One issue that TAC continues to struggle with is transparency. Members still have issues with trusting the Board, Management & the information they are given. This is clearly evidenced by the reactions to the various votes, presentations & the general feedback from members to committees, the Board & management.
Who Owns The Club?
In businesses it is standard practice for a new CEO to bring in his own management team & department heads. TAC, as we have been told, is not a business. The Representative Governor is not the CEO. The Board is made up of non-executive volunteers. In general both the Board & the Committee Chairs should be composed of people with expertise in their fields, an ability to commit to the time required of them, & a desire to put the Club’s needs & interests above their own . Short of this & there will continue to be questions around how or why decisions are made or policies are created.
In looking at the current Board & the current Committee Chairs, are we following good governance? Do the current Board members have committee or Club experience? Are they experts in their fields? Are the Committee Chairs experts in their fields? If not why is that? If we are making poor decisions as a Club is it a result of the Board or the Committee chairs? One would have to surmise that the answer is yes. If not then what is the point of both the Board & the Committees?
Who Chooses the Committee Chairs?
The Representative Governor chooses the Committee Chairs. Those Chairs select who will serve on the Committees. The Nominating Committee Chair selects both who will serve on his committee & has an overwhelmingly strong position in determining who makes the slate of candidates and eventually who is elected to the Board. Is this selection process transparent? If not is it in the best interests of the Club for the Chair, Committee & by extension the Board selections to be made this way? Or the ‘Task Forces’ that are often created? Who has oversight of this process & the selection?
It would make sense for Members (in particular voting Members) to look at the Committee Chairs, those on the Committees, the Board & the slate of candidates. We know what we are told but what are we not told? Why were those members selected but more importantly why were others ignored or left out?
It seems obvious that change is required not just to the current leadership but in the way that leadership is formed & what their goals are. The Club has developed habits over time that need to be adjusted. It is at times such as now where you can see the cumulative effects of decisions from the past few years from a small, protected group within the Club.
“Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.” Walter Lippmann