First of all my message was a personal reply to Jackie MacDonald. It was
intended to be sent to her via the Topica e-mail facility. In error, it
went to the OBC list instead. No matter, apart from the reference to my
private site, it substantially repeated what had been said previously in
the reply to Erika.
I think Celia's latest post demonstrates why it has been in the best
interests of the club for her and the Board to go their separate ways. She
has had disputes and differences with the current newsletter editor, his
predecessor, and other members of the Board on and off for over 12 months
now. Differences of opinion are not unusual in a club with operations of
the scale of the OBC and it's probably a good thing there are, but
ultimately when disputes can't be resolved amicably through reasonable
dialogue the Board and its delegates have to decide and implement what they
feel is in the best interests of the club.
The Board is not a dictatorship and I am offended that some folks who have
never been to a Board meeting that I have attended in the six years I have
been a Board member would even use the term. The Board operates
democratically in accordance with its by-laws. (It won't be borrowing any
operating rules from anarchists any time soon.) It takes member comments,
suggestions and objections very seriously. In the current case, it has bent
over backwards to resolve problems Celia has had with the newsletter
editor, but she has been telling us for a long time that she can't work
within "rules" and under the Board's authority. I indicated to her again in
August in an e-mail message (copied to the Board) that there was still a
role for her.
I quote exactly from her reply of 20/08/02,
"1. As a volunteer, I don't want a bunch of rules.
"2. As a volunteer, I don't want a bunch of bossy directors ordering
me around.
"3. As a volunteer, I want to be free to enjoy what I produce - to
give more than the minimum - to talk to my co-competitors and to add the
sort of things that we want without having to get approval from some
cumbersome bureaucracy."
No responsible organization could possibly accommodate this response. The
newsletter director, who like the rest of us is a volunteer, operates with
the delegated authority of the Board. In respect of the club's web site,
the authority to manage and control it has been vested in him. It's his
responsibility to organize, integrate and disseminate the flow of
information from electronic sources to printed sources to club members.
That's why he calls the shots on the most overall effective way to manage
the club's information and records. He makes the day to day decisions that
are necessary to keep the communications with club members current. He does
a pretty good job under trying and difficult circumstances. The Board at
least recognizes that. At its last meeting, the Board reaffirmed its
confidence in the newsletter editor by refusing to accept his offer to
resign over the current issue.
If only everyone were as honorable as Rod.
Avery
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