[Genealib] NYGBS: Voting & an Apology

[Leslie Corn]

I urgently encourage all NYGBS members who haven¹t yet voted to do so right
away. The deadline is noon, next Thursday, July 19. Proxies must be received
by then to be counted. Or please come to the meeting at 122 East 58th Street
in Manhattan and vote there. Your participation is critical to the future of
the organization.

Some people who cannot attend the meeting, whether because of time or
distance, have asked if another member of the G&B can carry their proxies to
the meeting for them. The answer is yes. I¹m trying to get specifics about
how this can be done. As I¹ve been told so far, you can cross out the name
of George H. McNeely, IV, and write in the name of the person you want to
cast your vote for you. Be sure to INITIAL THE CHANGE, check ³for² or
³against² and sign.

Download the proxy from the Member¹s Area of the G&B¹s website or use the
proxy that was mailed to you. If you are resubmitting a proxy to change an
earlier vote, be sure to note that on the proxy.

I hope that procedure is correct. I¹m having some trouble getting a
definitive answer. For further explanation or clarification, please call the
G&B, 212-755-8532. If I learn anything more, I¹ll write again.

An apology:

When I wrote previously, ³The board currently doesn¹t include even one
trustee who has a day-to-day, in-the-field working knowledge of genealogy,²
I in no way meant to dismiss the considerable expertise and contributions of
Anita Lustenberger, CG, FASG, who is the one professional genealogist on the
board of the NYGBS, or Meriwether Schmid, FGBS. I was referring to the
absence of those on the board who run other genealogical societies,
repositories, and related organizations in New York. I could have worded my
comment better. 

My sincere apologies to Anita and Meriwether for any unintended slight.

Leslie

Leslie Corn, CG, FGBS
Certified Genealogist
Genealogical Research, Due Diligence,  & Missing Heirs
New York, NY
LeslieCorn at earthlink.net

> Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 01:02:23 -0400
> From: Leslie Corn <lesliecorn at earthlink.net>
> Subject: [Genealib] Re: NYG&BS
> To: <genealib at mailman.acomp.usf.edu>
> Message-ID: <C2BB2E1F.F54%lesliecorn at earthlink.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> 
> I would like to add some comments to Roger¹s. I fully agree with what he has
> written. Based on the flurry of emails in response to his, there are many
> others who do, too.
>  
> I, also, have voted against giving all power over the G&B to a board of
> fifteen and disenfranchising myself and all other members. I want what¹s
> best for the G&B and don¹t feel that the board has recommended a good way to
> approach the organization¹s future.
>  
> I have been an active member of the NYGBS and, over the years, have served
> on various committees. Sadly, I have also seen the increased insularity of
> the board and its apparent lack of planning for the future. Its name-calling
> and finger-pointing are certainly not part of a proactive and wise
> leadership and not one I wish to entrust, blindly, with the G&B¹s governance
> and future.
>  
> I have witnessed leadership¹s intolerance with and ignoring of suggestions
> from members and others well qualified to advise. The board currently
> doesn¹t include even one trustee who has a day-to-day, in-the-field working
> knowledge of genealogy. How can this group determine, on its own, the best
> way for the NYGBS to meet the future of the changing world of genealogy?
>  
> Do board members even know their own library? Certainly not all of them,
> based on the chairman¹s incorrect statement in the last New York Researcher
> that, ³Most of our Library is now duplicated online and elsewhere for free.²
> This is patently untrue, as is well known by those familiar with the
> library¹s collection.
>  
> What company can survive without its leadership having knowledge of its
> product?
>  
> I fear that the board¹s attempt to eliminate members from having a say will
> only lead the board into increased insularity, to the detriment of the G&B.
> I most sincerely hope I am wrong, but can we afford the risk of an
> under-informed, isolated, ³because-I-say-so² leadership?
>  
> Over the last few years, the Society¹s endowment has shrunk from about
> $5,000,000 to what is now probably in the low six figures. (The 2006
> financials have not been posted to the website, as I gather they should have
> been.) Though I do not know from my own experience, I have been told that
> this loss was primarily due to poor investments and lack of oversight of
> those investments‹oversight that was and is a primary fiduciary
> responsibility of the board.
>  
> In the chairman¹s June 22, 2007, letter to the membership, he stated, in
> asking for members¹ votes in favor of disenfranchisement: ³This change is
> similar to the one made at the New England Historic Genealogical Society
> years ago, and all the members, staff, and trustees we¹ve heard from have
> heartily recommended such governance reform to the G&B.²
>  
> Both parts of that sentence give pause. Many of us are against ³such
> governance reform.² This is known by the leadership.
>  
> Also, as I understand NEHGS¹s governance, there is, in addition to the
> board, a Council of the Corporation responsible for oversight of the board.
> What the trustees of the G&B are proposing is to take authority away from
> everyone but their self-appointed group of fifteen. Where is the oversight?
>  
> If lack of oversight led us into this crisis, how can the leaders be trusted
> not to take the $24,000,000 from the sale of the building and make the same
> mistakes again? What reasons have they given us to trust their judgment and
> leave them without the oversight and contributions that enfranchised members
> would bring? What proof have they given us over the last few years that they
> have any viable plans for the survival of the G&B, beyond broad,
> unsubstantiated statements? Why should we entrust complete control to
> leadership that doesn¹t even know its organization¹s holdings?
>  
> I, like other members, would like to see the board, as the chairman wrote,
> ³act nimbly and grasp its future opportunities.² I wish, with all my heart,
> that the G&B can get back on course and thrive. So far, I¹ve seen little
> evidence of this board¹s ability to lead. Without members¹ help to guide the
> way, I fear for the very survival of the NYGBS, its library and collection.
>  
> Please, as Roger mentioned, carefully review the proposed changes to the
> by-laws, before you vote, or take a look, if you have already voted without
> reading them. The proposed changes are available to members at
> http://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/download/pdf/bylaw_redline_707_amd_July_
> version.pdf 
> <http://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/download/pdf/bylaw_redline_707_amd_July
> _version.pdf> 
>  
> As Roger explained, if you¹ve already voted ³yes² and mailed your proxy, but
> feel it¹s the right choice to change that vote to a ³no,² it¹s not too late
> to do so.
>  
> Leslie Corn, CG, FGBS



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