FredFogg
06-10-2010, 06:55 PM
There has been some discussion about what happened during Agenda 8.3 and how it has caused some NAFA members to drop their membership. I emailed president Larry Dickerson to inquire into this and with his permission, below is the email I recieved. Hopefully, those that left NAFA due to this will see things are changing and if you want those policies changed, you have to do something about it. I plan on contacting Eric Edwards, my Southeast Director, and having them brought up and removed or changed or whatever they need to do to fix it. Below is Larry's response:
Good questions Fred.
Policies are in effect until such time as they are modified or rescinded. That goes back to the very first policies within NAFA, many of which have been changed off and on since 1961. Do I agree with them? Not entirely. Not just those of AG08.3. This is why there were a number of policy changes submitted [and approved] in the last agenda.
I recall that was a terrible time in NAFA and one I would never want to go through again and in fact told the Board that very thing in 2008. I could have sworn that 8.3 was "out there"...obviously not and if you want to post this, that would be great. Try imagining what it was like to keep up with all of these emails and individual responses to each issue. Yeah, that was fun! <not>. AG8.3 was one of the primary reasons we changed to the way we do business now.
Records of agendas were kept entirely differently then. It was way too cumbersome. Perpetual business meetings by email. It was pretty bad. Rather than me trying to recap that meeting, attached is the voting record on the issues. I'll let you read it for yourself and make your own judgements. I think you will see the information from the former member is not 100% accurate. As with most things moved across cyber-space, sometimes things can get a bit distorted.
What can be done to rectify policy is pretty easy. The Board can easily re-visit and modify any policy at any time [during a Board meeting]. A Board member just needs to present the modification. Only when something changes the by-laws does it get really tough, because that is approved by the entire membership.
The Board that was in place at the time never gave direction to include these in the by-laws, so they are simply policy. All any member needs to do...if they are not happy with any policy is to write their Director with the requested modification, the justification for the change and see if their Director will move the modification forward. Each member really should remember that they have three Directors representing them. Their regional Director and two Directors at large. It is easy for a Director to get an item on an agenda. The Director simply has to request the item(s) be placed on the agenda for consideration.
Each item for consideration is considered a proposal when it is presented for the agenda. Agendas and supporting documents are sent to the entire Board about two weeks ahead of the meeting so they can read, review and recommend any modifications or amendments. At the time of the meeting, the proposal is called usually in the order in which it was received, there is a motion and a second to accept the proposal, discussion follows and then the proposal is voted upon. The majority of Board meetings are now conducted via teleconference. The exception is the Board meeting during the annual field meet. The NAFA Board follows the Modern Rules of Order when conducting its meetings. We [I]do not conduct Board meetings via email anymore.
If AG08.3 did anything for NAFA, it helped move us to a more structured and professional way of conducting the business of the Association and since that time, "we have come a long way baby." How many times Fred have you heard me preach even to the members of our NCFG..."You cannot effect change in an organization if you are on the outside looking in. If you are not a member you stand no chance of making changes." Because someone does not like something is the worst excuse to use for not being a member...if they truly believe that. If they truly believe it and want to see something changed, you have to work for it and make those changes happen. Just bitching about it [whatever "it" is] doesn't make it happen.
Hope this helps explain a little bit.
Larry
Good questions Fred.
Policies are in effect until such time as they are modified or rescinded. That goes back to the very first policies within NAFA, many of which have been changed off and on since 1961. Do I agree with them? Not entirely. Not just those of AG08.3. This is why there were a number of policy changes submitted [and approved] in the last agenda.
I recall that was a terrible time in NAFA and one I would never want to go through again and in fact told the Board that very thing in 2008. I could have sworn that 8.3 was "out there"...obviously not and if you want to post this, that would be great. Try imagining what it was like to keep up with all of these emails and individual responses to each issue. Yeah, that was fun! <not>. AG8.3 was one of the primary reasons we changed to the way we do business now.
Records of agendas were kept entirely differently then. It was way too cumbersome. Perpetual business meetings by email. It was pretty bad. Rather than me trying to recap that meeting, attached is the voting record on the issues. I'll let you read it for yourself and make your own judgements. I think you will see the information from the former member is not 100% accurate. As with most things moved across cyber-space, sometimes things can get a bit distorted.
What can be done to rectify policy is pretty easy. The Board can easily re-visit and modify any policy at any time [during a Board meeting]. A Board member just needs to present the modification. Only when something changes the by-laws does it get really tough, because that is approved by the entire membership.
The Board that was in place at the time never gave direction to include these in the by-laws, so they are simply policy. All any member needs to do...if they are not happy with any policy is to write their Director with the requested modification, the justification for the change and see if their Director will move the modification forward. Each member really should remember that they have three Directors representing them. Their regional Director and two Directors at large. It is easy for a Director to get an item on an agenda. The Director simply has to request the item(s) be placed on the agenda for consideration.
Each item for consideration is considered a proposal when it is presented for the agenda. Agendas and supporting documents are sent to the entire Board about two weeks ahead of the meeting so they can read, review and recommend any modifications or amendments. At the time of the meeting, the proposal is called usually in the order in which it was received, there is a motion and a second to accept the proposal, discussion follows and then the proposal is voted upon. The majority of Board meetings are now conducted via teleconference. The exception is the Board meeting during the annual field meet. The NAFA Board follows the Modern Rules of Order when conducting its meetings. We [I]do not conduct Board meetings via email anymore.
If AG08.3 did anything for NAFA, it helped move us to a more structured and professional way of conducting the business of the Association and since that time, "we have come a long way baby." How many times Fred have you heard me preach even to the members of our NCFG..."You cannot effect change in an organization if you are on the outside looking in. If you are not a member you stand no chance of making changes." Because someone does not like something is the worst excuse to use for not being a member...if they truly believe that. If they truly believe it and want to see something changed, you have to work for it and make those changes happen. Just bitching about it [whatever "it" is] doesn't make it happen.
Hope this helps explain a little bit.
Larry