Hey Folks,
My SOI is here. If you all have specific questitons, ask away.
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Why are we down 500 members?
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I think there are a lot of contributing factors as to why membership is lower than it was in January of 2019. First, the organisation increased dues and used that impending increase to sell memberships in the fall of 2018. So there was an inflated number of people who signed up during that period. When that price increase took effect, we immediately started seeing fewer people signing up, so our natural, historic, attrition rates (which didn’t really change throughout last year), made more of a dent than they otherwise would have.
Our membership decrease in 2019 gets thrown around a lot by some people who are critical of the current board, but don’t have a good understanding of some of the drivers. I’m happy to report, however, that through sound financial management, our net income was essentially unchanged from March of 2019 through the end of February 2020, regardless of the change in membership, and our cash position has never been higher. Financially, we’re in great shape to weather this storm.
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What is the rational behind behind your proposed Bylaw changes?
Specifically item 3.
Striking the ability of members to propose changes easily for consideration
Do you believe having to get 10% of the space to sign a petition for proposal to the board is a high bar to obtain and unnecessarily difficult?
Cool thanks, I think ill be voting for you.
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Those acutually aren’t my by-law amendments, they were drafted primarily by @ESmith I believe. At the risk of speaking for him, I would guess from the plain language there, that he proposes to make it easier to amend the by-laws in the future than it is now, but perhaps he’d be the better person to answer your question.
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Yes, that is part of my proposed amendments.
The present section 13 is badly written and needed to be addressed with the restructure of Member Meetings.
With the intent seeming to be two paths for proposals to be put on the ballot in a logical OR fashion I made it explicit. Note that the language in the screencap is for (5) not consistent with the final proposal, which will read as such :
- These Bylaws may be amended, repealed, or altered in whole or in part by a majority
vote at any Annual Member Meeting, or Member Meeting in which there is a quorum
of two-thirds of the voting members.
I maintained the 10% threshold because that’s the present standard for a Special Member Meeting as well as in the original language for Amendments.
Insofar as claiming this makes Amendment proposals more difficult for members, I simply don’t follow.
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You’ve served as Treasurer and now briefly as Treasurer+Director. If you were elected to a full term as Director, would you cede the Treasurer duties to another appointee?
IMO one of the accomplishments of the Board had been appointing non-Directors to the Officer positions. More eyes on the D&O decisions, Logistics/Infra/Secretary/President/Treasurer duties get full attention from one person, removing Directors from day-to-day responsibilities, less opportunity for one person to consolidate power, and hopefully not wear out Directors.
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Yes, I think we’ve built a strong foundation for accuracy and transparency at this point and would happily cede those duties to another qualified candidate if elected.
I would, of course, be available to assist that person as necessary.
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Brad, you seem like you would like certain people to leave the organization or for them to be ignored by the membership. You have repeatedly warned people against even listening to certain people. I being one of the ones you wish to silence, even though I am well regarded with the members outside of the current leadership. And at the same time, you also seem to be compliant in allowing certain members of this term’s DMS leadership circles to bully members while dismissing complaints against those same people. Brad, you have even endorsed their values through your nominations.
As a candidate for board, what is your good reasoning for suppressing the voice of some of the membership, through your recommendations and allowing bullying of members to continue, through your inaction and dismissal?
Note: I support the LGBT community at the space.
References:
I want no part of anything having to do with you, pal. I think you’re bad for DMS, and I hope you quit again soon. Please vote against me, I don’t want your support.
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Oh Look! A CONCERN TROLL rears its head again. Didn’t take very long, knew you couldn’t help yourself.
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A post was split to a new topic: Will Annual Members Who Cancelled During COVID-19 Be Considered At Former Rate?