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From OFSVolunteers
[edit] Special Membership Meeting on Saturday, October 13th at 12 o'clock noon
This meeting has been called as a result of the dispute between the OFS Board of Directors and members who are concerned about the Board's recent actions. A growing number of members feel that the Board acted extremely unethically in their decision to fire a long-standing staff member. The process used to vote on the action was heavily flawed and cause for great unease about the Board's intentions. This action has left OFS with no Operations Manager, no plan for his replacement, and with a large group of volunteers alienated and questioning their own commitments to the organization.
Attempts have been made in recent weeks to hold the Board accountable for their actions, including a weeklong volunteer walkout and several open meetings in which concerns were voiced. In all cases, the Board has rejected the outcry of its members and volunteers. They have consistently tried to play down the problem and have defended their decision as necessary without addressing the core issue: the corrupt misuse of OFS bylaws and consensus process.
At the upcoming meeting, members will be asked for their vote on whether to make the position of Board member an elected one and whether to hold elections immediately in the hope of resolving this issue. Having an open election process would allow the membership to ask questions of anyone wanting continue on the Board and approve or deny their candidacy based on the answers. It will give those with differing viewpoints a chance to join the Board. It will ensure that the diverse OFS membership is adequately represented in future decisions and that the Board has accountability for their official actions. This will be a strong move toward restoring confidence in the organization and healing the rift that has torn through it.
Please make time to attend this very important meeting. Make your voice heard and help us to secure OFS's continued presence within the Olympia community.
Where do we stand?
The OFS board of directors has acted improperly in firing Technical Director Jeffrey Bartone. The flawed procedure for the July 18th vote has not been supported or reasonably justified. We are faced with a board that has acted contrary to the bylaws of OFS, yet maintains a lack of concern amid the outcry of its membership. Requests for further discussion with representatives of the walkout have been ignored. In firing the Technical Director with no plan for his replacement, they have left the Capitol Theater without an overseer of maintenance and vulnerable to equipment failure. Two of our numbers are licensed electrical contractors who fear for the safety of our 80 year old electrical system, currently deprived of any monitoring. In the interest of preserving our organization, it has clearly become time for change at OFS.
As of Friday, September 7th, we will be returning to our volunteer duties.
Our walkout was intended to inform the board that their actions have been noticed and to gain the attention of the membership at large. We are dissatisfied with the Board's response, yet feel the walkout has reached the summit of its effectiveness. To stay away any longer could hurt the organization that we love.
This incident has served to highlight a chronic problem within OFS's present structure. Our board of directors, in accordance with present bylaws, is responsible for self-appointing new members. This system was adopted when the organization was young, with only around 50 members. The board was then made up of working members, people who were involved in daily operations of the theater. The organization has grown remarkably over the past two decades. Now, board members are often involved only in management. We feel that this detachment, in part, led to recent events.
What's the next step?
In the interest of avoiding problems in the future, we propose a set of changes to the bylaws (see below). Foremost, we feel that OFS's membership has grown large enough to necessitate a member-elected board of directors. It is time that the board serves at the will of the membership, ensuring accountability and faithfulness to the spirit of the organization.
We will be collecting the signatures of those who support us in this endeavor.
The petition will be presented to the board and will require a special membership meeting be held. At the meeting, a vote will be taken on whether to ratify the proposed changes to the OFS bylaws. If this vote passes, the present board will be recalled to allow election of an interim board. The interim board will serve until the next annual membership meeting, when elections will again be held. There is no preclusion preventing existing board members from being selected.
Chronology of Events
7/18/07 The OFS board of directors, consisting of only four members plus a staff representative to the board, holds a vote on whether to terminate Operations Manager Jeffrey Bartone. Faced with too few voting members to make the decision, the board decided to bring on three additional members for the purpose of achieving quorum. These new voting board members are needed to make the vote valid, yet are required to cast a "stand aside" vote in order to participate. Feeling uneasy about the process, two of the new members decide to withdraw from the board temporarily. The third participates, achieving quorum, and the termination decision is completed.
8/21/07 Operations Manager, Jeffrey Bartone, is fired after 21 years with OFS. His termination is based on a history of "rude, abrasive, and uncooperative behavior". He is given two hours from the time of notice to gather his things and vacate the Capitol Theater.
A group made up of almost every OFS projectionist and other volunteers gathers and debates the news. It is learned that OFS's written bylaws were not adhered to in the firing process. Feeling that the board of directors had acted contrary to the OFS bylaws and without the organization's best interests in mind, the group of projectionists and volunteers formally declare a walkout, effective immediately, demanding that Jeffrey be reinstated.
8/25/07 The OFS board of directors hosts a public meeting to debate the decision and the walkout. Present at the meeting are most of the board, and about forty concerned OFS members. The board is questioned about the process used to fire Jeffrey as well as their plans to fill the role of Operations Manager in his absence. The process is defended as a necessary action taken to hold a vote on an issue that had been in process for the past year and a half. There were no preparations made for covering Jeffrey's duties.
Protesting members serve the board a written statement of intent, detailing their concerns about the firing.
8/26/07 The walkout demand is revised to read:
* We call for a re-vote on Jeffrey Bartone's termination with at least the minimum number of required board members defined by the OFS bylaws. * We demand that all board members are allowed to vote free of any conditions to their participation.
9/1/07
Articles about the walkout appear in The Olympian and Works in Progress.
The board formally responds to the demand of the protesters. Their response reads in part: "The OFS Board, including the new members (a total of eight members), has reviewed the request and has not consented to revote on this decision."
The End of the Walk-out, a letter from Volunteers
To The OFS Board of Directors:
Though we were disappointed with your reply to our requests, we have agreed that at this time it is best for the OFS if we suspend the walkout. Effective Friday, September 7, 2007 we will be returning to our regular shifts. Doubtless, there will be lapses in scheduling due to Jefrey's absence. We will work to make sure all shifts are covered.
Sincerely, Adam Broomfield Paul Potasnik Matt Buscher Maya Iturra Palu Kingston John Goebel Kim Gridley Gnat Magone Joel Finch Victoria Zanicky shawntel stapleton Brian Nicholson Chris Schneider Scott Busk Dean Freeman
Board of Directors Response to Volunteers Demand (see below).
September 1, 2007
Dear volunteers, community members and patrons of the Olympia Film Society,
This letter from the OFS Board of Directors is in response to the August 26th, 2007 letter to the Board from a group of OFS volunteers, expressing concern about the process of termination of Jeffrey Bartone. We appreciate the attendance at last Saturday's meeting, the openness in communication and ability to dialogue respectfully and clearly about really difficult issues.
First of all we would like to say that the collective volunteer hours, efforts, and passions that you all and other OFS volunteers have poured into OFS over the years are invaluable. OFS' volunteers are its heartbeat and foundation, and have made OFS the wonderful, diverse, and creative place that it is. Also, thank you for recognizing our volunteer contribution to OFS.
You request in your letter that the decision to terminate Jeffrey be revoked, and a re-vote be taken. The OFS Board, including the new members (a total of eight members), has reviewed the request and has not consented to revote on this decision. After much discussion the general feeling of the Board is that we should move forward with the existing decision and try to work toward a better future for OFS. The Staff collective also supports moving forward with the existing decision.
We continue to believe the decision was made with the best interests of OFS in mind, and we want to move now toward healing, improved communication, inclusion, better understanding, and operating the theater. We would like to hear your ideas and thoughts about how we can improve communications and relations with volunteers (or any other aspects of running our unique organization). At the upcoming September 11th Board meeting*, there will be a section of the agenda for input and discussion about Volunteers communications. (Note, Board meetings are now held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month,. 5:30 p.m.).
Board members have been conscious of and concerned by the need to bring more members into the Board. We know this will make us work more effectively and alleviate certain burnout. Over the last year the Board has made concerted efforts to increase it's membership. Individual Board members have made public announcements before large events, we have signs posted in the theater, Board meeting s are consistently scheduled (now on the 2nd Tuesday of the month) and in an accessible location. Meetings have been shortened by a more efficient process, announcements including meeting agendas are emailed, and Board members have invited volunteers and OFS members to join. Our efforts have paid off and have added 4 new members just in the last couple months! We can always do more. We welcome your suggestions of how to bring more energy into the Board.
You have also expressed concern about what is going to happen at the theater to cover Jeff's duties. A hiring committee is being formed now. The first job of the hiring committee will be to review the job description (standard part of the OFS hiring process) to make any changes, clarifications, or shifts in duties that would be beneficial. Several experienced community members have stepped in to evaluate the technical aspects of our presentations equipment (audio and visual) to familiarize themselves with the theater systems, and to be available for repairs if needed.
We are working to fill volunteers projection shifts and hope very much that some of you will want to come back as projectionists. The Board and Staff of OFS want to let all volunteers know they are very welcome at the theater, and encourage their continued participation regardless of what their position is on this matter. All volunteers still are and will always be welcome.
We also want to state that the termination of Jeff is not intended to hearken a general shift in OFS' philosophy or tone. OFS' signature diversity and inclusiveness of all sorts of people and passions is very important to the identity of this organization and we have no desire to change that. We do want to find ways to improve and preserve our income so that we can keep the doors open for a long time. But, in doing so we don't want to make OFS an un-fun place to be for its members and volunteers. We hope we can balance all of these things and would invite the assistance of anyone who has ideas about how to do so.
Finally (for now), we hope that this letter is not the end of our communication with you and other concerned members of the OFS community. We need input, ideas and action from all of you to keep our beautiful and eclectic organization alive and thriving.
Sincerely,
The Olympia Film Society Board of Directors
Mike Cousino
Carrie Keith
Marcy LaViollette
Joyce Mercuri
Isaac Overcast
Paul Schuster
Dylan Sharp
Audrey Henley (staff Representative to Board)
Letter to the Board from the Volunteers on Walkout
August 26th, 2007
To the Olympia Film Society Board of Directors:
We, the volunteers currently on walkout, would like to thank you for hosting yesterday'ÃÂs meeting. We would also like to recognize and express our appreciation for your voluntary work in the organization. Many issues were brought up, as we all have our own frustrations with the organization. Voicing them was long overdue, and your responses were heard.
Upon consideration of the board's position, we have determined a course of action. All the issues brought up are quite serious to us, but will be better resolved through standard OFS procedure. There is one item that we cannot leave to this process: the termination of Jeffrey Bartone. Whether intentional or not, we are convinced that the procedure followed to make this decision was flawed and needs to be remedied. We understand that fluctuations in board numbers have led to decisions made this way in the past. The severity of impact to the organization on this particular issue demands faithful adherence to the bylaws. We demand that the decision to fire Operations Manager Jeffrey Bartone be revoked, and a re-vote on the issue be taken. The re-vote, in accordance with Section 1, Article IV of the bylaws, will be decided by a board consisting of at least eight members. There will be no prior conditions to participation in the vote placed on any member.
We submit this demand to the board in the hope that it will be considered with the best interests of OFS in mind.
