It is not my place to speak for those who voted Yes, and I do not intend to try. However, it may well be difficult for some of them to articulate their reasons, and here is my thinking as to why: As I'm sure most everyone here realizes, I'm an attorney, have been involved with litigation for most of my career, and insurance coverage is one of the areas in which my firm does a lot of work. So, I knew that there was nothing to prevent us from refusing Hunte entry, knew that if in some bizarre instance there was litigation, we were covered by insurance, both for liability and or a judgment if there had been some way to prove a cause of action and damages, and covered for costs of defense, as individual Board members and as a Board. I also knew that our By-laws, while sparse on the subject, were not defective, and sufficient to justify a NO vote. That was why I knew I could vote No. And, as you also know, the "other attorney" on the Board also told you she voted No. Evan and Dan Smith have also told you that these were non-issues, and why that is so. Besides, if Hunte had been foolish enough to sue the GSDCA had we refused to allow him in, we would have then had an opportunity via pre-trial discovery to find out about any /all abuse charges, complaints, consent agreements, numbers of animals acquired, numbers sold, numbers perished, conditions, profits, other companies in which he had interests (if any), etc, etc. etc. Had he been so brave as to persist, he would have had to open all his records to us...... Do you really think he would go there - for a club that said it did not want him ?? Would you ? The problem was for the many people on the Board who were not attorneys or insurance people. There were people on the Board who voted yes because they truly believed they had no choice, honorable, well-meaning and committed people, and THAT is a large part of the problem. If there were legal, or liability, or coverage or interpretive issues or concerns, the best way to handle the issues would have been to sort all that out FIRST. I am not sure why that did not happen. When clients hire me for a legal matter, I sit with them at great length and explain anything and everything they want to know - how it works, what could happen, what could not happen, and why, what to worry about (if anything), what NOT to worry about. I literally dragged myself to the Board meeting, not sure if I'd even manage to make it there, had been sick with the flu for a week. Everyone commented on how bad I looked <LOL>. I went because I knew this issue was on the agenda, knew I wanted my vote to count, and knew I could help to clear up the swirling rumors and fear I had been hearing for weeks /months regarding this issue. Unfortunately, I never got the opportunity to do that, the issues never got sorted out, and so the climate in which the vote occurred was fraught with misinformation. In hindsight, I am sure it looks to most here like a no-brainer. The thing to understand is that, for a week now, people with expertise in these subjects have been explaining why none of those 'issues' were to be feared. It is unfortunate that the Board did not have the benefit of that sort of explanation. Things might well have turned out differently if they had. Margy Golant -----Original Message----- From: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of AKeller97@xxxxxxx Sent: Sunday, February 04, 2007 5:58 PM To: vomkristallaugen@xxxxxxxxxxx; ELG440@xxxxxxx; showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: our Family Membership In a message dated 2/4/2007 4:47:27 PM Central Standard Time, vomkristallaugen@xxxxxxxxxxx writes: Now we need to show our commitment and to stand behind the board and help them to improve the application process to avoid this situation in the future. Nine of our board did vote to admit Mr. Hunte, and they did so without fear of the repercussions, and the criticism of the members. That took real bravery, and they need us to stand behind them, and let them know what we think, not quit and cause the club to lose those who feel strongly about this issue. **************************************************************************** ** ***************************************** Evan Nine of the members voted to admit Hunte. And now you want our support for them when they can't even explain to the members, why they voted this way. The membership was against voting him in. Where was OUR support from the BOD, excluding the 8 that did vote NO. Maybe you know the reasoning but the membership does not. I do think the membership is entitled to answers to their decision Arlene K ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2007. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - www.showgsd.org ============================================================================ ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2007. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - www.showgsd.org ============================================================================