Since you have the same email chain that I do, you know that the stated purpose of the meeting was an information download between old and new Board members. No mention of other issues. No post on Talk, advising the membership that other issues would be acted upon. No notice of any sort or character, that other actions would be taken prior to the meeting.
It’s nice to hear these statements about what you ran for, etc. But you are a Board member now. What you do, is all that really matters. In this case, you did the exact opposite of transparency. You did the exact opposite of include. And in adopting an action relying on the advice of a salesman with a vested interest in selling his product, and two well-meaning, but wholly unqualified individuals, despite earlier on-record statements by professionals advising that the unit is not big enough to do the job, cannot be described as good judgement, well-advised decision-making, or even common sense.
If we spend $60,000, and the proposed collector turns out to be inadequate, What then? What will be the consequence of your impatience and total lack of research or due diligence? The fire Marshall did not write us up because the dust collector was the wrong model. He wrote us up because the collectors weren’t getting the job done, and the shop was a dusty mess and a fire hazard. Will he close our doors for a couple of months until we can replace an undersized (again) collector? Other Makerspaces have been closed by the Fire Marshall for less.
Are you absolutely sure that the Collector you voted for will be large enough? You blew off the requirement for an third party engineers report. You blew off the advice of two separate members who were also Engineers. You relied instead on the estimates provided by a salesman with a vested interest in selling us his product. On what basis did you blow off your duty to make informed decisions in the best interest of DMS?
Beyond that, the two issues considered illuminate each other. It is a fact, that the Space will be squeezed tight financially in expanding. Careful and thoughtful decisions about money will be required, to avoid forcing DMS into insolvency. Yet, your first action, was to vote to spend $60,000.00, a significant portion of our available cash, on a unit where your only professional advice was, that it wasn’t big enough.
As to the rest, I don’t doubt that you intend to do the right thing, and want to be a good Board member. But that means you have to be accountable for the decisions you make. I’m sorry, that your first foray into it, was to get pushed into a bad decision. The new Board deserved better, than getting pressured by a false “emergency”, and bum-rushed into making a poor decision.
Unless you intend to pay to have the ductwork rehung twice, there’s no reason to buy right away. The new space won’t be available for move in before August. That’s four months away. I call on you to back up a little, get a real third party engineers report on the size needed, and buy a collector based on that, making dead certain you are spending such a huge lump of cash on the right unit. The $3K-$4K spent, will ensure we don’t get burned with a bad choice.
I’m not asking you to do what I want. I have proposed no collector. I’m asking you to do the right thing, and ensure your decision is the best you can make.
