Ideas to change board structure

[Bret Hess]

I’d like to start a discussion on some ideas to restructure board titles and appointments.  It’s related to the discussion I started on changing the election culture in the club, but I think it has merits on its own even if we don’t change the election methods.  The board hasn’t considered these ideas yet. 

Here is how the board is structured now:  The President, VP,  Secretary,  and Treasurer are elected annually. Two more members are appointed by the board: Maintenance Chairman and Safety Officer.   All six board members have an equal vote.

I see the logic of having at least one board member appointed by the elected members:  the Maintenance Chairman.  The club as a whole doesn’t need to know (and maybe can’t know) who is good at glider maintenance, but the board needs to know.   

Beyond that I’m wondering if we should make the board structure more flexible.  In all the time I’ve been in the club I haven’t heard of a Safety Officer that is active in the specified duties: supervising flying activities and grounding equipment or personnel.  Often the position isn’t filled (like now)...who wants to be that one guy?  I suggest we replace the Safety Officer position with a general board member, and the president can assign safety duties to any board member, or to several.  

What do you think about the following idea in the bylaws?  The detailed changes to the wording would be hashed out later. 

“A president and three general board members are elected annually.  The board appoints a Maintenance chairman and may appoint one other general board member.  From among the other board members the president designates a vice president, a secretary and a treasurer and appoints other duties to board members.”

With this structure the president could appoint a treasurer to the board if none of the three elected general board members were inclined to be treasurer. 

Here are the current USA bylaws.  

 

[David Cleveland]

The safety officer position should be appointed by the board. We absolutely need a safety offer. It's a position that needs to be present at the board level.

The position should also be supported by the board. This has been the biggest problem over the years. Two of the past safety officers other than myself resigned due to a lack of support. One of the reasons I resigned was because the board did not include me during obvious safety related incidents. The final issue was when the board stepped in during a developing safety issue at Nephi without consultation me in the process. This has not been uncommon. Without structural and public support the position is useless.

Robert Kidd is the current safety officer. A year after his appointment, our website still shows the position as unfilled. How many conversations have board members had with him about his involvement? Have there been any suggestions to him about what the club needs going forward? Has anyone contacted him about visibility? Have there been any club wide messages reminding members that we do have a safety officer? I would say the answer to all of these questions is no.

Bret, there are people who want to be "that one guy". Unfortunately, it's a difficult place to tell other pilots how to be safe. Frequently there's a lot of nodding going on, then business as usual. That's why public and persistent support is necessary. It has to be one individual who is responsible for, and credited with, promoting safety within the club. The board, the instructors, the glider stewards need to support the safety officer in all respects frequently and publicly.

David

[Moises Romero]

Spot on Dave. 

Moises

On Feb 28, 2023, at 12:40, David Cleveland <david.s....@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Bret Hess]

I think the single Safety Officer is a leftover from when USA worked out of one airport, where it would make more sense to "supervise flying" as in the bylaws.  I don't think anyone on the board has supervised flying since I've been in the club. Safety has to be emphasized, and the board is responsible for it.  If we want supervision it would make sense to have a safety committee with one member appointed at each airport.   Those members could be empowered to supervise and ground people and planes, subject to board review.   

David, do feel the safety officer could also be president, vice president or secretary?  Neither of those jobs has frequent responsibilities.

But my central idea doesn't rest on the question of the safety officer role itself.  It's more the flexibility of the president to appoint roles to board members, whether they were elected or appointed.     

If the club wants to keep a unique board member called the Safety Officer, I would amend my proposal to be:   “A president and three general board members are elected annually.  The board appoints a Maintenance chairman and one other general board member.  From among the board members the president designates a vice president, a secretary, a treasurer and a safety officer.”

[Bruno Vassel]

Thanks Bret for all the ideas.  Let me throw a wrench in the works.  I was going to give Bret a call to discuss this after talking to Mike but he beat me to the topic with this thread.

I am interested in running for the president position and Jonathan Foster has agreed to be part of the 2023 board.  My dream would be for Mike to stay on as a key advisor to the board to help with the transition.  If you Bret would be willing to stay on as treasurer - it would be fantastic.  Whatever Adam and Ross are wanting to do is great with me since they bring a ton of experience and wisdom to the group.  We have enough airline guys in the club that we can probably find the right person to help with the safety officer.  Hopefully Lynn can stay as head instructor.  Chris Robert still to help with new member inquiries.  There might be others who are serving but the current website doesn't show anyone else.

I spoke with Mike and I will find a venue in the Salt Lake Valley that we can have our club annual meeting on Saturday March 25.  If possible it would be great to make a day of it and have a few presentations.  If the board agrees to this, we should make it known to the membership asap about Jonathan and my board interest and see who else wants to be considered.  They can also start planning on reserving that day/evening. 

If the board is ok with moving forward with the 25th I can get started on finding a venue and we can announce a call for candidates for board seats.

Bruno

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[Bret Hess]

Bruno, your interest in being president or Jonathan Foster's interest in the board doesn't throw a wrench in the works of what I'm proposing.  Anyone can say they want to be president, or any other board position, and run a campaign if they want...convince the club they should rank you higher than others.  But it's true I'm against pre-arranged filling of board positions, and the presumption that no one else can get into a board position without invitation.  We need to have open nominations and real elections, where people really make a choice.   Also remember some board members have never been elected, just appointed temporarily.    

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[Bret Hess]

P.S. Bruno this is a public discussion thread to the entire club.