The slow reply is all on me and no one else. I should have responded to this quicker, I apologize.
The Standing Rules are just guidelines. They are just guidelines that the Board uses, not to govern, but to insure that all requirements of the Bylaws are carried out in a timely manner. They are not now, nor have they ever been meant as a means of governing the association.
The actions of the Board are public and open to all members of ArkGeo. Every action that the Board approves at a meeting is made public per the minutes. And, every Board meeting is not only open to the membership, but we encourage and appreciate membership attendance. We just recently opened up time at the end of meetings for members to speak if they so desire.
The Bylaws is the governing document and the Standing Rules guidelines the Board uses to carry out the Bylaws.
The Standing Rules were in place even while Old River Runner was in office and was not listed for public viewing at that time either.
There is no "secret" reason that the Standing Rules are not published in the forums. They have always been made available for the board so every board member knows what needs to be done when.
I was originally going to post this as "From the Board", but I have added some to what the Board wanted to say in response to this so it is coming from me.
If my words here are out of line I apologize in advance to the board and to the membership.
I am baffled that some would think there are "secrets" and that the board is trying to hide anything from anyone. If there was a "secret" how would anyone on the board benefit? It's not like it is a multi-million dollar organization to be plundered. I know we are still a non-profit organization and not just a loosely thrown together group of people on an online forum and we do have to be stewards of what we are entrusted with. Everyone that I know that is on the board "LOVES" geocaching and "LOVES" geocachers and I feel that is why they do what they do. I feel those on the board only want to fulfill the mission and vision statement of ArkGeo. They might not always do it in "by the book fashion" and might always use parliamentary procedure correctly, but I know they do it for the right reasons.
I have been involved in several volunteer organizations and again volunteers don't get paid to volunteer, "they pay" to volunteer. Those who have been elected by the membership take their time to drive (gas in my home town at the time of this post is $3.74 a gallon) to meetings to handle business before the board. I have never heard one member asked to be reimbursed.
My slow response may have only added to the conceived shroud of "secrecy", but honestly life and family has kept me a little busy the last few weeks and I had to put the game/hobby/sport of geocaching on the back burner.
Oh, I was also so to respond because I was trying to hard to word my thoughts to not offend anyone or cause anyone to think poorly of ArkGeo. I may have failed at both, so I again apologize.
Great David, you have done a wonderful job and nicely delivered information on the Standing Rules. I belong to the Colorado Geo Assoc. also. Now that is an inbred group and secretive about many topics. Our group is very transparent which is appreciated. Thanks for your participation in the Association!!
If I remember my parliamentary procedure right, "standing rules" are rules that help administrate meetings. The rules give the guidelines of how an administrative body must deal with the business that is brought before them. They give order to the chaos of a meeting.
David, I think the issue that ORR has (and that I had at one point) was not about the rules or documents, but the fact that at times questions or requests for a comments gets made on the board, and all that is heard is crickets. Not getting any type of response to a question or request for info does get a bit frustrating.
Think of it this way. If you were brand new geocacher to the forums, and you ask a question, and no one in 'charge' in one of the elected positions answers the question (or if no one answered the question at all)....Would you want to stick around here, especially after a repeated request or bump of the topic? Especially after other threads have been participated and discussed while yours is left untouched?
It would look to me that the forum was dead, or worse, was only for a small clique of people. Trust me, I've come across both types of boards. I am not saying that ArkGeo is in anyway that type of group, but the perception can be more damning than reality.
Paris1time, first of all, thanks for the response. I truly appreciate your service to our organization. I also recognize that you were not in attendance at the meeting, so you were put in the unenviable position of explaining something in which you were not a participant.
My unfortunate use of the word "secret" was apparently inflammatory, and I regret the choice of that word. I did not intend to suggest that the Board was trying to be secretive. I was only puzzled why the Board would decide that the Standing Rules (which I have read many times as a Board Member) are not for viewing by the general membership, if that is what the minutes mean. Again, that's why I asked the question, because I didn't understand the minutes.
I will take your word that the Standing Rules were not available to the general membership when I was on the Board. To be honest, I don’t recall whether they were or not, and I don’t remember a discussion of making them public (or not) ever having been held. Regardless, in my opinion, the Standing Rules should be available for viewing by all members, so they are aware - if interested - what rules the Board follows in trying to implement the Bylaws. Other information is open to the general membership, so why not the Standing Rules?
Finally, Ashallond’s posting accurately explains my frustration with not getting a response to what I thought was a simple question about the minutes. Thanks, Ashallond, for your input.
"Wildness is a necessity." -- John Muir
"I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth." -- Steve McQueen
For the upcoming July meeting, I ask that the Board discuss and approve to make the Standing Rules a public document, viewable on the website in the Documents section, the same as the Bylaws. Thanks!
"Wildness is a necessity." -- John Muir
"I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth." -- Steve McQueen