Grasping the Nettle

It appears that the issue of complaints to the GRBA about favouritism is to go before the whole committee, which is where it should be dealt with. It's the committee as a whole that has responsibility for determining policy. They are responsible for the Association's employee's job description and for giving her directions. All criticism of the GRBA's actions properly falls on them, as a group.

It will be interesting to see how they respond to criticism now that this blog has been drawn to their attention.* Most of them are new to the committee, having attended only one or two meetings. They won't want to take responsibility for what has been done in the past, but in a sense they have to. What I would do in their situation is this: I would not be reactive. The past is gone and can't be done over. I would look to the future and the kind of organisation I wanted the Association to be. I would arrive at an agreement on policy and then articulate that policy clearly so that everyone knows what's going to happen in the coming year.

I hope the committee also has an understanding of what it means to be at the helm of an incoporated body; that responsibility is held jointly. If it happens that one or two people feel themselves to be wholly responsible, then something has gone wrong. If one or two people feel that criticism of the organisation is criticim of them personally, then something has gone wrong. The Constitution and the Associations Incorporation Act are there to both direct and protect the people involved. The committee structure is not just a quaint tradition - it has a function to distribute responsibility for decision making so that no individual is liable

The Constitution says the committee must appoint a Secretary, a Treasurer, a Vice-Chairperson and a Chairperson. If they have only appointed one of these officers, then the democratic structure of the organisation is starting to break down and they must do something about it.

*Until now, the only audience for this blog has been myself. It has 0 Followers. An email yesterday to all committee members from the Administrator included a link to this blog and "please read". While I'm flattered, I doubt that many of them will be bothered.