental advocacy, and not her fault. Regardless, I think the BFW's decision to lay low on environmental concerns and allow the state highway plan to be implemented without objection has been a huge mistake. Maybe that's why it has less than 3,000 members in a state that has over 5 million people, which has been known otherwise for its strong environmental ethics. With global warming going the way it is and so much damage already been done to the environment by highways and motor vehicle emissions, maybe it doesn't matter as much anymore. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't still matter. Mike Neuman "It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment." -Ansel Adams, ---------- Preceding message ----------- I'd argue that, even if the responsibility for hiring and firing of the ED falls on the executive committee, this is not "just noise." There's doing things in a way to cover your ass legally and there's doing things the right way (with integrity and compassion). If I was a member of that board and had not at least been informed that the firing was to take place, I'd be pissed! And to have to wait two more weeks (until this weekend's retreat) to be given any information at all about the circumstances...I'd be pissed and insulted! This is poor leadership at its best. Pam _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
