Knight, Karras, Minkin and Herman are no longer eligible for Instructor Discounts

[catchacab]

According to the RTR Conflict Of Interest Policy:

1. Fiduciary Duty. Members of the Executive Board and employees of the Club occupy positions of fiduciary trust and are obligated to discharge their duties in good faith and with undivided loyalty to the Club. They must act in the course of their duties solely in the Club’s best interests without regard to the interests of any other organization or person with which they are related or associated, must refrain from taking part in any transaction or exploiting any opportunity if they cannot act with undivided loyalty to the Club, and must refrain from using information regarding the Club’s activities not generally known outside the Club for their benefit. Executive Board members and employees are also subject to this policy while serving on a committee or while acting in any other capacity on behalf of the Club.

2. Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts of interest ("Conflicts") are those circumstances in which the personal or business interests of an Executive Board member or employee, or of one of their immediate family members, may actually or potentially conflict with the interests of the Club, or may be perceived as actually or potentially conflicting with the interests of the Club.

 

The vote taken at the October Executive Board Meeting was to pass the Discount Policy granting DE discounts to Executive Board Members and DE Instructors. This same Policy was passed a previous Executive Board Meeting but at a membership meeting the EBoard was informed that their action was in violation of their Conflict of Interest Policy (CoIP).  A member of the EBoard cannot vote for a policy or change of bylaws that will personally benefit them, nor can they act in any other position in the club or in any other committee of the club in any way  that will personally benefit them. 

Because the board members that title this thread are instructors, and they are voting for a discount policy that benefits instructors, they have by voting for this policy made themselves ineligible for any DE discount as a DE Instructor.
[size=3]
From the CoIP: 4. Executive Board Action. After full disclosure, the Executive Board may determine that no actual Conflict exists and that no further action is required, based on any reasonable grounds, including the nominal nature of any interest involved. If an actual Conflict exists, neither the Club nor the Executive Board member or employee shall enter into or continue the transaction or arrangement

In this case each Eboard member is unable to vote for this  discount policy unless they declare themselves ineligible for the discount in any form.  Additionally, the board, because of the nature of the discount policy, is also unable to vote to determine that no conflict exists, according to the CoIP. 

The RTR By-laws need to be changed allowing the membership to vote on policies, by-laws and other items as deemed necessary by the membership.  There is an additional need for a mechanism for the membership to be able to reverse decisions made by the board.[/size]

[size=3]Comments?



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[Phokaioglaukos]

Elizabeth Lyle and Joe Piernock have both volunteered to suggest changes to the Club's Bylaws and Conflict of Interest Policy. At its meeting last Saturday the Board approved an invitation for them to do so and make a recommendation to the Board in advance of its January meeting, if possible. If you have suggestions along these lines I encourage you to contact them and offer your thoughts.

Anyone can post thoughts here, of course, but the more productive discussion might be in a more structured with with Elizabeth, Joe and others who are interested.

(My view is that discounts for workers, including instructors, are appropriate and properly approved, and discounts for Board members have been properly approved by disinterested members of the Board.)

In addition to the work that we hope Elizabeth and Joe do on this topic, the Board also authorized a second member survey. I hope to have it ready to go right after the annual dinner next month and it will certainly have a place for the membership to make its views known on this topic.

[bobt993]

Is it me or is the title of this thread somewhat confrontational?

[catchacab]

bobt993 wrote:

Is it me or is the title of this thread somewhat confrontational?

it is not a matter if being confrontational, but a matter of correcting errors that were made by the board. The discount policy should be written as two separate policies; a discount policy for DE instructors and a discount policy for board members. The discount policy for instructors can be approved by the board with current instructors abstaining from the vote. The discount policy for board members should be voted on by the membership at a membership meeting, with the membership given sufficient notice on the website and in der Gasser. If the board would like the discount policy to one all encompassing policy then the policy can only be voted on by the members at a membership meeting.

[emayer]

Chris,

Thanks for the update.  If this hasn't been considered already, will there be an additional survey of former and current DE instructors?  Having had a broad survey of the membership performed last year, it may be worthwhile targeting specific groups or areas of interest to learn more.  I'd be glad to help if necessary.

[Phokaioglaukos]

The member survey I envision can ask whether a respondent is an instructor, and results can be filtered that way, but I suggest that a survey of instructors should be both broader (addressed to instructors who are not RTR members) and deeper (focussing on issues particular to the DE program). That would be a matter for Myles Diamond and Mike Andrews to take the lead on, it seems to me.

There are instructor meetings, annually and at each DE, so Myles and Mike probably have a pretty good handle on these issues already and may not need a formal survey to know what is what. A major purpose of the all-member survey is to find out what the members who are not active, in the Club generally or this forum, think about how we are doing and what we should do.

[ccm911]

Look guys, can't we put this beaten horse into the ground already? 

RTR has been going for over fifty years and has grown into quite a good club. 

So just quit nickel and diming on the discounts for members of the exec.  This is getting really tiresome.  If someone puts in a ton of hours to provide me with fun, then I would be a real sh*t to deny them a discount.

Any comments?

[AMoore]

Can someone distinguish the DE discount provided to instructors generally with the discount provided to execs, etc.?

[Phokaioglaukos]

AMoore wrote:

Can someone distinguish the DE discount provided to instructors generally with the discount provided to execs, etc.?

It's the same discount, that is, the policy says that execs get the instructor discount, whatever it is for that event. Knight, Karras, Minkin and Herman voluntarily gave up the exec discount so that the only discount they will be entitled to is the instructor discount.

The policy is on the web site here: http://www.rtr-pca.org/vroom-vroom/about...Policy.pdf

[stentech1]

Perhaps we should do what other clubs do and have the Execs pay $0000.00 for DE. It is interesting that the people that contribute nothing are the first to gripe about these petty things. If you are just to poor to afford normal DE rates and would like to get a discount on DE get involved run for office and put in the time required to make these club activities happen. If that is not the solution perhaps go back to school get a better paying job. I have a customer that runs a cosmetology school and they have openings for next years classes. If you would like I can get you their phone number.

Steve Meenan