January 8th 2009 will have a special place in history as a date of the first meeting of the Board of Directors for Heritage Russian Jewish Congregation (RJC). I was not able to attend due to prior obligations, however, I received a detailed account of what happened from an anonymous but extremely reliable source.
Main points in a nutshell:
- The meeting was conducted in a civilized and diplomatic manner with no shouting, name-calling or condemnations.
- Aside from the fact that only two non-board members attended the meeting, which demonstrated the un-ending support for Heritage, the Board was not able to contain some of its participants from making derogatory comments and the like. Light non-board attendance could be caused by an earlier email that appeared to suggest that the only mode of communication with the board is a good old "email, take a number, get a hearing" approach
- Individuals wishing to run for the board should be subject to a campaign in the form of at least a Candidates Night, where they would present themselves and explain how exactly they will be able to contribute to the shul.
- Individuals receiving any type of monetary compensation from Heritage should not be part of the board and should not participate in the board meetings aside from answering questions asked by board members and presenting a monthly progress report if request by the board.
- All persons receiving monetary compensation from Heritage and holding a supervisory position within the congregation should be present at the board meeting upon the request of the board in order to answer all applicable questions and provide necessary reports.
- Each meeting should begin or end with "member time", where ten to fifteen minutes will be allocated to issues and/or concerns from non-board meeting participants.
- Any negative verbal exchange between the Board and non-member participants or between non-member participants should be strictly moderated and not permitted.
- Any discussions, contract issues, etc., should be documented at each meeting in writing and made available in the form of minutes to everyone via either the Heritage blog or on paper at the following meeting.
- The Board should be aware of ALL financial matters pertaining to Heritage and have a paid appointed individual, which I believe is on Heritage payroll, who would be responsible for reporting all financial figures.
- If the board has private issues, which they wish to discuss privately, that can be done in an executive session following the Board meeting.
(this post is from an independent contributor and does not represent the view of the Heritage Times)
I think all suggestions of stronger financial control, especially over compensations is little over the top for organization with such a small income base. This is not exactly a moneymaker where board gets together and attempts to decide "now, what are we going to do with all this money!!!"
ReplyDeleteAlso some people get compensated as a reimbursement, others as members of the kollel.
It is safe to assume that if someone is on the board, they are genuinely concerned about the direction and well-being of the organization.
It is not financial control, rather, a financial oversight - i.e. budget, etc.
ReplyDeleteIgor, I disagree with all your comments. I think that it is the board's responsibility to determine such things as employee compensation, budgeting, etc. That is why the board is in place. If you only want people to speak of what kinds of fun things to do for the shul, that would be called a social committee and not a board of directors. I think that it is the board's feduciary duty to oversee ALL aspects of running the shul.
ReplyDeleteIt is not safe to assume anything with anyone EVER and although I am not saying that anyone that is on the board is not concerned about the shul, I, as a shul participant, would like to know what it is that each member of the board is able to contribute to the well-being of the congregation and what type of experience they bring with them.
I say this: if you are already doing this, then do it the right way and not half-ass.
I am perfectly well aware of the fact that the funds at Heritage are extremely low, however, again, I believe it is the board's duty to know what happens with all incoming funds. For example, I have been told that several hundred thousand dollars have been collected as part of the Sefer Torah campaign. I would like to know where that money was allocated - I can't imagine that it all went towards cholent.
I am not advocating half-ass efforts here. What I am saying is that going from non-board to board mode of operations, should be somewhat gradual. It might be a good idea to specifically abstain from sensitive issues like compensation, to give some experience to the board on how to deal with less-charged issues. "You have to learn to crawl
ReplyDeleteBefore you learn to walk" - Aerosmith
I think that the financial issue is actually the most critical one at the moment. At least from what I understand, a lot of the arguments at last night's meeting stemmed from the issues of finance as they always do anywhere you look. I think you should then put a separate blog outlining the list of priorities for the board in order of important. and cholent better not be number one:)
ReplyDelete