From loscott@eden.rutgers.edu Sun Nov  2 20:26:07 2003
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 14:39:50 -0500 (EST)
From: loscott@eden.rutgers.edu
To: agachapters@usgo.org
Cc: president@usgo.org, omalley@coas.oregonstate.edu, cdlin5@yahoo.com,
     Jcs@wingsgoclub.org, David.dinhofer@alum.mit.edu, Hlloyd@core.com,
     weimer@lafollette.wisc.edu, Jon@airsltd.com
Subject: Request for Resignations

We have now heard from each of the directors who voted in favor of
removing the AGA president.  Although I would also have liked to hear
from the voting minority, I believe we now have enough information to
make an informed opinion.  

We have been promised an additional message from the majority board
members.  I sincerely hope that this message will include the
resignations of these board members.  It is clear to me that none of
these members have understood the correct relationship of the board to
the president and have played a significant role in creating the
tensions that have lead to the presidents dismissal.   They have also
refused to address the process by which the decision was made, focusing
solely on defending their position, despite the overwhelming number of
requests for clarification on this topic.  

Based on their actions and statements, I believe these board members had
the vision that this organization should operate as a mixture of the
extremely flawed US government and corporate structures. In their view,
once elected they no longer needed to consult with their constituencies
and were now in complete control of the organization.  As you must have
read by now, the members do not share your views.    The members want a
board that does not interfere in the day-to-day operations of the
organization.  The board members are not the boss of the president who
is not the boss of the rest of the organization. The structure should be
seen not as hierarchical, but as interdependent and  web-like where each
person plays a role and performs certain duties, but there is no
position that is dominant.  

I feel these board members are currently not suitable for their elected
 roles.  This does not mean that they should have no place in the
organization. They have provided many hours of valuable service to the
AGA  in the past and have useful and valuable skills to offer.  Although
they may have grown this year, they have not grown enough to understand
the role of the board of directors that AGA members expect.

I request they do another service for the organization and resign to
make way for those who have a clearer understanding of how the chapter
representative want this organization to be governed.  There is simply
no support for their vision or actions.


In addition, I would like to caution the acting president from making
significant changes to the current volunteer positions.  In particular I
would view the changing of the database manager, the journal editor, the
web page manager,  or the pro representatives as confirming the grab for
power that may organizers suspect.  You may consider a power grab in
such a small organization ridiculous, but I have seen this happen in
much smaller organizations.  Significant replacement of personal will
certainly lead to irreparable damage to the organization.  Please attend
to day-to-day activities so that the AGA will not lose too many
opportunities cause by the great misunderstandings of the new structure.  


Rob Muldowney
Highland Park Go Club