jeff753

But I'm not a Luddite either;). Have a good New Year Carl.

Who would recommend against the inclusion, to replace the current exclusion, of dues paying members? Who would recommend against members having an equal voice in the governance of OUR Association? Who would recommend against all dues paying members having a vote for elected officers of our Association? And why would they? We are all FMCA members. Maybe I'm missing it but I don't see inclusion as a problem but rather a solution. The FMCA is required to have a Strategic Plan. The current strategic plan recognizes fewer and fewer members belong to chapters (section C) and directed the Long Range Planning Committee to review the Goverance and adapt for the future (section F). That is the work before us. Let us begin that work of inclusion. https://www.fmca.com/images/stories/pdf/strategicplan.pdf

The comment about Jim wanting it mailed (Jim and I knew better since it was our exchange) was meant as a joke by Herman. Obviously mail wouldn't be received by Jan 1....Thus the smiley faces. Jim asked me for something and I responded with it. Everyone knew mailing was not an option to get them in by Jan 1 and Penny had set up the electronic process.

We have submitted well over the required signatures to put all three proposals on the Agenda for Gillette. Thank you everyone for the support!! After the new year we will set up threads to continue the discussions. Everyone benefits from inclusion!!!

Here you go ENERGIZED_Proposals.pdf

The three ENERGIZED proposals are attached ENERGIZED_Proposals.pdf

Thanks and Will do. We have plenty of volunteers on the Energized/u60 Facebook group too but obviously the more signatory’s we have the better.

If a dues paying member is in more than one chapter they have one delegate (National Director) voting for each chapter. These multiple delegates vote on issues at the annual conventions and vote for national officers. If a dues paying member is not in a chapter they get no votes.

The accounting firm has the yays nays duplicate votes and voided votes. We have member numbers for chapters yes? So we have the data and I got a gift card with mr smitty on it that says 90% is spot on;). It doesn’t matter if it’s 90% or not though. The issue is 30% of the membership has a vote and some have 5 votes while others none. If that ain’t broken I don’t know what is. Regardjess the gift card is yours at Perry for a job well done. It’s your’s Chris because you were not afraid to take the helm 40’ from the iceberg. Your new teams may very well save the Association. Let’s spend our energy addressing the issue of 70% of the membership do not belong to a Chapter nor do they get to vote for elections of our Association nor are they represented at Our Annual Conventions.... The rest is in my mirror and I can’t hit it;)

Brett he needs a warning flag;) Mr Holt Since the “electronic voting option” is a different issue than “one membership=one vote” we started a separate thread. ps we are not your enemy here. We are trying to help.

Will do. Thank you.

Perfect. Thank you Penny. Have a nice weekend!

That is, in part, why I brought this up. The vast majority of the U60 group do not belong to chapters and therefore they cannot conduct the business of the association nor vote for National Officers. This should change.

Looking for comments on this Proposed Change to FMCA's Goverance "Whereas the Governance of the Association is of utmost importance, whereas all methods of secure voting that encourage the casting of ballots are appropriate, therefor be it resolved all members shall be allowed to submit their ballot via secure paper ballot or a secure electronic method." How does a member submit a proposed change? What are the Timelines?

--A Membership sits at approx. 75,000. If the figures thrown around that only 30% (22,500) are members of chapters while 70% (52,500) ----are not chapter members then why with 3 months of Notices in the Magazine and on the website only a little over 11,000 took the time ---to vote. Does that show you how folks care about what happens. i don't view it as people don't care....I don't think the majority was even aware. If a member typically doesn't read the magazine they would not know. If a member doesn't attend rallys (only an average of 3% do) they would not know. If a member doesn't log on and review FMCA.com they would not know. Unless this member was also in a chapter. One solution would be to design a new structure where all members were treated as if they were in a chapter. Give them the same info, same voice and same vote. Why wouldn't we want to do that? Is it our responsibility to deliver the information to the membership or is it the members responsibility to try to find it? It's all about structure and the question of "are we here because of the membership or is the membership here because of us" Every business or Association I've ever consulted with, that didn't answer this question correctly, either failed or is failing

My point was the FMCA communication structure is geared towards chapters. There is a department dedicated to Chapter Services. Chapters have rallys and business meetings to discuss and vote in mass. Non chapters DO NOT have the "same chance" because they do not get the information fed to them the same way...they would have to find it on FMCA.com or in the magazine. That's not anyone's fault it's just the current state. Non Chapter Members cannot vote at business meetings or for candidates in elections and do not have representation for these events. Now we could do nothing and just say you have to form a chapter and have rallys, meetings, minutes, bylaws etc. It appears that Model is in severe decline....or we could try to do something to allow all members the same opportunity for information, the same voice and the same vote.

Only 12% voted because of the current structure of Goverance. The current structure provides information to chapters and chapters have rallys with meetings and discuss and vote or empower their representative to vote. It works well for chapters and doesn't need to change. Joe/Jane non chapter member are not fed information the same way. That is why 90% of the trailer votes came from the same members who put it in the agenda...chapter members. They are in the loop by design. They had rallys and sent dozens of ballots in one envelope. Goverance is geared towards chapters and those that belong to them. That seems like it will have to change if the trends continue and less and less members belong to chapters and more chapters fold. How many chapters have been created in the last 10 years? How many have folded? Is the Chapter model still the best method of inclusion? Why are members not joining and/or creating chapters? What are the benefits of a chapter compared to a group of friends? What are the disincentives of a chapter? Only 271 National Directors voted at the last convention representing their 271 Chapters. With the average chapter of 40 people that's 10,840 people who's views were represented at the last convention out of 76,000 members. Only 271 votes (chapters only) were cast for any business in front of the Association including the election of officers. Joe/Jane member don't even know who is running. I'm not anti chapter I think they're great...they just don't represent the membership anymore. Can we do something to include all dues paying members? I think we can and should. The Areas are already broken down by state or sub area so the structure for a more inclusive representation of the Association exist. it is interesting to note----- the only ones who can change it are the chapters:) <---- another smiley face

Good point;)!

Really. That’s the feedback you offer. My point is the chapter model doesn’t represent the membership anymore. That’s not divisive it just is. How many chapters have been started in the last 10 years? 20 years? The chapters I’ve gone to were very clickish having groups inside the group. They were also an average age of 77 or so. No offense intended it’s just what it is. Those chapters grew up together. The chapters are the only ones who vote for our leadership and who can send votes to the entire membership. With 30% of the membership belonging to chapters it’s not representative of the younger crowd who don’t have many chapters to join. One answer is do nothing. Another answer is to do something. That’s all.

In my past experiences I’ve worked with conventions that had 500 delegates. Each representing a different number of members. Most business was done via voice vote unless a delegate made a motion for a roll call vote. And yes I realize the current structure (chapter national directors) are the only ones who can make this change. They might because it’s the right thing to do.

The goal is all memberships are entitled to one vote. All else is implementation of that. Still needs to be determined though.

Thanks for the comments Herman and status quo is always an option. Just trying to explore a possible option that would put the association in the hands of the whole membership and not just the 30% who choose to join a chapter. There is no offense intended it just is what it is. I hear younger people are having a hard time finding a chapter that matches their interest but that doesn't mean they should not participate in elections etc within their Association. Chapter membership is not a requirement and some folks are still too busy and/or kind of "make up their chapter" as and when they travel. Meetings not required. I think 10 new chapters have been created in the last 10 years??? Maybe we should explore something else for Goverance? Maybe not? Selection is obviously an issue that needs to be fleshed out. How, how many.....I just wrote a placeholder really. I guess one way might be a slate of volunteer delegates from each state/province. Electronic voting of the slate. Members could then Partcipate in proxy voting or empowering their delegate...maybe like publicly traded companies other Associations use proxy voting Each delegate could then be provided the contact info for the voting memberships they represent. The office could send out the agenda to everyone and advise members their delegate. Perhaps a flyer be included with the magazine. That's implementation but still needs to be detailed out. Details would need to be worked out. What's the deadline? How does a non chapter member get something on the agenda;). <<---That's a smiley face!!

Looking for comments on this Proposed Change to FMCA's Goverance Whereas only 30% of FMCA members belong to a chapter, Whereas the National Directors of Chapters do not represent non chapter members, whereas all members deserve representation in the Governance of the Association, Therefore be it resolved the Governing Board of FMCA shall be comprised of delegates from each region representing an EQUAL SHARE of that regions voting members. Each delegate may represent UP TO 300 voting members. Delegates will be elected or appointed by each geographic region. and a change to voting Whereas the Governance of the Association is of utmost importance, whereas all methods of secure voting that encourage the casting of ballots are appropriate, therefor be it resolved all membership balloting shall be via secure paper ballot or a secure electronic method.

So 8% of the membership controlled the outcome. I’m thinking of writing a proposal to change the governing board member to represent “one member one vote” regardless of how many chapters a member belongs to, if any. It would be interesting to see how many votes were cast by non chapter members Chapter members had more likely good of being aware of the pending change For example each region would elect up to 50 delegates. Each delegate would carry their percentage of votes of the entire region. Currently over 70% and growing do not belong to a chapter and thus have no governing board representation. It’s not anybody’s fault it’s just where we are today. We also need to be able to vote via ballot or electronic means.

Not having read what you are referring ----to I would surmise the 20 votes you reference are National Directors not FNumbers. And then only during the annual convention.