NH Straw Poll

NH Chapter Straw Poll on Club By-law change

Below are the results from our straw poll on the pending AMC Club By-Law change. The results are unofficial and do not count as actual votes on the by-law change. You must log in to enter the poll. Only NH chapter members are allowed to enter. Please keep your comments short, courteous and specific to the by-law change. Negative comments about members will be deleted, and marked as such.

If you do not enter a comment, your vote will be counted, but your name and vote will not show on the list below.

Also see the information on the by-law changes, if you haven't already.

Straw Poll Results

Straw Poll Entry Form

Entries: 13

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NH Chapter Member Comments

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Paul Berry - FOR
I have some concerns but will vote for the Proposed By-Laws because it makes votes on future changes much less expensive. I am concerned about many changes among them are: 1 Removal of the requirement to provide the chapter chairs with minutes from the Directors meetings 2 Allowing Directors to appoint themselves to the nominating committee 3 the potential that Club money, staff, and databases will be used to gather proxy votes to kill member initiatives and member proposed by-laws changes 4 Ability for the board of Directors to remove a member with very short (7 days) notice 5 The lack of any need for Regional approval of Regional Director Nominees (this is unchanged form the current by-laws) Paul Berry NH Chapter Chair

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Mitch Manseau - AGAINST
I share exactly the concerns that our chair and others have articulated and brought to the Board’s attention, and to which the Board have listened and paid some attention; but I find that the thrust of these changes remains the greater centralization of club governance in the Board and professional staff and diminished influence of chapters, their members and volunteers; and must vote against. I recognize that Andy and many Board members saved the club from near bankruptcy a couple of decades ago; but I believe that it’s the members’ and volunteers’ efforts that are our core and distinguish our club from the many other non-profits whose governance structure the Board appears to emulate. I believe that this is a road we shouldn’t travel. Mitch Manseau, NH Chapter Treasurer

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Robert Humphrey - AGAINST
I will be voting against the by law changes for the concerns that Paul Barry entered. 1. Lack of requirement to provide Chapter Chairs w/minutes from director meetings. This seems to allow for the directors to do just about anything without Chapter Chair or club member knowledge. 2 Allowing directors to appoint themselves to the nominating committee. Seems they can continue in their positions indefinitely without member input. 3 Potential for club money, staff, & Data Bases will be used to gather proxy votes to kill memeber initives and member proposed by law changes. Once these new by laws are voted in members from now on will have NO SAY about any matters of concern. In other words member voices will not be heard, ideas be they good or bad can and will be ignored. 4 Lack of any need for Regional approval of Regional Nominees. As Paul points out this is unchanged from current bylaws. It should have been changed and I believe there was a proposal to do so ..... shot down. Basically what this tells me is that a Regional Director will be appointed by the powers that be regardless of how regional members feel about the nominee. In other words a puppet or yes person will always be a regional director. Finally I do not care for how the corporate approach of these bylaw changes affects the club and its members. This is a CLUB and CLUB Members should have a voice in proposed directions the club is taking. I urge everyone to look carefully at the implications involved!

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Eric Savage - FOR
I share many of the concerns expressed here, especially as they apply to the wording of the by-laws. However, in actual practice, I have seen increased collaboration between the Chapters Committee and the Board and am hopeful that the trend will continue. Although we might not be putting all of the right things on paper (i.e. the by-laws), I think the current climate makes concerns about consolidation of power and such mostly theoretical. As Paul mentioned, the new by-laws make future changes somewhat easier. Between that possibility and the upcoming work on revising the Operating Rules, I am hoping that we can continue to work on some of the issues that remain troubling.

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Bill Darcy - AGAINST
Bill Darcy, AMC NH Trails Chair i am voting AGAINST the proposed Bylaws because they change what the club is, who’s in charge and how much the volunteers are involved. here are my top reasons. - the Preamble sets the tone for the rest of the bylaws by stating we will be a "corporation". we will no longer be (as it says in the current bylaws) "an organization of volunteers and professionals" - the Executive Director will become a voting member of the Board. the Executive Director is hired by and works for the Board. their roles should be separate. this is accepted practice in non-profit and for-profit corporations. - the Executive Committee of the Board gains much more power than it currently has. this leaves too much power in the hands of too few. - the Board chair will have no term limits. this further magnifies the closeness of the Executive Director and the Board’s Executive committee by reducing the natural turn-over that brings in new ideas and challenges old ones. - the Board can change the operating rules (where most of the definition of how the club can and does operate) at any meeting. they will no longer be required to propose changes at one meeting and wait until the next one to vote. this further cuts the volunteers out of the decision process. - the Board will no longer be required to report agenda and minutes of its meetings to chapter chairs. what do they want to hide from the most trusted leadership in the club? maybe changes to the operating rules? Bill Darcy, AMC NH Trails Chair

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Christopher Brown - AGAINST
I don’t believe a "corporate" model is an organizational panacea for the AMC’s governance issues. It implies a shift to a full business model of oversight, which is not necessarily appropriate given the club’s historic mission and operation. Further, in this Internet-age, I believe the "expense" argument is unfounded and a bit of a red-herring when the real issue seems to be consolidation of power to speed and simplify rule making/changing.