[ SHOWGSD-L ] The No Votes and the Yes Votes
- From: "Margery Golant" <mgolant@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <Showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2007 19:07:59 -0400
I have heard from lots of people, looking for insight into some of the Yes
votes on the Hunte application. It really does get complicated, things are
not as clear as we might wish they were. When you analyze this situation,
and decide how those votes might affect your decisions regarding the
candidates in this election, there are important details to consider.
Some of those who voted YES were committed Board members, who did not
understand their options then. That was not their fault. Here is why:
There never had been an application for membership with these overtones
there never had been an application for membership opposed by hundreds of
members. In the past, when membership applications were disputed, the
issues were limited and the discussions focused on issues of care of
animals, violations of the law, breach of contract or guarantees with puppy
buyers, etc., issues we have all encountered in the past.
This time was different. Some felt that they did not have the right to vote
NO due to weaknesses in the By-laws. Sadly, those in a position of
leadership on the Board, the President and the Legal Affairs Chair, did not
take any action at all to clarify these issues for the Board members, to
open them up to discussion or understanding of what the options truly were.
When the matter came before the Board in January, there was no outside legal
opinion obtained or presented regarding the Board's options, there was not
even any discussion of what alternatives existed, what authority the Board
had. The only thing that was ever said was the repeated warning to Board
members to obtain personal umbrella coverage 'in case'.
This was very misleading, and caused a number of Board members to
misunderstand what they could do and could not do. Had they understood that
there was no impediment to their voting no under the circumstances, several
of them would not have voted differently. As everyone knows the process was
redone and those who voted "Yes" reversed their vote. It was corrected.
I can't help but remember back to Ginny Altman's term as President.
Whenever there was anything of consequence before the Board, Ginny would ask
the Board if it felt it had enough information to vote, and on all important
issues, she would ask for analysis and explanation by the then Legal Affairs
Chair, LaMar Frederick, and she usually suggested deferring the vote by at
least one quarter on the most significant issues to allow for additional
reflection by Board members and input from the membership.
For all those reasons, it is misleading to be guided merely by the NO and
the YES votes. At least some of the YES votes are attributable to a lack of
information by those who voted YES, which seems to me to be attributable to
a lack of leadership by those who could and should have provided it.
I hope this helps to clarify this very complicated situation. This is
probably the most important election ever held in the GSDCA. You have much
to consider, which is impossible to do in the dark.
If you have any questions or want to discuss further, please don't hesitate
to contact me.
Margy Golant
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