Agreed except "ditch diggers", ie. Pipelayers and Equipment Operators, do get progressive discipline....
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Michael Lemberger Sent: Monday, October 01, 2007 9:55 PM To: [email protected]; David Schlabowske Cc: Bill Sell Subject: [Bikies] Re: [milbtw] [BFW Campaign Kick-off!] Hi Dave, Just wanted to respond briefly to a couple of things you mention in your e-mail as it appeared on the bikies list. (Bill, I thought this might interest you since you were the original recipient. If not, please delete it.) Dave, you wrote: "The website listed earlier [betheengine.com] contains what I consider to be inaccurate information." It might be very helpful if you could outline why you hold that view. The one thing lacking in this discussion is accurate information. Further, you wrote: "It is my personal opinion that this is all because Dar was let go and the board kept the reasons for that dismissal private. Some people who are close to Dar were unhappy with that decision and wanted to know why she was let go. I think that it is only proper to keep those reasons private." You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but the issue for me is not, and has never been, personal loyalty to Dar. You're correct that it is the board's prerogative to hire and fire staff and that personnel matters are required to be kept confidential. However, abrupt firings like this one, absent progressive disciplinary measures, are usually reserved for cases of malfeasance or gross misconduct--things like not showing up for work, stealing from the till, or abusing coworkers--none of which Dar was evidently engaged in. What concerns me are the motives behind this firing and its long-term effect on the Bicycle Federation. Normally, one advantage of progressive disciplinary action is that it gives you time to make preparations and look for a replacement before you sack somebody with any useful amount of institutional knowledge. But this board, in its haste, couldn't be bothered to follow that course of action, and treated the Executive Director position as if it were the equivalent of a ditchdigger. As far as I could tell, there was no plan in place for what came after terminating the acting ED--no plan for communication with members or the media, no plan for recruiting a new ED, and no plan for day-to-day operation of the organization in the ED's absence. This led to a woefully inadequate response to member and media interest in the ED's sudden termination. The explaination changed several times between the ED's termination on about January 20th, 2007 and Amy Heart's official response on about February 1. For example, remember this from January 24th? ------ "The BFW Board has a vision for a new direction for the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin. In order to realize the Bike Fed's full potential, this vision requires new leadership. It would have been difficult for any current administrator to make such a transition, let alone one who has been with the organization for as many years as Dar was with BFW. [...]" ------ The response to all member inquiries I know of questioning this statement was an identical form letter stating, in a nutshell, that "personnel matters are confidential." From my professional perspective in the PR world, it was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. This is also not just a Madison issue. Every Bicycle Federation member should be asking questions about the Executive Director's termination and the ensuing communication fiasco, because you can bet that every potential member and donor who read the front page of the Saturday, January 27, 2007 edition of the Wisconsin State Journal has: <http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/wsj/ 2007/01/27/0701270039.php> [Which, by the way, my neighbor spotted on a newsstand while attending a hockey event up in Spooner. The WSJ has statewide circulation.] This brings us to the present. I think we ought to be asking why, after years of begging for board members, the board has decided not to nominate a full slate of candidates. Could this have something to do with the quality of judgement I've outlined above? Have they really put the interests of the organization and its membership ahead of their own? I don't know how you allocate resources to the causes you give to Dave, but I prefer to give my hard-earned cash to organizations I trust. I don't trust the current Bicycle Federation board and will cast my vote accordingly. Then we'll wait and see whether they get any more of my money or time. Well, so much for brief. Hope this helps clarify what some of us over here in Madison are thinking. Here's hoping the weather cooperates for the FSC this year... Cheers, Michael Lemberger Madison ----------- David Schlabowske <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Bill, The ballot is complete in that it contains the names moved forward from the nominating committee. That is in accordance with the BFW by- laws. People who want to be on the board but were not suggested by the nominating committee can run as write-ins. That is what is happening. I have known about this dispute between some Madison BFW members and the BFW Board, but I have tried to stay out of this argument because I did not feel it was appropriate as a former staff member of the BFW with inside information to publically take sides on this. I thought it was enough that we had a vote as members. I hope most of you on this list who know me, believe that I am honest and have the best interest of the BFW and cycling in WI as my primary motivation. But since other former staff members (Robbie and Dar) from Madison have seen fit to promote this on the Milwaukee list, I feel I have been forced to respond in some way. The website listed earlier contains what I consider to be inaccurate information. While those people listed on that website are perfectly within their rights to run for the board of the BFW, I find it distressing that they make claims that are not true. It is my personal opinion that this is all because Dar was let go and the board kept the reasons for that dismissal private. Some people who are close to Dar were unhappy with that decision and wanted to know why she was let go. I think that it is only proper to keep those reasons private. Those people have every right to run for the BFW board, but not to spread inaccurate information. I know the current board members to be strong advocates of cycling in WI who I believe to only have the best interests of the BFW and bicycling at heart and put in many, many long hard hours working as board members for the benefit of us all. I work with many of them on a regular basis in the course of my duties in Milwaukee. I completely support the current board and those on the ballot running for the open postions. I do not support the write-in candidates nor many of the claims on the website listed in a previous post. Dave Schlabowske _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
