LibbyQ (Texas)
Posts: 7
Posts: 7
Posted:
Last May 60 neighbors in our community voted to create a new neighborhood organization, it's not an HOA, but I am asking for help from you anyway. A group of four gals created a neighborhhod group and have 6 or so active volunteer committees with apppointed leaders by themem. Volunteers were approved at the meeting for the nominations and bylaws commitees. I volunteered for both. The leader for this initiative, I'll refer to her as "JR", had opened her own Yahoo message board (MB) in January 2006, it now has 180 neighbor members. She is the owner and moderator of this MB. She uses the name of our neighborhood, I'll refer to it as CNA, in her email addresses. Although there are two moderators listed on her MB, with CNA Yahoo IDs and emails, JR coneals the fact that she is both moderators.
Members assume she is some authority,is in a leadership postition or is a person from whom they will receive accurate information about the neighborhood indlucgin the follwing: uploads documents she creates on her MB, unauthorized uploads of bylaws drafts that have not been even read, let alone amended/edited by the other bylaws committee members, posting invitations to invite anyone to join he already established bylaws committee, also without any bylaws commitee mebers approval or notice, and posts or uploads documents to the MB with information from about a specific committee, wihtout the committee chair's or committee member's approval AND she is not even on their committee! No matter what people say to her or how they might reprimand her verabally, and few are willing to do so, she continues to act as the self-imposed dictator of the neighborhood committtes and the foramtion of this new organization. No officers have been elected, so we have no real leader, only committees.
It might not surprise you that JR nominated herself for the executive committee/leadership of this new organization. Dozens of neighbors realize she has a personal/professional agenda. If the bylaws she wrote are approved, she will becomne dictator of the new oprganization.
After 4 out of 5 bylaws committee members had already agreed to a 5p Sunday meeting, JR emailed committee members with demands for a meeting on Sat at 9AM, less than 24 hours before the meeting time. Three of us were never cosulted about the chagne inthe mnemting time, she simply took it upon herself to chagne it and send out notice of HER singular decsion.
JR brought another person, call her PC, to the bylaws meeting and told us that she was joing the committee. The other three committee members looked at each other puzzled and told Judith that this was unacceptable. Judith insisted that the agreement at the general membership meeting was to allow for up to 13 more volunteers on the bylaws committee! None of us could agree to this, but she badgers and continues her arguemnt, anad "brow beats"
(words used by a retired attorney who was another bylaws member who worked with JR and I since May) He has refused to work with JR and has removed himself from bylaws).
No formal vote was taken from the bylaws committee to accept PR, a friend of JR's on the zoning board, however Judith has placed her intoour emailcorrespondence inssiting sheis a member. What can we do to stop her fromdoing this?
In the meeting, we had two bylaws drafts, one authored by JR and and another authored by the other two members of the bylaws committee( a majority of the committee), myself and the retired attorney. JR's bylaws should never even have been considered at the general membership meeting for submission for reveiw as it was not a product of the bylaws committee, it was her personal agenda bylaws draft. A new volunteer member had composed a third set of bylaws, she was the former president of the old organization. Now we have three sets of bylaws drafts to examine, discuss, amend and scavange from to crete One bylaws document to submit to the membership. During this meeting we couldn't even get through accepting Article I: Title of the Organization. JR wanted to keep her name CN Stakeholders and others wanted CN Organization. We accomplished nothing to further the creation of the final set of bylaws. The membership is scheduled to vote on the bylaws November 16, 9 weeks from now, and we need to deliver them to each neighbor before the meeting sothey can read and decide if they are willing to accept each article.
How many weeks before members vote on bylaws shoudl the bylaws be delivered to them for review?
Since we have approxiamtely 15 articles in eachof thethree bylaws drafts, and the committee couldn't decide on the name of the organization , Article I. in their first meeting, how long do you think it iwill take us to create ONE set of bylaws from the three drafts? At this rate, I say more than 9 weeks,with JR in the picture maybe nine years!!!!!!!
So, first meeting, non-,e,ber attends and JR insist she allowed to be a member. I couldn't tell ehr to leave a public place, whcih is probablythe reson JR insisted on meeting at a coffee shop instead of my home. At the coffe shop it is noisy and music is playing and thereis no proivacy while we discuss these committee matters.
Is it inapporpirate for a bylaws committee to meet in such a public place where other people, who might even by our neighbors, can listen to our "discussions"?
Not a single article was confirmed and voted for approval for the final bylaws. I had a list for the agenda to include coting ona leader, deciding on aquroum of 3, accepting the use of Robert's Rules of Order for parlimentary procedure and questins as to how to proceed, and a request for the 3 great resources that JR said she found and used to singularly create her "Power to the Leader" bylaws. None of these things were deterined, with the exception that some agreed to have no leader at all. A big mistake in my opinion. It is advised in Robert's Rules to Impossible to have this committee wihtout a leader, If members vote to appoint JR as the leader, then we should all just go home and let her write her own Final Bylaws draft.
JR took "control" of the meeting, by simply disregarding my repeated requests for the organizational names and websites of the three great succesful neighborhood asociations that she used to write her bylaws. Once she disregarded the request by telling me she was looking at something else on the laptop and couldn't access the information at that time. Two other members asked for the same information from JR and she refused by either ignoring their question or saying she would get to it later. After my 3rd or 4th request for this information, she told us it was on her screen. I said "I know you can't print it out, but can you email it to me or simply tell us the organization names and websites and I'll write it down". She simply ignored me and the other two members, changed the screen and began talking abu another subject. No other member simply said "give us the names".
This is the person with whom I have had to battle with for almost 4 months. There is no getting her to budge on her bylaws. There is no room for compromise, collaberation of a team for a common goal, as evidence by her submiting bylaws drafts twice inone month without any conusltaiojn with the other members. How is taht even possible? How is it that themembership and the nominees, who took it upon themselves to "Lead" the last general membership meeting won't address these issues that reported to every and any neighbor for whom I had an email adddress. No one cares, and others are "afraid" to PISS HER OFF. Great person to have as a nominee for executive commitee of a neighborhood organizatoin; someone peoplefear and allow to be deceipful, continuing he gross miconduct for moths and months without discipline or support for approaching her and telling her to stop this underhanded behavior, stop taking it upon herself to censor messages from committe members or edit them before posting sothat the irignal message is not from the author, but from JR, the EDITOR of postings on the MB, and block uploads to the MB from specific commitee members.
Robert's Rules tells us exactly what to do to start a new organization and appoint a bylaws committee, and how to run the committee, and we are not even using it. I brought my copy to the meeting and the former president member brought three copies, enough for all the members present, and no one seemed to want to use it.
God help us, I need advice, help, any feedback is gejuinely apprcaited. Thank you ahead of time for your time. Soory for any TYPOS. hee hee ( :
Members assume she is some authority,is in a leadership postition or is a person from whom they will receive accurate information about the neighborhood indlucgin the follwing: uploads documents she creates on her MB, unauthorized uploads of bylaws drafts that have not been even read, let alone amended/edited by the other bylaws committee members, posting invitations to invite anyone to join he already established bylaws committee, also without any bylaws commitee mebers approval or notice, and posts or uploads documents to the MB with information from about a specific committee, wihtout the committee chair's or committee member's approval AND she is not even on their committee! No matter what people say to her or how they might reprimand her verabally, and few are willing to do so, she continues to act as the self-imposed dictator of the neighborhood committtes and the foramtion of this new organization. No officers have been elected, so we have no real leader, only committees.
It might not surprise you that JR nominated herself for the executive committee/leadership of this new organization. Dozens of neighbors realize she has a personal/professional agenda. If the bylaws she wrote are approved, she will becomne dictator of the new oprganization.
After 4 out of 5 bylaws committee members had already agreed to a 5p Sunday meeting, JR emailed committee members with demands for a meeting on Sat at 9AM, less than 24 hours before the meeting time. Three of us were never cosulted about the chagne inthe mnemting time, she simply took it upon herself to chagne it and send out notice of HER singular decsion.
JR brought another person, call her PC, to the bylaws meeting and told us that she was joing the committee. The other three committee members looked at each other puzzled and told Judith that this was unacceptable. Judith insisted that the agreement at the general membership meeting was to allow for up to 13 more volunteers on the bylaws committee! None of us could agree to this, but she badgers and continues her arguemnt, anad "brow beats"
(words used by a retired attorney who was another bylaws member who worked with JR and I since May) He has refused to work with JR and has removed himself from bylaws).
No formal vote was taken from the bylaws committee to accept PR, a friend of JR's on the zoning board, however Judith has placed her intoour emailcorrespondence inssiting sheis a member. What can we do to stop her fromdoing this?
In the meeting, we had two bylaws drafts, one authored by JR and and another authored by the other two members of the bylaws committee( a majority of the committee), myself and the retired attorney. JR's bylaws should never even have been considered at the general membership meeting for submission for reveiw as it was not a product of the bylaws committee, it was her personal agenda bylaws draft. A new volunteer member had composed a third set of bylaws, she was the former president of the old organization. Now we have three sets of bylaws drafts to examine, discuss, amend and scavange from to crete One bylaws document to submit to the membership. During this meeting we couldn't even get through accepting Article I: Title of the Organization. JR wanted to keep her name CN Stakeholders and others wanted CN Organization. We accomplished nothing to further the creation of the final set of bylaws. The membership is scheduled to vote on the bylaws November 16, 9 weeks from now, and we need to deliver them to each neighbor before the meeting sothey can read and decide if they are willing to accept each article.
How many weeks before members vote on bylaws shoudl the bylaws be delivered to them for review?
Since we have approxiamtely 15 articles in eachof thethree bylaws drafts, and the committee couldn't decide on the name of the organization , Article I. in their first meeting, how long do you think it iwill take us to create ONE set of bylaws from the three drafts? At this rate, I say more than 9 weeks,with JR in the picture maybe nine years!!!!!!!
So, first meeting, non-,e,ber attends and JR insist she allowed to be a member. I couldn't tell ehr to leave a public place, whcih is probablythe reson JR insisted on meeting at a coffee shop instead of my home. At the coffe shop it is noisy and music is playing and thereis no proivacy while we discuss these committee matters.
Is it inapporpirate for a bylaws committee to meet in such a public place where other people, who might even by our neighbors, can listen to our "discussions"?
Not a single article was confirmed and voted for approval for the final bylaws. I had a list for the agenda to include coting ona leader, deciding on aquroum of 3, accepting the use of Robert's Rules of Order for parlimentary procedure and questins as to how to proceed, and a request for the 3 great resources that JR said she found and used to singularly create her "Power to the Leader" bylaws. None of these things were deterined, with the exception that some agreed to have no leader at all. A big mistake in my opinion. It is advised in Robert's Rules to Impossible to have this committee wihtout a leader, If members vote to appoint JR as the leader, then we should all just go home and let her write her own Final Bylaws draft.
JR took "control" of the meeting, by simply disregarding my repeated requests for the organizational names and websites of the three great succesful neighborhood asociations that she used to write her bylaws. Once she disregarded the request by telling me she was looking at something else on the laptop and couldn't access the information at that time. Two other members asked for the same information from JR and she refused by either ignoring their question or saying she would get to it later. After my 3rd or 4th request for this information, she told us it was on her screen. I said "I know you can't print it out, but can you email it to me or simply tell us the organization names and websites and I'll write it down". She simply ignored me and the other two members, changed the screen and began talking abu another subject. No other member simply said "give us the names".
This is the person with whom I have had to battle with for almost 4 months. There is no getting her to budge on her bylaws. There is no room for compromise, collaberation of a team for a common goal, as evidence by her submiting bylaws drafts twice inone month without any conusltaiojn with the other members. How is taht even possible? How is it that themembership and the nominees, who took it upon themselves to "Lead" the last general membership meeting won't address these issues that reported to every and any neighbor for whom I had an email adddress. No one cares, and others are "afraid" to PISS HER OFF. Great person to have as a nominee for executive commitee of a neighborhood organizatoin; someone peoplefear and allow to be deceipful, continuing he gross miconduct for moths and months without discipline or support for approaching her and telling her to stop this underhanded behavior, stop taking it upon herself to censor messages from committe members or edit them before posting sothat the irignal message is not from the author, but from JR, the EDITOR of postings on the MB, and block uploads to the MB from specific commitee members.
Robert's Rules tells us exactly what to do to start a new organization and appoint a bylaws committee, and how to run the committee, and we are not even using it. I brought my copy to the meeting and the former president member brought three copies, enough for all the members present, and no one seemed to want to use it.
God help us, I need advice, help, any feedback is gejuinely apprcaited. Thank you ahead of time for your time. Soory for any TYPOS. hee hee ( :
she conceals her identity)