Andrew Corner |
The Central Michigan chapter of PRSA, saying the Society's
bylaws "limit the
Assembly from serving in a fully democratic capacity,"
has proposed a bylaw that would make the Assembly "the
ultimate policy-making body of the Society."
Removed from Article III, Section 1(a), would be the wording:
"have and may exercise all the powers, rights and privileges
of members at an annual meeting."
Proposed as new wording for Section 1(c) is: "The Assembly
shall have the power, by majority vote of the delegates present,
to pass resolutions instructing the
Directors to take action on matters concerning the business
and affairs of the Society. Such resolutions may be introduced
through the national office of the Society up to 60 days prior
to a meeting of the Assembly, or at any time the Assembly
is in session."
There is no mention of the proposed bylaw on the PRSA website.
Andrew Corner, president of Central Michigan, said the initiative
is to make the bylaws of PRSA "consistent with the founding
principles of the U.S. and the bylaws of other professional
groups such as the American Bar Assn. and the
American Medical Assn."
The ABA and AMA both have "Houses of Delegates"
that form policy and tell their boards what to do, he noted.
ABA bylaws say the House is "the legislative body of
the Association (and) shall formulate policy for the Association...(and)
is the ultimate governing body of
the Association."
AMA bylaws say the House is the "principal policy-making
body of the AMA" and "shall transact all business
of the Assn. not otherwise specifically provided for in (the
bylaws)."
The PRSA board, under the Central Michigan proposal, might
propose "policy actions" in "urgent situations"
between Assembly meetings, but "any such actions by the
board must be placed before the Assembly for ratification."
Veteran members were shocked at the uncompromising power
transfer proposed by the bylaw. The inference is that the
Assembly would have to be in session the entire year to ride
herd on anything the board might be doing.
Many members, including chapter leaders, delegates and rank-and-file
members, have been doing a slow burn in recent years at major
decisions being made by a
few national leaders and staff members.
The move of h.q. downtown, increasing space by more than
50% to 22,000 sq. ft. and raising annual "occupancy costs"
to nearly $1 million yearly, was not put to the Assembly for
a vote. Delegates learned about it after the decision was
made. The rent obligation of $5.9 million is nowhere on the
balance sheet of PRSA although accounting professors say it
belongs there.
Last year's cancellation of the nearly 1,000-page printed
directory of members was also enacted without any input from
Assembly delegates or the membershp at large.
The legal action last year against the "John Doe"
PRSA staff member who criticized COO Catherine Bolton in an
e-mail also brought criticism to the board. A member of the
executive committee at the time the action was initiated
said that even the full executive committee was not informed
of the action, which cost the Society an estimated $50,000+.
PRSA threatened a defamation lawsuit against "John Doe"
after learning the name of the owner of the e-mail address
but did not pursue the case.
The traditional spring Assembly of PRSA was permanently cancelled
in 1986 by the national board with no vote ever taken by the
Assembly itself.
The passage of a new bylaw by the Assembly last year allowing
the five-member executive committee of the board to act as
though it were the full board irked many members and delegates.
They pointed out that proxy votes were used at the Assembly
for the first time in the history of PRSA for that vote. A
proposal before the 2006 Assembly will specifically eliminate
proxy votes.
Two board members have quit this year apparently because
the rest of the board has been reduced to an advisory role.
Sources said the resigned directors refused to handle numerous
time-consuming assignments that were given to them by the
executive committee headed by president Cheryl Procter-Rogers.
A final straw this year to Assembly delegates was a demand
by the board that delegates submit any proposed bylaw changes
by June 15 if the proposers expected board support at the
Assembly which does not take place until Nov. 11.
PRSA veterans said Assembly delegates have been disenfranchised
for many years and in many ways by the national board, starting
with the cancellation of the
Spring Assembly.
A typical Assembly starts with six to seven hours of presentations
by leaders, they note, with delegates only allowed to speak
towards the end of the day.
Another bone of contention is the cost of going to an Assembly.
Delegates have to arrive Friday night for meetings that start
at 7 a.m. the next day. There is no reason the Assembly could
not be on a Monday afternoon, thus saving delegates two days
of meals and hotel rooms, say the veterans.
They point out that the 17 national directors not only get
free admission to the annual conference, which costs about
$1,000 and which delegates pay, but also reimbursement for
all travel, hotel, meals and other expenses. Former national
presidents, of which there are more than 20, get free national
conference registration for life and free PRSA memberships
for life.
National weakens interaction among Assembly delegates by
not publishing a list of the delegates until one month before
the Assembly, the PRSA veterans said.
Many times the elected delegates of a chapter cannot attend
for one reason or other and subsitutes are sent.
This robs rank-and-file members of knowing who their elected
representatives are, say the PRSA veterans. One solution,
they said, would be having the chapter president serve as
one of the delegates.
PRSA veterans said the Assembly must gain control of the
PRSA website. The story of this bylaw change should be on
the site but it is not, they observe.
Sweeping changes in governance are needed say the veterans
including allowing any of the 21,000 members to run for national
office. Only accredited members have been allowed to do this
since 1973. "This is the most undemocratic thing that
PRSA does," said one veteran.
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