Club Business

The Haig Point Nominating Committee recently sent a communication to all members titled “Why A Fixed Slate for Haig Point.” There may be valid points for a fixed slate, however the practice of submitting a fixed slate has never been approved by members and is not in our Bylaws. The email’s focus attempted to validate their fixed slate by citing two expert consultants. I researched the “experts” papers and discovered that important substance of their opinions had been omitted and only one recommendation (fixed slate) had been cherry picked by our Nominating Committee for inclusion.

A careful and thorough reading of the two consultant’s papers did not match the inferences made in the Committee’s memo. Those experts do not advocate for a fixed slate as a magic bullet. They cite the importance of addressing other significant changes in a club’s governance that make a lot of common sense.

Joe Abley and David Duval in their white paper, Governance Essentials-Best Practices in Club Governance, for example, do voice support for a fixed slate approach but importantly they acknowledge that, “concerns of popularity contests and group self-perpetuation are better dealt with in the thoughtful construction of the nominating committee, more transparency in the committee process, and more education of the membership through board and committee communications.”

The Committee also referenced a paper by Richard Kopplin titled “The Perfect Board”. Kopplin’s recommendations are meant to be considered as a model of governance. His articulation of the perfect board must be interpreted in its entirety and his suggestions are certainly provocative.

• He notes, for example, the necessity for an open and transparent governing board and significant member participation and involvement

• He makes recommendations on the size of board; the makeup of the nominating committee; and the tenure of both BOD’s and members of the nominating committee

• Other governance details are in significant contrast to current Haig operations. Kopplin does not suggest that a fixed slate is the magic bullet but rather proposes substantive changes need to complement a fixed slate process. This is not endorsing Kopplin’s “perfect board” but rather conveying that his model includes far more than merely a single fixed slate electoral system

The memo from the Nominating Committee, in my opinion, did not accurately represent the totality of the ‘experts’opinions and their suggestions; choosing instead to cherry pick the one issue that is within the BOD’s control. And those “experts” have some really good ideas that address some of the core differences we are debating.

As just one member, I really hope there is room and an appetite for a more open discussion with less divisions amongst us. Each of our five candidates are skilled, accomplished and caring individuals committed to making our club better, open, and financially secure. Each has a legitimate claim to be a candidate for the Haig Point Board of Directors per our own by-laws. We are lucky to have the depth of talent.

I strongly suggest that we will all benefit from two additional Meet the Candidate meetings. The first Meet and Greet session is designed with only 15 minutes per candidate without concurrent spontaneous member questions. This is not at all adequate and a cocktail party afterwards is hardly an appropriate venue to ask questions nor the appropriate way to learn about candidate’s thoughts and suggestions going forward.

The value of the additional two meetings will be enhanced if supported, planned and organized by the five candidates with the goal of providing members with information to make their most informed decision. I hope the candidates will support this good faith suggestion.

Charles “Chuck” Turner