Time to Decide and to Remember why we joined the Saints
Brooks E. Gerlach, TQS Associates, Inc.
To the Saints Board or whoever is in charge down there,
Please read Bill Fireside’s summary of Board duties and responsibilities (following). It is a careful and reasonable summary of Board duties and responsibilities. I personally support many of his suggestions.
Several of the Board have stood up for the ideals of the Saints, responsibilities that we, the Saints members gave them when we supported their candidacy for the Board. Among these ideals is the simple statement that we, through our membership dues and with our time and good efforts, wish to SUPPORT the Arts in Chicago.
It is not our ideals that cause us to want as much as we can get and are looking for ways to give as little as we can get away with, in return. This is the nature of the current proposal being pushed by one or perhaps more of our board members. This is not what we, the members had in mind when we elected this board. It is not what we were hoping you would be doing to further the goals of the Saints.
If you, our board, allow yourselves to (continue to) be “persuaded / intimidated” by a small group of board members who lack wisdom, perspective and dedication to this ideal you will be an embarrassment and a disappointment to the rest of us and to the many giving and generous people in our history who make us proud to be members of the Saints.
Believe it or not (for those of you that may not participate much in the ushering activities of the Saints) many of the members arrive to their ushering assignments on time, do the tasks asked of them, and then ask “Is there anything else you need for us to do?”
I also understand that consideration of this issue will take place behind closed doors at the next Board Meeting barring the membership from hearing who would support such an idea. How fitting a place to discuss something as deleterious and embarrassing to the Saints ideals and history as this idea!
I, for one, am hoping you will be making short work of this terrible idea. And while you are at it perhaps you might also consider taking steps to reduce the influence of those who think the Saints organization can best be served by a “Do Less for the Arts” philosophy.
We hope to see better things in the future from this board.
Brooks
E. Gerlach
Voice: 847-266-0434
FAX: 800-207-5381
e-mail: brooks...@earthlink.net
From Bill Fireside, March 3, to the Saints Board
Being the shy person that I am -- I could not resist the opportunity to add my 2 or 3 cents to the mix. I am through writing to Andy. I get further when I speak to my tropical fish. This is the letter that I sent to THE BOARD. They are the only ones that can stop this madness. Please keep writing to the Board. They must hear from as many people as possible. (Hugh was sent a copy of this note. He has most eloquently stated his position publicly!)
Bill
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Dear Sharon, Linda, Jim, Deb, Lorraine and Mark,
First, let me say how proud I am of Hugh for responding to Andy's email and making it very clear to all of us about the illegality and dangerousness of Andy's actions. Hurrah for Hugh!
You, along with Andy, constitute the Board of Directors of the Saints. You should be infuriated by the notice that was sent to the general membership of our organization this morning. How dare he violate the trust of the membership, using our mailing list, to take it upon himself to give his personal point of view, without objection -- his agenda -- without comment -- and his mock desire to assure us of a transparent and democratic organization.
In the current Bylaws, this is listed under the ARTICLE of GOVERNANCE:
2. (a) A Board of Directors shall be the governing body of the organization with the sole authority to act on behalf of the organization, shall conform to the Bylaws and shall be accountable to the voting membership of the organization.
It is no secret that Andy has angered a large segment of the membership who truly give a damn about the way their organization is run. They can see through all the "niceties" that he uses to lull the others into a state of bliss on the Cyberline and with his personal emails. All is not right with the organization. This is the time for the entire Board to institute and complete an action removing Andy from the presidency, from the board and from his coordinatorship.
The president must speak for the board and is not elected to present his particular point of view , as official, to the membership. Where are the rest of your voices in rebuttal? Where are your opinions? Has he totally emasculated you and taken your power of speech away? He has misstated our financial position and is clearly politicking for another term on the board. His use of the membership list is illegal and his unauthorized polls are a bad joke
The Bylaws further state:
4. The Board of Directors shall determine a budget for the next fiscal year by March 15 of every fiscal year. All expenditures of money shall be within the guidelines of the approved budget or by consent of the Board of Directors.
Why are you allowing him to make this his personal ruling when it is the Board's responsibility?
Please don't allow our reputation to tarnish in Andy's "acid rain." We are charitable and we love our theatres and performing arts companies. Let us not cheapen our image to ourselves, to the companies we assist, nor to the general public who is ever mindful of our services.
We know that you will do the right thing.
Bill Fireside