Dear All,
I replicate Shmuel's situation, and support his comments entirely. At over 90 years I too have experience of an excellent group rupturing from egos.
Best wishes
Paul in Kent UK
On Wednesday, 9 August 2023 at 08:37:01 BST, Shmuel Silinsky via pbs <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote:
My two cents:
I am not currently a member of PBS, though I have been in the past. I have
donated to the SBC even though I have never asked anything from it. The
point is that PBS, especially from my point of view, is an incredibly
valuable resource. The website / Wiki are amazing and extremely useful. I
have seen other plant oriented groups, in particular one dealing with
succulents, that devolved into pointless arguments and offensive comments
back and forth until the site was ultimately destroyed. I dearly do not
want that to happen here so please, as an outsider, I hope everyone takes
all comments as helpful suggestions and not personal attacks. May the love
of geophytes be the ruling motives and may PBS continue to be a wonderful
organization into the future.
On Tue, Aug 8, 2023, 3:50 PM Mike via pbs <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>
wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> Forming a nominating committee. Really in 2023.
>
> I frankly find it elitist and condescending. Also haven’t we had enough of
> this back room politics ? No we need transparency.,
>
> I have a much better idea to discuss. Janes committee should be focused on
> building coherent job descriptions for each position. Typical duties and
> responsibilities. The most important thing would be an annual review to
> goals.
>
> Imagine understanding what the job was knowing how the job was going to be
> measured and then deciding if you want to participate what a novel idea
>
> We have languished for 4 years in a limbo of ineffective governance why?
> Because we still use a system designed to allow the original founders to
> stay as long as they wanted and leave when they got bored.
>
> I will provide just one example of how poorly we are doing and have done.
>
> Let’s agree that the BX and SX have the role of generating income for the
> group in fact should be the number one income generator. This is fact
>
> What is the percent of members who have made one donation to the BX/SX in
> the last two years ? I can assure you its way below 1/2.
>
> So this is our life blood and yet, I rarely if ever hear anyone on the Exec
> board other then the two hardest working people in PBS. Jan and Bridget.
> They are not discussing it in the same way an executive should. This has
> been one of the biggest blunders allowed to fester in PBS. Our primary
> executive should have been the BX/SX biggest cheerleader period. Reminding
> all what it does and encouraging everyone to participate. This never
> happened.
> Let’s go further down this rabbit hole. We have a few big hitters that
> easily donate over half the products sold at our events….What has our
> executive done that is immune to the will of the membership, only beholden
> to a few who are also either out of touch, new or want to be president?
> Not a very good group to govern and manage an executive is it. I have seem
> some of these big fish actuallly antagonized by our executive team.
>
> What if they pack up and donate their time and amazing bulbs to other
> groups….maybe its already happened?
>
> These are the members our next President should be close with. I hope our
> next president makes it very clear we are all bound by the honorable common
> sense rule to share..meaning provide and take.
>
> What should we do? The folks that donate. All of us should be noted in the
> winter bulb garden in a Growers. Circle.
>
> The big hitters meaning the top 5 donors in each of the SX and BX should go
> into the President Citcle.
>
> Isn’t that a simple and cost effective way to help solve a huge problem?
>
> It’s time for the whole executive structure to be scrapped.
>
>
>
> All of the members I’m acquainted with are very smart and busy people. I
> have a feeling that if they could see job descriptions. They are all mature
> enough to decide if they want to throw their hat in the ring.
>
> In fact in 2023, we need an executive comfortable with social media…so that
> person will chose to participate on their own. We don’t need or want a
> person who, own their accord is not aware they have the calling to
> volunteer .
>
>
> The nominating committee model is outdated smacks of cronyism and has no
> place in the mgt of a bulb group in 2023.
>
> I expect a lively discussion, you should all be outraged that the group is
> run this way.
>
> One last thought we have never had a shortage of volunteers we have had a
> shortage of people willing to work under a bullying manager , as a good use
> of their free time
>
>
>
> Respectfully
>
>
> Michael Lowitz
>
> San Diego
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