BOD Minutes from Concord very quietly posted - must have been Church Mice that put them on ! !

[Guest my3buicks]

I see very quietly the BOD meeting minutes from Concord went up on the web with no usual annoucement that they have been posted.

http://www.buickclub.org/BODminutes/

Nothing particularly juicy in them except for the lack of a vote tally for the officers. ( i.e. 5-4 for Rick or

4-3-1 for Kevin or whatever the real numbers were which were not announced)<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

And inexcusably not given in the minutes.:confused:

Smells like dead tuna to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited August 22, 2012 by my3buicks (see edit history)

[old-tank]

There has never been a vote tally posted in the minutes.

[Guest my3buicks]

If not, why? We know how many votes the President of out great country gets, why is it a secret in the BCA then?

ACCOUNTABILITY is not to much to ask for ! ! ! !

[Guest BJM]

Willie is correct. A review shows at least for the time the minutes have been added to e-forums/websites, the minutes have not generally included the vote counts and who voted for whom. Obviously, with the recent politics that took place from approximately February 2012 to the National BOD meeting, many of us have read the By-Laws and brought ourselves up to speed on how the BOD can and does operate.

It was eye opening that the current leadership and some of the BOD know they don't have to be forthcoming to membership by stating who they voted for and why.

It was also discovered that Bill Stoneberg, could - by wording and evaluation of that wording in the By-Laws - be appointed as some Treasurer like role for the club.

This has happened and there is nothing we can do about it in the interim. It's my understanding that Bill has to take (at least) one year off as a BOD member but can run again next year (I might be incorrect on that but I think that's right). This was discovered in early 2012 and thereafter Mike Book sought to keep Bill S in some capacity as Treasurer (no matter what you call it) and hatched this plan, did some behind the scenes politicking and made it happen.

There is a lack of transperancy in the club leadership. This is evident from the lack of openness that resulted in a change of presidency, appointment of Bill S and now the non disclosure of who voted for whom. Bottom line is there is no evidence of a recognized vote for Presidency for the current term as there is no mention of it in the minutes.

I believe that Mike Book and others understand that most of the membership are followers who simply want a nice Bugle on time and an opportunity for Buick fellowship and won't challenge him. It's up to the membership to vote a plurality in of BOD members who will actively try to reshape the BCA National Office and Mike Book's role for the future. If BOD candidates don't step forward next spring and pledge this agenda, then the leadership will remain secretive and lack transparency.

I agree with Keith, as I usually do, that this is a hobby club and not some huge enterprise that requires this sort of secretive, non openness agenda by certain members of the BCA. It shouldn't be a big deal to simply come on and state how you voted and why. I think - just my opinion - that there wasn't a vote and/or there was an initial vote and is was over-ruled by Mike Book because it didn't meet his approval.

In the last few years, Mike Book has taken over several duties that supposedly were previously volunteer or handled by BOD members. Such as Chapter and Regional Coordinator and National Meet Planning. These are the 2 most powerful and important functions in the BCA. These should be handled by BOD members. I mean, we have 9 BOD members. 4 are officers, except this year. That leaves 5 to handle these 2 most important functions or find suitable volunteer members to handle Chapter and Regional Coordination and National Meet Planning.

BOD member's candidate profiles often show strong private enterprise and club leadership as support for voting them on as a BOD member. All pledge to listen and respond to members. Jerry Courson was encouraged to run by Bill Stoneberg as "someone who could provide strong financial background" yet is apparently not suitable to be a Treasurer.

Of course Mike wants control of these, especially Regional and Chapter Coordinator - because of the power he wields to decide who is and who is not "in" as chapter and regional leadership. This in turn creates loyalty to him on issues of national importance.

Bottom line is the BOD candidates for 2013 will reveal how the membership wants the club to go. If you get more apathy and if you see a whole lot of "youth movement" comments from the candidates vs. generating some concepts to take the club back from a psuedo-dictatorship, then I would say the club will remain stagnant and apathetical - as a whole - and it will be status quo until Mike resigns or retires.

Edited August 22, 2012 by BJM (see edit history)

[Guest my3buicks]

Fantastically stated!!!! It is a shame such a small percentage of the membership actually see or hear the information that is discussed on the forums. That was one thing I was in the process of putting in place / suggesting to chapters & divisions when I was Chapter & Regional Coordinator - was having an assigned person monitor the forums and taking it back to there prospective group so those that are not computer savvy or that do not follow the forums would have an idea of what type of issues were being discussed. I felt it was a way of keeping a larger number of people abreast of the issues - and in some ways it would be the only way to get much of the information to the general membership.

[Guest my3buicks]

is the BOD hiding? Do they not have a response, a thought, an idea, a suggestion as to how they can become more transparent, more accountable, or are they going to remain hidden behind the "IRON WALL" ? ? ? (Which btw, was rapidly disappearing under the last Presidency before we got force fed back into the same old quagmire of the good old boys routine.

Should some of these thoughts be sent to the Bugle for publication under "Letters to the Editor" so we can bring this to a boil throughout the entire membership?

[Booreatta]

Well now, I sat in the last directors meeting and I cant remember seeing a lot of members in the room. I know one thing for sure, there should be someone from Mars Pa. and someone from Madrid Iowa on the ballot for BCA Director next April. If you get elected then you can cast stones in person. Maybe its not a dead tuna you are smelling. It is clear that criticism is the easiest part of your day

I am proud of the folks that standup and run for office, Its not easy and a lot of stones need to be dodged in a year but if you dont contibute something, they why do you bother with with your posts.

Like the bumper sticker used to say " Mean People Suck

Sorry for my post

Chuck Kerls

booreatta@cox.net

316-655-1099:mad:

[Guest my3buicks]

My Chuck you sure are good at making assumptions - Been there done that Chuck, was very active in the BCA for a couple decades, (looks like well before you even joined the club) including being a very successful Regional & Chapter Coordinator, Chair of judging Records, tech advisor for over a decade, Chapter Director, more & etc etc - so I have seen the politics and games first hand, and was a casualty of the games for expecting more. Chuck, asking questions and asking for accountablilty is not being mean, it's being open, honest, and it's something every BCA member should expect from their leaders. Expecting less is an excuse. There are many other bumper stickers that i have seen that I could use, but, that would be mean.

Edited August 25, 2012 by my3buicks (see edit history)

[The Old Guy]

I agree with Keith !!!! Iwas very active in the BCA until it became a business. I joined in 1969, and stopped paying dues this year. This is NOT the BCA I joined !!!!

Edited August 25, 2012 by BUICK RACER
typo (see edit history)

[Guest BJM]

Well now, I sat in the last directors meeting and I cant remember seeing a lot of members in the room. I know one thing for sure, there should be someone from Mars Pa. and someone from Madrid Iowa on the ballot for BCA Director next April.

Chuck Kerls

booreatta@cox.net

316-655-1099:mad:

Chuck

I respect your comments. I will be placing my name as a BOD candidate.

I deal in facts, as best I know them. Keith and I are not out to throw stones. We are both very busy. Of course, I was not there. It is interesting that you were at tht BOD meeting. You know then that there was an issue with the vote count process. There were several recounts and or it took an inordinate amount of time to "count" 9 votes.

This is specifically what some of us want to know. We want to know who voted for whom, and why. If the vote was fraudelant or suspect, then those who enacted the fraud need to be held accountable.

Do you want to belong to a club where these back door politics are OK? If this action is not checked, those who run the club this way will continue to feel empowered to run the club their way, which may or may not reflect the desires of the other 99.5% of membership.

[Booreatta]

BJM I am glad you are thinking about running for the BCA, I am also thinking about making another run. The hard part of running is winning. There are people in the BCA and any club that are always looking to take a cheap shot from the get go. How easy is it for a member of the BOD to be compaired to a dead tuna. That my friend is a very cheap shot. Thats what I would like to see changed. I have not talked to many rational people that want to BRING THINGS TO A BOIL. I would think that we could conduct ourselves as professionals that we are supposed to be

I will not make any more comments on this subject

Chuck Kerls

booreatta@cox.net

316-655-1099

[NTX5467]

I believe that if history of some appointed offices of the BCA is considered, many might remember that the appointed Chapter Coordinator position (historically) was somewhat unstable in nature. It always seemed that "the prior person" didn't do a good enough job or didn't do it at all. Then, another "good person" was found to do it and that lasted a few years until something else happened (either in their personal lives or complaints from members/chapters). No matter how well-respected these people might have been, or how highly-regarded they were, the result always seemed to be the same, unfortunately. Therefore, putting these functions into the BCA Office made sense and streamlined operations greatly.

Having watched how these prior Chapter Coordinator activities evolved over time, adding them into the mix of expanded responsibililties of the BCA Office was a sensible way to add stability to the situation with consistent operatives. From the other signals I've seen, I also suspect that Mike and Nancy were volunteered for the job.

With all due respect, this is ONE of the evolving situations where you HAVE to know the history of the situation.

I make these observations and comments as a free-standing member of the BCA.

Respectfully,

Willis Bell 20811

Edited August 26, 2012 by NTX5467 (see edit history)

[NTX5467]

Having now read the Minutes from Concord (Thanks for the link, Keith), having been involved in various organizations which had Treasuries (and having been a Treasurer in one), I concur with the decision to appoint a non-BOD member as CFO. At the chapter level, the Treasurer is ONE position that needs some stability of who's doing it from year to year. It's very good for ONE person to be able to build a relationship with not only the bank but also the particular people in the bank. Continuity and stability. Having yearly changes leads (from their point of view) "a parade" of sorts. Similarly, it's very good if the bank has ONE person they can consistently call upon if they need to, regarding the accounts in their possession. Unfortunately, complicating this situation can be the many mergers/combinations/acquisitions of banks by other banking entities. Still, though, I feel it's better if ONE chapter operative is consistently in charge of this situation . . . and similar with a larger entity as the BCA. No "politics", just what some might term a "good business decision".

When I first heard of this appointed position, my main concern was if it was "a contracted vendor" situation or "an appointed volunteer" situation. Of course, the answer is in the Minutes from Concord.

I make these comments as a free-standing member of the BCA.

Willis Bell 20811