In an open letter to the Cascade Bicycle Club's membership, seven members of the Board of Directors said they will offer their resignations after a newly elected board is in place.
The letter, posted to the Cascade blog on Friday afternoon, also urges members to help find qualified leaders within the club to run for the newly expanded Board of Directors in the upcoming election in March.
The board also said it has postponed any changes to the club's bylaws or the search for a new executive director until after the new directors are seated.
Regarding the resignation offers, the letter says:
“… Questions and misunderstandings regarding the Board's actions have proven difficult to address and they continue to be divisive. After listening carefully to members, staff and the broader community, we feel that a newly constituted board, elected by the membership on March 22, 2011, could more effectively govern the Club going forward. …
“Therefore, our goal is to continue in our current positions on the board until a new, representative, and skilled board of directors is in place, and offer our resignations at that point in time. …
“For the benefit of continuity, some members of the current board are open to continued service on the new board, if requested to do so by the new board members.”
Postponed election
The announcement is the latest episode in a controversy that erupted in early October when the Cascade board announced the firing of executive director Chuck Ayers, who was later reinstated on an interim basis.
The election of two members to the board (both current members) was postponed at a contentious Annual Business Meeting on Oct. 21. At that time the board created a nominating committee to solicit names and choose a slate for an election on March 22, 2011. At the same time, they decided to increase the number of board members to 15.
Signing the message sent out on Friday were current board members Emiko Atherton, Tim Hennings, Michael Lazurus, Peter Morgan, Jim Oswald, Mary Schroeder, and Dave White. The eighth current board member, Joey Gray, did not sign the letter. She is serving a one-year interim term that officially began on Oct. 21.
Will choose president
Chris Weiss, who was serving as president of the board in October, allowed his three-year term to run out on Dec. 31; he was up for re-election in the postponed October election. (The other member on the October ballot, Don Volta, resigned from the board.)
The board members will elect a new board president at their Jan. 19 meeting; it is anticipated to be the current vice president, Peter Morgan.
Nominations
In the letter, the board members emphasized the importance of finding qualified candidates to run for the newly expanded board. That's the job of the Nominating Committee, which is urgently seeking suggestions from club members.
The Nominating Committee is chaired by board member Lazarus and comprised of board member White, executive director Ayers, deputy director Kathy McCabe, and club members Josh Kavanagh and Erik Nilsson. If you'd like to submit your name or someone else's, email nominations@cascadebicycleclub.org.
The board also is suspending the work of two committees — the committee established to evaluate and revise the club bylaws and the executive director search committee. Board members agreed that those issues should be the responsibilities of the new board of directors.
See the complete “A message to the members from the Cascade Bicycle Club Board of Directors,” at the Cascade blog.
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[…] That’s when the former board of directors asked him to resign, he refused and was fired. Widespread opposition to the action resulted in Ayers returning to the job within days and an overhaul of the board of directors. […]