MPWNA Board meetings
The standard is to greet guests, and give them a time to speak about any topic, at a specified point in the Meeting Agenda. After that, the Board needs to be able to communicate without interruption. Without some rules like this, we end up with 2 hour Board meetings. I was aware of this on Saturday and chose to allow more open conversation. A part of the decision was the 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' attitude we have been experiencing about using Roberts Rules, standard procedures for meeting agendas, Board member responsibilities, etc. But we have to keep in mind ‘Neighborhood' and if anyone chooses to attend meetings, my thoughts have been; in order to continue efforts for ‘buy-in' to neighborhood objectives, then it helps to have a little more latitude.
I was sympathetic to Board Member Marcia Kyle's need to catch a flight. It might have helped if she had told us at the start of the meeting, so we could cover material in a different order or table a topic or set time limits to discussion. To my mind, there is never any urgency on neighborhood issues that demands any of us to make personal sacrifices beyond the normal.
As we sat there, and it was a beautiful day for sailing, I was comparing Saturdays Board Meeting to that as described by one of the presenters at the Workshop last weekend. Although her neighborhood doesn't have any pressing issues, the decorum is definitely better. They don't even have by-laws or want them!
In my opinion, in the last few months we have been experiencing an unhealthy process regarding the by-laws. Getting a moribund neighborhood association running again over the last two years has required a lot of effort and time. There always have to be shortcuts. None of the shortcuts have disregarded the by-laws in any brazen manner. Notification about issues and activities to our members has been as clear and comprehensive to the best of the neighborhood associations manpower, developmental status and abilities. As volunteers, we have to make choices that prioritize our time and activities. The Board in particular needs to be responsive in a timely way. Larger issues that involve more people will be prioritized over smaller issues. This is not to ignore any individual, where large issues most often start. The neighborhood association membership is growing, not shrinking, and efforts by many are beginning to be seen. Most of the efforts have been carried by a few tried and true volunteers that have many years of service to our community under their belts. Any call to 'dismantle the association' is entirely shortsighted and un-informed. I believe we have barely begun to tap the best resource in our community, our residents.
As with any meeting, the communication needs to be respectful, but also should reference the facts and round out the issues with different viewpoints to find the best solution at the time. Each Board Member needs to be setting the example for guests, keeping the process and the decorum in mind. We should not be interrupting each other, the rules of order- at least among the Board- can be followed, and certainly supporting each others viewpoints to be expressed. Our community's quality of life, that among other things includes: safety, prosperity, communication, enjoyment of your neighbors, sharing; should always be the most important goal of the discussion by the Board.
Having Board Meetings at Board Members homes is partly a tradition in the neighborhood, a matter of convenience and allows the host to be more generous with refreshments. The meetings are still open to any member of the association. After all, the Board Members are the elected representatives of the community and are expected to put more effort in. They've typically shown their leadership capabilities by having been actively participating in the Association before being nominated and elected to the Board.
It should be noted that one of the neighbors remarks about Margaret McGinn; one of the co-founders of the MPWNA and activist that spearheaded saving Mitchell Park and School from the developers bulldozers 20 years ago; were highly offensive to others in attendance, myself included. This does not reflect well upon their character and leads me to believe the best interests of the community are not why they are 'participating' recently. Certainly, respecting your host includes behaving in a civil manner. I never tolerate that kind of behavior at my home and will not again.
And if we tend to forget, let's have fun with this stuff! Being creative is a part of the fun. Being creative does not mean; not learning, working at it or becoming entrenched in your personal interpretation of something. For example, the park bench locations assigned by the Sub-committee. No one thinks that any member of the sub-committee is not intelligent, but making use of excellent resources in your neighborhood, people with different skill sets, is one of the hallmarks of a healthy process.
Finally, recent personal events have placed enormous pressure on my time and activities. I'm self employed and work out of my house. Obvious conditions of the economy have had a very tangible effect on my business. In addition, I do not appreciate being perceived as a person that expects monetary gain for my volunteerism, or any advantage above other members in our community. Nor do I have any agenda of any kind, overt or otherwise, other than to work with other members of our community; seek to include as many as possible, and increase the sense of place that could make our neighborhood a more enjoyable place to live. I truly feel that some of my neighbors, some of whom I've known decades, are the best people in my life. To that end, I believe I can begin to meet my personal goals and be a more effective participant in the Neighborhood Association if I resign as a Board member. I sincerely appreciate the members of the community that have placed their trust in me to work on their behalf. I hope they will understand that my decision and efforts will still be in their best interests, as well as mine.
See all of you around the neighborhood! Let's continue to make Mitchell Park West a better place for all of us!
-Mark Lymer
MPWNA resident member
MARC Architecture, Mark Lymer, AIA
719 West Tenth Street, Tempe, AZ 85281
O:480-242-3467
mark@marc-architecture.com/www.marc-architecture.com
