Resignation of Woodshop Chairman

Woodshop
#21

@Jasonw50, thank you for creating a respectful, comprehensive response. I am sorry you are ending your membership.

DMS has a rule and guiding principle of “Be Excellent to each other.”

Here is what happens when that rule isn’t followed.

There is a direct line from behavior of leadership to how people feel about volunteering or keeping up their memberships.

If (Edit: Some, not all, individual members of) leadership want to treat volunteers like employees, we might as well hire some, starting with a shop steward — because otherwise, Jason is right. A storage room of broken tools is likely to follow.

2 Likes
#22

I am sure they have tight budget strains and have to make hard choices. A steward might be possible in the future but for now I bet it isn’t. The bylaws probably don’t allow it though along with budget.

I am not trying to throw the current board under a bus. Don’t shoot the people averting disaster. I just feel there is a massive lack of respect. Probably some on both sides, but some people way more than others. On talk @lampy seems to be the most involved and mostly respectful board member. Posts from others board members, typically aimed at Mark, are very rude and completely miss the value added in the past by all the classes taught in the past. I am sure Mark can seem demanding at times, but he is just trying to keep the shop running.

I haven’t seen Mike get political on talk so I don’t know how much flack he gets.

I have been on an HOA board before. Understanding on both sides goes a long way. All fighting does is create a mess and make it bigger.

1 Like
#23

Thank you, I try to do my best in a hard situation. Being a committee chair is extremely difficult and a thankless job, no doubt! You have members wanting things a certain way and then you have pressure from the board to run things in a way that keeps us legal, safe and connecting all the governmental dots.

I appreciate Mike a lot, he took over the position of chair when woodshop was at a tough crossroads. It was coping with crazy levels of activity, influx of tools and the dust collector problems. Together with other volunteers he made the best of the situation. Burnout and being tired of putting up with the demands would make anyone need a break! Unfortunately woodshop is pretty much the last committee to expand and their challenges will continue until they get to their new location. Let’s help a new chair continue to build on their direction.

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#24

Mike, I truly sorry to hear this. I’ve learned quite a lot from you over the last year. I hope you will continue to be active in the shop with your experience and knowledge.

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#25

4 posts were split to a new topic: Discussion about Woodshop Chairs and Officers

#26

I would like to thank Mike for his service to DMS. This gentleman has touched a lot of people with his skills, kindness and humor. It’s been such a pleasure to get to know you Mike and your lovely wife. I’m very embarrassed by the way you have been treated and I really hope the board can bother themselves to look into the nasty message you were sent. Ive put a lot of time and energy into DMS as a volunteer, teacher, director and past president. And I can truly say that you are one of the best that’s been a part of this place. You have now and always, my deep appreciation.

7 Likes
#27

@Jasonw50 thank you for pointing out my broad use of the word “leadership.” I have edited my post to reflect that some, not all, members of leadership are engaging in this damaging bullying.

In the interest of intentionally not naming anyone, I see that people who didn’t treat people poorly were inadvertantly included in my post. I apologize to those people.

It’s not about politics for me. I have a strong belief that people should be talked to and treated properly.

I genuinely don’t understand why some people in authority positions at DMS continue to bully members, and no action is taken. It’s distressing.

5 Likes
#31

Mike sad to see you step down I enjoyed working with you.

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#32

@shoottx I really appreciate the work you did and the amount of ownership you took of the down tools and actions to bring them back up. I am sorry to see you step down, but thank you for your time and efforts while running the shop.

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#33

Thank you @shoottx for your help in woodshop. It is a very difficult position to fill in our group. I heard through the grapevine that we have another member in the wings to keep the committee going without a large down time. So thanks to whoever that is as well.

As for the issue with the individual in leadership and their behavior. If you want that to change, please submit a formal complaint outlining times and conversation you had that you found inappropriate to [email protected]. This is the only way that the BOD would take action against this individual. Also as the issue is likely based on how this individual treats the membership, you would be smart to reach out to others that have had the same or similar issues to also file complaints, that would prove that it isn’t just a single problem, but a wider issue which effects the population of DMS. Mike, if you contact me via PM and your issue is with the same member of leadership as mine, I would also be willing to submit a formal complaint with you. As I have an unresolved interaction with a key member of leadership as well, that has been treated in the past as just a one off issue, rather than the pattern of actions I’ve seen applied to other members.

It is very tough when large contributors to DMS are caught in interpersonal issues, especially when it feels like one side seems to be empowered by the BOD to be their Bull Dog while leaving them plausible deniability. Given the way these things happen, it is easy to let them grow and fester. But, we do need to think on how we resolve this. I wouldn’t want to ban a large contributor just for the bad behavior. I would hope we could forgive, alter behavior and move on. But, the behavior needs to change.

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#34

Sorry to hear that, you are a valued member and great contributor.

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#35

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

1 Like
#36

I appreciate you! Any chance of changing your mind?

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#37

Thank you Mike and Mark! Please do not get discouraged by criticism from above. Those of us down in the trenches appreciate you both very much!
NkeMikey

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#38

Hrm, so I’m just some new guy, but isn’t the wood shop one of the absolute busiest places in DMS? If the concern is the commusamble rate I don’t see how that’s an issue.

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#39

It’s absolutely busy, but the breakage has increased while overall usage has not increased at nearly the same rate. There are a few charts and graphs floating around these threads that show membership trends and indicate why it’s unusual that breakage increased so much.

As i said on the post announcing Paul as the replacement, i do appreciate Mike’s work as chair. It’s a thankless job and he inherited decisions made by the chairs before him.

8 Likes
#40

7 posts were merged into an existing topic: Is Talk the place to address problems with DMS?

#48

Thanks for the many kind comments.

Please do not ascribe motives for my resignation without a discussion with me.

This thread has gone off the original intent.

@Team_Moderators please close

6 Likes
#49