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Proposed ANA bylaw changes
CaptHenway
Posts: 31,713 ✭✭✭✭✭
Has anybody read the proposed ANA bylaw changes?
http://www.money.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Member_Feedback&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=9161
One biggie is to do away with the titles of President and Vice President, and replace them with "Chair" and "Vice Chair." These offices would then be selected by the Board from elected Board members, thereby eliminating the opportunity for members to elect their President and Vice President o0r whatever you want to call them.
They are also suggesting staggered three-year terms, so that an existing board cannot be voted out en masse.
TD
http://www.money.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Member_Feedback&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=9161
One biggie is to do away with the titles of President and Vice President, and replace them with "Chair" and "Vice Chair." These offices would then be selected by the Board from elected Board members, thereby eliminating the opportunity for members to elect their President and Vice President o0r whatever you want to call them.
They are also suggesting staggered three-year terms, so that an existing board cannot be voted out en masse.
TD
Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner numerous NLG Literary Awards.
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William H. Horton, Jr., President: williamhortonjr@verizon.net
Barry S. Stuppler, Vice President: barry@stuppler.com
M. Remy Bourne remybourne@yahoo.com
Brian E. Fanton brianfanton_govana@yahoo.com
Michael S. Fey Feyms@AOL.com
Prue Morgan Fitts Winprue@AOL.com
Alan Herbert Answerman2@AOL.com
Patricia Jagger-Finner pfinner@athenet.net
Donald H. Kagin don@kagins.com
Please contact them concerning your thoughts on how the ANA is being run.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
<< <i>I suggest that anyone that wants to provide input should first read the full text, rather than relying on the abbreviated comments provided by CaptHenway. For all it's worth, I saw no glaring problems on the first quick read. I'll spend some more time with it later. >>
By all means everybody should read the full text. That was why I provided the link.
Just curious; did you think that either of the abbreviated comments were incorrect or unfair?
TD
<< <i>Has anybody read the proposed ANA bylaw changes?
http://www.money.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Member_Feedback&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=9161
One biggie is to do away with the titles of President and Vice President, and replace them with "Chair" and "Vice Chair." These offices would then be selected by the Board from elected Board members, thereby eliminating the opportunity for members to elect their President and Vice President o0r whatever you want to call them.
Don't like this no way, no how.....
It is obvious to me that they want to eliminate as much as possible the ability of the membership to have an effect on how the organization
is run by restricting who or what they can vote for.
Sorry, but I don't have that much faith in the board of governors to be making wise decisions on "chair or "vice chair" with the current
climate at the ANA.
<< <i>I suggest that anyone that wants to provide input should first read the full text, rather than relying on the abbreviated comments provided by CaptHenway. For all it's worth, I saw no glaring problems on the first quick read. I'll spend some more time with it later. >>
This is the kicker:
Provide for Chair, Vice-Chair, Board Treasurer to be appointed by the Board from among the elected Board members
I sent this email:
I vote a strong "no"
to the recommended by-law modification below. It is guaranteed to further alienate the ANA membership for justified and obvious reasons.
Sincerely,
Mark Feld, ANA member
"Revise Officer structure
Provide for Board Chair, changing name from President, to accurately reflect position’s duties and responsibilities as policy setting rather than operational
Provide for succession planning by establishing in ANA Officers
Provide for Chair, Vice-Chair, Board Treasurer to be appointed by the Board from among the elected Board members"
Would the nominating committee have to approve every candidate? In other words, could someone run without the committee's blessing?
Who would determine who will be the Chair and Vice Chair?
Do the President and Vice President currently have greater policy-setting power than the other board members? If so, how does that work?
One comment, for now:
The way things are now, there is nothing stopping a group of well respected numismatists from searching for capable candidates, and campaigning for them. I can see the benefits of such efforts. In a sense, it would be like establishing a political party. But I don't see why other candidates can't run independently.
Edited to say that I don't like the idea of there being, effectively, an "Official Political Party" of the ANA, especially when that party is funded by ANA members.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
<< <i>A few questions:
Would the nominating committee have to approve every candidate? In other words, could someone run without the committee's blessing?
That is a good question that the ANA is not being clear about. I tend to be suspicious when things are not clearly spelled out.
Jerry
<< <i>Boycott Milwaukee. Everybody show up in front of the ANA HQ for an old fashioned protest. Is there one person who the blame finger can be pointed at for causing ALL the turmoil inside the ANA? Every since the library naming fiasco it seems to be non stop bullcrap. Actually, maybe a protest at the Milwaukee Show would be better than ANA HQ (Colorado Springs)
Jerry >>
A protest at Milwaukee with picket signs out in front of the building where the show is being helt would be sure to attract the local media
who would be having a lot of questions and want to get both sides of the issue. It would put the ANA on the spot that is for sure.
(darn, we are a bunch of troublemakers aren't we?)
My Complete PROOF Lincoln Cent with Major Varieties(1909-2015)Set Registry
<< <i>If you are an ANA member, the most effective way to voice your opinion is to go to the ANA website, enter the feedback to the board link and WRITE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY. All the board members will get to read your comments. Let's hope many, many members will do this so that the board gets a good sense of how the membership feels. Steve
That is one thing you can do. Another thing you can do is remember all of this when the next elections occur, and VOTE for or against ANA Board members accordingly.
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
The members still do the voting or am I missing something?
Jerry
<< <i>If you are an ANA member, the most effective way to voice your opinion is to go to the ANA website, enter the feedback to the board link and WRITE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY. All the board members will get to read your comments. Let's hope many, many members will do this so that the board gets a good sense of how the membership feels. Steve
I want to believe this would work. But, I can't.
Jerry
<< <i>It sounds like the board members are still elected and then from here the chair and vice-chair are chosen. If you do not like who is in power, you just vote out the current board.
The members still do the voting or am I missing something? >>
If the chair and vice chair are going to be elected by the board expect to eventually see a proposal from the ANA
that the current ANA governors elect the next group of ANA governors shutting out the rest of the membership competely with the explanation being "the current governors know what is involved in doing the job therefore they should be the ones deciding who has the qualifications to be the next governors".
Sound far fetched? Judging by all of the nonsense that has gone on with the ANA in the past few years I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen.
<< <i>
<< <i>If you are an ANA member, the most effective way to voice your opinion is to go to the ANA website, enter the feedback to the board link and WRITE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY. All the board members will get to read your comments. Let's hope many, many members will do this so that the board gets a good sense of how the membership feels. Steve
I want to believe this would work. But, I can't.
Jerry >>
Jerry,
If it doesn't work then we all have the elections in June to voice our opinions. Of course only 20% of the members vote anyhow.
Bottom line to me. The current ANA board is giving the membership an opportunity to vent and to voice their opinion. If you don't take advantage it is an indication to the board that the membership doesn't care one way or another. Venting on this board without saying how you feel directly to those who make decisions is just stupid in my opinion. Steve
My Complete PROOF Lincoln Cent with Major Varieties(1909-2015)Set Registry
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>If you are an ANA member, the most effective way to voice your opinion is to go to the ANA website, enter the feedback to the board link and WRITE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY. All the board members will get to read your comments. Let's hope many, many members will do this so that the board gets a good sense of how the membership feels. Steve
I want to believe this would work. But, I can't.
Jerry >>
Jerry,
If it doesn't work then we all have the elections in June to voice our opinions. Of course only 20% of the members vote anyhow.
Bottom line to me. The current ANA board is giving the membership an opportunity to vent and to voice their opinion. If you don't take advantage it is an indication to the board that the membership doesn't care one way or another. Venting on this board without saying how you feel directly to those who make decisions is just stupid in my opinion. Steve
I'm beginning to feel that the board of governors is little more than a figurehead position without any
real influence over what goes on at the ANA.
Revise Officer structure
Provide for Board Chair, changing name from President, to accurately reflect position’s duties and responsibilities as policy setting rather than operational
Provide for succession planning by establishing in ANA Officers
Provide for Chair, Vice-Chair, Board Treasurer to be appointed by the Board from among the elected Board members
What this accomplishes: Traditionally, the titles “president” and “vice president” refer to paid staff officers with operational responsibilities. Changing the titles to “chair” and “vice chair” clarifies that these are volunteer positions on an elected policy-making board, rather than executive officers. Allows the Association to use the skills and experties of the Board members elected by the membership to their fullest extent.
Essentially this change seems to me to make the ANA more like a corporation rather than a "club" insofar as it makes the ANA Board of Governors almost identical to a corporation's Board of Directors. Now, the way the ANA runs might well be that the ANA Board is purely advisory and/or guidance setting, but I would much rather see the ANA President and Vice President having some (perhaps limited) operational control. I don't like the idea that "Executive Director" has CEO-like powers to run the ANA. In the corporate world having a company run by a CEO and the Board of Directors being advisory works out because of the possiblity that the company can be taken over. In particular, if a CEO is incompetent and the Board of Directors is comprised of the CEO's hand-picked cronies, nonetheless the CEO can still get the boot if the company is taken over. Such is NOT the case with the ANA: If the Executive Director is incompetent and the Board of Governors is comprised of the Director's best buddies, it will become very difficult to remove the Executive Director. It will be especially difficult iof the previous proposal, to stagger the election of Board members passes.
Now, I hasten to admit that I do not know how the ANA is currently run: Is the Executive Director essentially the CEO with powers that are restricted only by the Board of Governors? Or does the Board of Governors take a more activist role in running the ANA? And is this proposed change merely cosmetic, as the discussion under the proposal would lead one to believe, or is there something substantial occuring? I hope that someone more experienced in how the Board works would chime in on this subject!
TD
<< <i>
Now, I hasten to admit that I do not know how the ANA is currently run: Is the Executive Director essentially the CEO with powers that are restricted only by the Board of Governors? Or does the Board of Governors take a more activist role in running the ANA? And is this proposed change merely cosmetic, as the discussion under the proposal would lead one to believe, or is there something substantial occuring? I hope that someone more experienced in how the Board works would chime in on this subject! >>
The current Executive Director is a lawyer. During the past few years since he has been on board, I believe he has assumed more power in operating and directing the headquarters staff than was being done in prior years. The Board of Governors has little day to day contact with Colorado Springs so there may be some logic in this new direction.
The real problem all along is the fact that nobody, the Board or the Executive Director knows how to COMMUNICATE effectively with the membership. They have not utilized their website until recently. They have allowed Coin World and Numismatic News to get out front with the "news". They have been slow to respond. I have had email correspondence with the President going back over a year trying to get them to COMMUNICATE to the membership better. Whether it was the dismissal of an elected board member, a naming of building or a change in the bylaws, the problem remains the same. The leadership of the ANA needs to inform the membership what is happening AND why it is happening or proposed to be happening BEFORE it is defined in the media by Beth, Dave or some member who is "guessing" what it all means.
Steve
My Complete PROOF Lincoln Cent with Major Varieties(1909-2015)Set Registry
<< <i>I thought we were a "club," rather than a corporation.
TD >>
my thoughts exactly -
So in view of all of these issues, IMO many people are wondering what is the solution? I'm wondering too.
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
I can only think of two things why - either its what is loose in the heads of the leadership or what the leadership has been doing to the membership lately!