UUSM - Calendar & Events - Board Report, 09/06
Board Report
Reflections on the PSWD Campaign for a UUA Trustee
September, 2006 - Carol Agate
As this campaign has progressed I am more persuaded than ever of my original
support for John Blue. (Bonnie Brae, the only other member of our church who
has long been involved with the district and the UUA, also supports John.)
He is the only candidate who understands and has been addressing the real issues.
I have heard that as audiences have been interested in John's presentation
of the issues, other candidates have joined the bandwagon and are more inclined
to speak of problems in the UUA that need to be resolved.
The candidates' answers to questions are posted on the PSWD web site. I realize
that the executive committee would like me to summarize their positions and
give my opinion. It is hard to separate them out, so I am combining their positions
and my opinions in the discussion of each candidate.
I have been receiving feedback about the California candidate forums, and
the turnout has been small. I don't know what the readership of the questions
and answers has been; there is no district-wide vehicle for discussion. I suspect
it has been small. There is little interest in the district, and a campaign
during the summer has not helped anyone promote the election.
Since I have not been able to attend any of the forums, this analysis is based
on the candidates' statements and my personal acquaintance with them.
All have come out strongly in favor of reviving the network of association/district
representatives (ADRs).
The candidates are all reminding us that the UUA exists to serve the congregations
and they see encouraging this as a major role.
All recognize that the association is studying policy governance and speak
of their own (quite varied) experience with this form of leadership.
All emphasize the need for better communication, although their backgrounds
in this area differ (John and JoAnne have been actively involved in encouraging
openness.) as does their discussion of the specifics of how to accomplish it.
All encourage greater use of the internet.
The candidates agree on the importance of working collaboratively, and cite
their varied experiences in helping groups reach consensus or resolve disagreements.
I believe the most likely outcome is a runoff between JoAnne and Tom. Of course,
I would like John to win, but recognize it's unlikely – unless his excellent
showing in the poorly-attended forums can make a difference. I have heard reports
of his being the only candidate to stay on point and know the relevant facts.
I do hope no candidate receives a majority, so there will be a runoff that
might get more district attention.
Here is my evaluation of each candidate (in alphabetical order) along with
her or his positions:
+++++
JOHN BLUE
John has been the leading spokesperson for change, although as the campaign
progressed others joined in. He has facts and figures to support his views.
He has been trying for years to learn what the funding is for various programs;
it seems there are no records breaking out those costs. So when a million dollars
was allocated for creating a single 600-member congregation in Texas, he tried
without success to find out where the money was going. He did not think the
program made sense, and last year the UUA pulled the plug on the new congregation,
which had 71 members. John advocates a better examination of programs before
money is allocated to them and a better accounting of where the money goes.
The UUA has a new treasurer, which may help if the board sets the appropriate
expectations.
The UUA speaks of us as growing. John has questioned why the proportion of
our member-ship in relation to the population is half what it was at the time
of merger. He contends that we have not grown but have shrunk in size if we
look at the figures as a percent of the population. Fortunately our new moderator
sees many of the same problems. She has started the process of seeking answers
to the hard questions. She needs board members who will help in this search.
Unlike some other districts, the PSWD provides for its trustee to serve on
its board. John sees his major role as serving on the UUA board, but believes
the position also entails responsi-bilities on the PSWD board. Several years
ago the district governance structure was changed radically to put virtually
all decision-making in the hands of the professional staff instead of the board.
As a result, the district as an organization of volunteers participating in
committees and getting to know their counterparts in other congregations has
vanished. John is familiar with the concept of "policy-based governance," because
he was instrumental in implementing it at Neighborhood Church. He has explained
what it is supposed to be and how the district's governance differs.
John has important ideas, but his main problem is that he doesn't always state
them in the most diplomatic way. As his own statement put it, he can be blunt.
In his personal life John is a lawyer. He was on the executive committee of
a major Los Angeles law firm that has since dissolved. He and a partner now
have a general business and litigation practice. Of all the candidates he has
placed the greatest emphasis on fiscal responsi-bility. He and Tom are the
only ones who have had experience with corporate financial matters.
+++++
NANCY EDMUNSTON
Nancy probably has the least chance of winning. She is the only candidate
who never served on the district board, and her involvement in the district
has been only recently as a consult-ant. She did an excellent job leading one
of our board retreats. Some people who have dis-cussed the election with me
say they know all the candidates except Nancy.
Nancy's campaign emphasizes her role as a consensus-builder in the Santa Barbara
Society and in training congregations in the PSWD. She has chaired workshops
at many of the district assemblies (as have all the other candidates). Her
responses emphasize process more than her position on issues.
Nancy bases her credentials for the position largely on her experience as
a consultant and her job as administrator for the Santa Barbara Church. She
dwells more than the others on per-sonal information, such as the community
organizations she has served, her home-schooled children, and her background
as a physical therapist. She has called her personhood her primary strength
and talks about her skills in human relationships.
I don't see Nancy's background as meeting the needs for serving on the board
of a multi-million dollar corporation. I also suspect she might not be as responsive
to her constituents as the other candidates, but that may be just because she
is lackadaisical abut answering email — which has become the major way
of handling district business.
+++++
TOM LOUGHREY
Tom is the most likeable of all the candidates, and, as the incumbent, has
a good chance of winning. He also has the worst reputation to overcome. Over
the years he has taken on many tasks and then not followed through on them.
He joked about how he is the only candidate to have been defeated for PSWD
president. He was defeated, despite being so well liked, because of his reputation
for not following through. He was the president of the de Benneville board,
and did virtually nothing in that position. He was the chair of the original
chalice lighter's program (raising funds for the congregations) and lost all
the money that had been contributed along with the records.
When the last trustee resigned I urged the PSWD board to appoint someone who
was not a candidate for the trustee election so that no one trustee had an
unfair advantage. They declined to do so, and appointed Tom. Tom had agreed
with me that they should not make an appoint-ment, but unlike John he did not
withdraw his name. (To be fair, there was no chance that John would be appointed
and it was clear Tom was favored.) However, in the campaign Tom has been using
the fact he is the incumbent, even though he has done virtually nothing in
that role. The appointment has covered only the summer, during which the board
is pretty inactive.
I have heard Tom has done a good job the past couple of years as compensation
consultant. I have no first hand knowledge of it, but do know he has been co-chair
with JoAnne and she has been working very hard on it.
Tom said the board has spent an extraordinary amount of time on issues surrounding
racism, classism, justice and privilege. This is a courageous statement to
make publicly, although many people say it privately. He points out, accurately,
I believe, that the tremendous amounts of money and time spent on these issues,
with little to show for it, has detracted from meeting congregational needs.
In his personal life Tom is a health care consultant with his own business.
I don't question, based on occupation, whether a person has the time to handle
a job, but experience has shown that Tom does not get things done because of
his work conflicts. In his campaign he has not said his work requirements have
changed. His wife has been a district president, and did an excellent job.
She also facilitated one of our board retreats.
+++++
JOANNE SMITH
JoAnne may be the most likely candidate to win. Because she is from Arizona,
the churches there are the ones most likely to vote and will vote for her.
Having a trustee within their state would be a new experience.
I am sad to be unable to support JoAnne because she is the candidate I am
personally closest to. She is a hard worker and is as conscientious as Tom
is not. However, the down side is that JoAnne, as the last president of the
PSWD, was so enthusiastic about converting the district to policy governance,
with the result that the district as a community of people working to sup-port
our congregations has pretty much folded.
In her campaign JoAnne has emphasized how much time she has because she is
retired and her children are grown, so she can devote herself entirely to the
job. And I have no doubt she would be as conscientious about her work for the
district and the UUA as she was as district president. We would be able to
count on getting reports of board meetings and receiving them promptly. She
would respond to all emails.
The trouble is that I don't trust JoAnne's judgment. Her uncritical acceptance
of what the district executive labeled "policy governance" concerns
me because the UUA is discussing a change to policy governance. In converting
the district she showed little aptitude for indepen-dent analysis, and I see
no likelihood she would have any on the UUA board.
JoAnne's campaign has focused on her long experience as a UU and the many
positions she has held. However, she has little original to say and has not
shown any grasp of the issues. She sees the trustee's role as being the UUA's
liaison to, rather than an active participant on, the PSWD board. She declined
to answer several questions about the PSWD, saying that would not be a part
of her job. The other candidates consider their membership on the PSWD board
to be one of their obligations. (When JoAnne was president a bylaw was proposed
by the board to eliminate the board position for the trustee. It was later
withdrawn, along with other board proposals.) Her career was an elementary
school librarian.
+++++
I anticipate a small vote. The district executive originally published the
statement that the vote had to be by congregational meeting. When that interpretation
of the bylaws was challenged, the president concluded that the vote could be
by the board. However, he has failed to send a notice of that change to the
same people who received the erroneous information, and the forums have shown
that some people still believe the vote must be taken by an officially called
congregational meeting. They have said there is no chance of getting a quorum,
or they just don't want to bother on such short notice. Since most congregations
have not sent representatives to the forums, most seem to be unlikely to vote.
There was little planning for this election, and a good deal of confusion.
Even the announce-ment of the number of votes was incorrect. I have verified
that our church has nine votes. To read the candidates' own statements, go
to pswd.uua.org.
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