FCB Executive Committee Meeting June 10, 2022

A meeting of the FCB Executive Committee was held on June 10, 2022 via Zoom.  Those in attendance were:  Sheila Young, President; Mikey Wiseman, 1st Vice-President; Cassandra Jessie, 2nd Vice-President; Mark Lear, Treasurer; Sally Benjamin, Membership Secretary; Mary Tyson, Recording Secretary and Jim Kracht, Immediate Past President.  Also in attendance were   Guest Kati Lear and Paul Edwards.  The meeting began at 7:00 PM.

President Sheila Young advised that this meeting had been requested by Mikey Wiseman and that   Paul Edwards had been invited to join us to give us the benefit of his advice and experience in FCB and ACB matters.  She then turned the meeting over to Mikey.

Mikey said that he had asked Paul to attend as he was very familiar with FCB Constitution and By-Laws and if necessary he could be a quasi-parliamentarian.

Mikey is concerned that we may have done our members a disservice and that we should examine how we could have done things differently in a more productive way. The Committee should have done a better    job in educating our members as to why we had come to the majority vote so that they could make an informed decision when considering the resolution at convention.

Attempts were made to make the letter palatable to all Committee members as it had passed with a majority vote.  Mikey felt that undue influence was wielded and that this was confusing to the membership since there had in fact been a majority vote by the Committee to send the letter and propose the resolution.  He felt that if we had explained how we arrived at our position better, that the membership would have had a better understanding of the issues and concerns of the Committee.  As things happened, it resulted in the membership giving us a vote of no confidence and indicating that they could not trust us or our actions.  At this point Mikey asked for member input.

Sheila felt that the resolution had been approved by the Resolutions Committee and not the Executive Committee and the EC did not have a say in how the resolution was written, prior to the presentation to the membership. Further, she felt that the original letter should not have been done via email but should have been developed at a meeting where everyone could discuss the issue. She apologized if she had spoken out of order but felt that she was speaking as a member and not as the organization’s president.   

Sally said that she had not been in favor of the letter and felt that as a member of FCB that she had the right to make her feelings known.  She felt that since the EC had not been in unanimous agreement that it was not a good thing to have a resolution brought to the membership.  

Mary felt that the issues did need to be addressed.  She was particularly upset that after the meeting had been turned over to the second vice-president that she got up and told the members that she was not in support   of the resolution, thus exerting undue influence over the membership.

Mikey assured everyone that he was not upset with anyone, and that what work was done in a meeting did not carry over to outside of that space.

Mark said that Mikey, Jim and Paul know much more about the workings of ACB than he does and that it have longed been noted that it was felt that ACB was   not listening to the concerns of its affiliates.  He feels that Dan Spoone, as president of ACB, will take our concerns seriously and will provide answers to our questions.  

Cassandra said that she went into the June 2, Executive Committee meeting with an open mind and left with some hope that our concerns would be addressed. She said that that hope was shattered and that she is not sure what she will do going forward. She wanted to know if it was appropriate for EC members to vote on a resolution as they were the ones who had put it forward.  Paul advised that the only reason Cassandra should not have voted was because she had been designated as chair at that particular moment.  (Cassandra was not aware that the meeting had been turned over to her as she had to leave the room for a personal phone call.)

Jim felt that after an EC meeting of approximately 2 hours that the group had come to a decision and voted 5 to 1 with 1 abstention.  As the governing body of FCB between meetings, we made a democratic decision, that was our voice as the Executive Committee. He felt that the committee’s decision had been completely discounted.  He felt that Sheila’s actions were dictatorial and demeaning to the Executive Committee.    He felt that these actions were embarrassing to him personally and is not sure what role he will take with FCB going forward.  

Mikey gave some examples.  He was opposed to the additional cost to video our convention.  He was outvoted.  He let his committee know how he felt and then did everything he could to support the decision made by the committee majority to make sure they were successful and not to sabotage the effort.

When the vote was held, Mikey asked Mark to stop at the appropriate line item so that he could request the inclusion of the $1,000 donation, even though he had strong feelings about the issue.  Because, he feels strongly that this is how democracy is supposed to work.

Sally is very concerned about the discord within the Executive Committee and how personal relationships are affecting the entire committee.

Cassandra stated that it is important that she be able to trust the people she works with.  She had a concern about side conversations, which she inadvertently overheard, which caused her to question the matter of trust.  She wants to know how this type of situation is handled when considering Roberts Rules of Order and the Code of Conduct which recently was implemented.   

Sheila asked Paul what limitations she has to put on her personal conversations. With the ACB president, committee chairs, etc., that may not be communicated to the Executive Committee.

Paul spoke of the necessity for the Executive Committee to properly be able to define itself in order to know their responsibilities and handle things in a productive manner.  

Paul explained that because of the difficulty of having FCB board meetings, this allowed an undue level of importance   to be put on the Executive Committee.  This means that there is no board of directors to act as a buffer between   the Executive Committee and the membership.  Paul recommended that we adopt a united front approach, He stressed that it was fine to disagree as much as we like in an Executive Committee meeting, but important to present a united front once a decision is made.  At the very least, he suggested that whatever is discussed at an EC meeting not be discussed outside of it.

Paul further recommended that we explain to the membership that the EC did a lot of things wrong, and we need to explain to them how it will work going forward and that we will make every effort to see that it does not happen again.

Dan Spoone said that the membership did not agree with our resolution or our method of communicating our concerns to ACB, essentially a vote of no confidence.  Jim is concerned that we should not just ignore this, if the membership feels betrayed, how can we act like the vote did not take place.   

Paul pointed out that not one of the membership spoke against the action of the Executive Committee.  They did not like that the committee was divided and thus voted the way that they did.  So, the letter has gone to the ACB Board and it is expected that a response will be forthcoming.  Could we sit down with other affiliate leadership to develop an appropriate method of communication with ACB and what expectations should be regarding receiving an appropriate and timely response? Finally, that either in the White Cane Bulletin or at the Midyear meeting, the president and Executive Committee should report to the membership on what progress has been made regarding the concerns that were presented.   

Mikey said that he is no longer willing to permit emotional displays from the floor of meetings while business is being conducted.  He feels that individuals should abide by the Code of Conduct, and if they do not, a complaint regarding the disregarding of that Code of Conduct may be filed.  Jim said that he thinks this should definitely be addressed at a future meeting.

Sheila said that if people are having interpersonal problems, that they should not accuse or point fingers just state facts and make every effort to have a productive dialogue to resolve the situation.  

Mikey overheard a conversation, which should have been handled in a private meeting.  It is situations like this that are not constructive and breed mistrust among members.  	 

Motion to adjourn was made by Cassandra and seconded by Mary.  The meeting was adjourned at 8:34 PM.

Respectfully submitted by,
Mary Tyson,
FCB Recording Secretary