[Organizers] Non-clique members in sensitive board positions

Tue Apr 26 21:32:28 PDT 2016

Hi,

Generally I concur with previous commenters. It seems to me, the problem
you have with "sensitive board positions" is a matter of trust, ultimately
having to do with money. Because this person is not part of the clique,
then the folks having a discussion about changing the bylaws probably don't
know them very well and are reluctant to hand over responsibility.

Unfortuantely, that's not the way it works. Unless by "clique" you meant
the entire dancing community of your organization, elections are elections:
it's not the current cliquey board that gets to decide who serves as
officer.

That being said, there is yet more to say about the sensitivity of the
finance position. Here, I would point to the bylaws themselves as a ballast
for trust. If your treasurer is the only signing authority required for
large monetary transactions, then this is the only bylaw I would suggest
changing. If two signing authorities are required, I can't see there being
much opportunity for embezzlement when, as a previous person commented, a
second set of eyes is on the books.

You can also consider drafting and enacting policies or standing
resolutions regarding how certain business is supposed to be conducted.
This will hopefully allay any fears of being taken advantage of. The
difference between bylaws and standing resolutions and be found here
<http://www.ehow.com/about_6590676_difference-bylaws-_amp_-standing-rules.html>.

There's also much to be said about talking to this person face to face and
letting them know what your trepidations are, and hopefully you can come to
an understanding.

Greg

On Tue, Apr 26, 2016 at 8:52 PM, via Organizers <
organizers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

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> Today's Topics:
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>    1. Re: Non-clique members in sensitive board positions.
>       (Claire Baffaut via Organizers)
>    2. Re: Non-clique members in sensitive board positions.
>       (Jeff Raymond via Organizers)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2016 18:00:33 -0500
> From: Claire Baffaut via Organizers
>         <organizers at lists.sharedweight.net>
> To: David Kirchner <dekirchner at gmail.com>
> Cc: "organizers at lists.sharedweight.net"
>         <organizers at lists.sharedweight.net>
> Subject: Re: [Organizers] Non-clique members in sensitive board
>         positions.
> Message-ID:
>         <
> CADNUGEWSWdUDVYJ6vL4oOEKmCsyuRzp2RsG5HwxLB048yfncHA at mail.gmail.com>
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> Joe,
>
> Unless I am missing something, your situation is not something to avoid. It
> is something to be grateful for. You must be doing something right to have
> people volunteer for this position without twisting any arm. The treasurer
> position is very important, yet it requires diligence and understanding of
> what is required. The work is behind the scene and has few rewards.
>
> I have heard (and seen) of more organizations going under because of books
> being cooked than I ever thought was possible. It happens more often than
> we would want too, sometimes because the person is in denial of what the
> numbers are saying, sometimes because the situation is too tempting to
> resist.
>
> The best prevention is to have several pairs of eyes on the books and have
> frequent changes of treasurers so that no one is too comfortable. It seems
> that you are in an ideal situation for either one of those. You could ask
> that person to review the books, or you could ask her to take over the
> position, or you could ask her to shadow the current treasurer and learn
> the ways it is done in your organization before she moves into the
> position. What I am saying is that there are many ways for you to use the
> talent in a way that benefits your organization, in the short and long run.
>
> Claire (Columbia, MO)
>
> On Tue, Apr 26, 2016 at 5:45 PM, David Kirchner via Organizers <
> organizers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
> > I guess I don't see the problem here. Someone wants to volunteer to help
> > the organization. Yay!
> >
> > So the person hasn't danced much. So what? There are other people who do
> > dance on the board, right? It's not like this person is going to initiate
> > something that would hurt the dance and manage to carry the day against a
> > bunch of dancing board members who would know better.
> >
> > If the problem is that this person would be bad for the board for other
> > reasons (unrelated to the lack of dance experience), then you should
> > address that the same way you would address it if a regular dancer who
> > wouldn't be a good choice asked to join the board.
> >
> > David
> >
> > On Tue, Apr 26, 2016 at 5:20 PM, Jeff Raymond via Organizers <
> > organizers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> >
> >> It is amazing how helpful new converts I mean dancers are and to ignore
> >> qualified personnel because they are not yet fully vetted could mean
> >> missing out on some good talent.
> >> Qualifications and references are in order.
> >> IMHO
> >> Be well, Jeff
> >> On Apr 26, 2016 5:16 PM, "via Organizers" <
> >> organizers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> >>
> >>> The situation is unclear to me. Is this person unqualified in some way?
> >>>
> >>> Sent from my iPhone
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> > On Apr 26, 2016, at 5:08 PM, Joe Kwiatkowski via Organizers <
> >>> organizers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> >>> >
> >>> > It's annual election time, and a new dancer is answering the call to
> >>> help the organization.
> >>> >
> >>> > The individual in question is someone known to a Board member and has
> >>> "has served with other groups as funds manager/ treasurer type
> positions".
> >>> Using her talents, she has volunteered to lend them to the
> organization as
> >>> Treasurer.
> >>> >
> >>> > This has sparked a battle among (1) we need to amend the by-laws so
> >>> this can't happen, (2) we need to mentor new people into leadership,
> (3) we
> >>> need to just vote at the general election and see what happens.
> >>> >
> >>> > A supporter of (1) claims that "that's what other clubs do".
> >>> >
> >>> > So without asking for the entire contra nation to take sides, let me
> >>> ask you organizers: what would your club do/what does your club do to
> >>> contend with or avoid situations such as this?
> >>> >
> >>> > Joe Kwiatkowski
> >>> >
> >>> >
> >>> >
> >>> > _______________________________________________
> >>> > Organizers mailing list
> >>> > Organizers at lists.sharedweight.net
> >>> >
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> Organizers mailing list
> >>> Organizers at lists.sharedweight.net
> >>> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
> >>>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Organizers mailing list
> >> Organizers at lists.sharedweight.net
> >> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
> >>
> >>
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Organizers mailing list
> > Organizers at lists.sharedweight.net
> > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> *Claire*
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> Message: 2
> Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2016 21:52:49 -0400
> From: Jeff Raymond via Organizers <organizers at lists.sharedweight.net>
> To: Claire Baffaut <cbaffaut at gmail.com>
> Cc: organizers at lists.sharedweight.net
> Subject: Re: [Organizers] Non-clique members in sensitive board
>         positions.
> Message-ID:
>         <CADQQPiBMjc0tzvrZQwQwxgHNJ3HgrpkKEbH6zKGw9m=
> Rgm9jtw at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> I think that Joe's point is that the position open is that of treasurer.
> I've been in membership organizations that had a year wait. But in
> community groups things are moire inclusive but anyone claiming finance
> creds has got to have a track record.
> On Apr 26, 2016 7:00 PM, "Claire Baffaut via Organizers" <
> organizers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
> > Joe,
> >
> > Unless I am missing something, your situation is not something to avoid.
> > It is something to be grateful for. You must be doing something right to
> > have people volunteer for this position without twisting any arm. The
> > treasurer position is very important, yet it requires diligence and
> > understanding of what is required. The work is behind the scene and has
> few
> > rewards.
> >
> > I have heard (and seen) of more organizations going under because of
> books
> > being cooked than I ever thought was possible. It happens more often than
> > we would want too, sometimes because the person is in denial of what the
> > numbers are saying, sometimes because the situation is too tempting to
> > resist.
> >
> > The best prevention is to have several pairs of eyes on the books and
> have
> > frequent changes of treasurers so that no one is too comfortable. It
> seems
> > that you are in an ideal situation for either one of those. You could ask
> > that person to review the books, or you could ask her to take over the
> > position, or you could ask her to shadow the current treasurer and learn
> > the ways it is done in your organization before she moves into the
> > position. What I am saying is that there are many ways for you to use the
> > talent in a way that benefits your organization, in the short and long
> run.
> >
> > Claire (Columbia, MO)
> >
> > On Tue, Apr 26, 2016 at 5:45 PM, David Kirchner via Organizers <
> > organizers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> >
> >> I guess I don't see the problem here. Someone wants to volunteer to help
> >> the organization. Yay!
> >>
> >> So the person hasn't danced much. So what? There are other people who do
> >> dance on the board, right? It's not like this person is going to
> initiate
> >> something that would hurt the dance and manage to carry the day against
> a
> >> bunch of dancing board members who would know better.
> >>
> >> If the problem is that this person would be bad for the board for other
> >> reasons (unrelated to the lack of dance experience), then you should
> >> address that the same way you would address it if a regular dancer who
> >> wouldn't be a good choice asked to join the board.
> >>
> >> David
> >>
> >> On Tue, Apr 26, 2016 at 5:20 PM, Jeff Raymond via Organizers <
> >> organizers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> >>
> >>> It is amazing how helpful new converts I mean dancers are and to ignore
> >>> qualified personnel because they are not yet fully vetted could mean
> >>> missing out on some good talent.
> >>> Qualifications and references are in order.
> >>> IMHO
> >>> Be well, Jeff
> >>> On Apr 26, 2016 5:16 PM, "via Organizers" <
> >>> organizers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> The situation is unclear to me. Is this person unqualified in some
> way?
> >>>>
> >>>> Sent from my iPhone
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> > On Apr 26, 2016, at 5:08 PM, Joe Kwiatkowski via Organizers <
> >>>> organizers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
> >>>> >
> >>>> > It's annual election time, and a new dancer is answering the call to
> >>>> help the organization.
> >>>> >
> >>>> > The individual in question is someone known to a Board member and
> has
> >>>> "has served with other groups as funds manager/ treasurer type
> positions".
> >>>> Using her talents, she has volunteered to lend them to the
> organization as
> >>>> Treasurer.
> >>>> >
> >>>> > This has sparked a battle among (1) we need to amend the by-laws so
> >>>> this can't happen, (2) we need to mentor new people into leadership,
> (3) we
> >>>> need to just vote at the general election and see what happens.
> >>>> >
> >>>> > A supporter of (1) claims that "that's what other clubs do".
> >>>> >
> >>>> > So without asking for the entire contra nation to take sides, let me
> >>>> ask you organizers: what would your club do/what does your club do to
> >>>> contend with or avoid situations such as this?
> >>>> >
> >>>> > Joe Kwiatkowski
> >>>> >
> >>>> >
> >>>> >
> >>>> > _______________________________________________
> >>>> > Organizers mailing list
> >>>> > Organizers at lists.sharedweight.net
> >>>> >
> >>>>
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
> >>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>> Organizers mailing list
> >>>> Organizers at lists.sharedweight.net
> >>>>
> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> Organizers mailing list
> >>> Organizers at lists.sharedweight.net
> >>> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Organizers mailing list
> >> Organizers at lists.sharedweight.net
> >> http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > --
> > *Claire*
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Organizers mailing list
> > Organizers at lists.sharedweight.net
> > http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/organizers-sharedweight.net
> >
> >
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