Proposal to Amend Article VI, Section 1 - Officers
Description of Proposal:
I propose that the lined through words be changed to read “ and shall be elected by the general membership by vote each year.” My rationale is that in Miami the vote was taken to have direct democracy so that resolutions and by-law changes would come before the general membership for vote. The Board of Directors and the members at the business meeting at all future conventions would have advisory authority only. My by-law recommendation simply completes the intent of what transpired in Miami at the convention in 2012.
Summary of Effect:
Submitted by: John Spitzberg
To Amend Article VI Section 1 - Officers:
The officers of the Corporation shall be a President, a Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer who must be members of and shall be elected by the Board of Directors. They shall hold office for a term of one (01) year and until their successor is elected.
Board vote: Aye 1 Nay 11
Convention vote: Aye 3 Nay 50
Board rationale: Officers are selected every year by Board members who work closely with them, and are in the best position to assess their talents and leadership qualities.
PRO:
I have recommended a by-law change which would permit the general membership to vote for the president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary every three years. This complies with the terms given Board of Directors when they are elected by the membership each year. The recommendation is made to simply finish the business of providing direct democracy to work for the general welfare of the entire organization. In August, 2012 in Miami, Florida by-law changes, resolutions and elections of the Board of Directors were turned over to the general membership to be voted on to make Veterans For Peace a more democratic organization.
As it stands presently, the general membership votes for the Board of Directors and the BoD decides who will lead the organization as president, vice president, treasurer and secretary. However, in fact about 40% of the current Board was appointed with the advice and consent of the Board of Directors and so the membership had little to do with who leads the organization in some respects.
I have heard it said that this idea is a bad one because the BoD has more knowledge of the capabilities of their fellow Board members and work well together and therefore they are more able to choose the organization’s leadership wisely. I could debate this probably, but rather I believe this is a form of representative democracy which does not serve the organization well in general. In some respects it could be considered self-serving or at the least condescending. The Board of Directors voted unanimously, I think, to say no to my proposal and the attendees who were present when the idea was shared with them also voted “No”. However, there were only a handful of members present when this came up in the business meeting.
In summation, I trust the general membership to elect our leadership directly and not to have leadership determined by 13 people, some of whom were appointed, not elected. If you, the readers, agree with me, the mechanics for making this change should not be a problem. In order to provide continuity, two of the offices could be voted on in the year 2015 and the other two in the year 2016. I recommend that you adopt this by-law change to fulfill what started in Miami.
Submitted by John Spitzberg, Chapter 99 Asheville, NC jspitzb227@aol.com
CON:
The board overwhemingly opposed this bylaw change at the VFP convention in Asheville. To begin, it is impractical. It requires 2 general membership elections, for board seats, and for Executive Committee (ExCom) members. Losing candidates for top leadership positions would become unable to serve (and lead) on the Board of Directors.
The membership elects the board of directors, each of whom have demonstrated leadership. By directly electing the Board, VFP members select the pool from which the ExCom is chosen. Officers are selected every year by Board members who work closely with them, and are in the best position to assess their talents and leadership qualities.
VFP strives to be both democratic and non-hierarchical; VFP offices should not become coveted positions. Direct election of officers - president, vice president, treasurer and secretary - would transform the VFP Convention into a candidates' competition, an unfortunate distraction