The Great Basin Society, Inc. (GBS) does business as the Malheur Field Station (MFS). GBS is a non-profit 501 (c) 3 charitable organization and depends in part on charitable donations for support of its business activities. I have been a member of the board of directors for several years and was delighted to be elected president of the board January 10, 2015, taking office April 1, 2015. Basically we meet quarterly. Our organization has bylaws and policy statements which govern our operation. According to bylaws we use Robert’s Rules of Order to govern our meetings. On December 6, 2015 I submitted the following letter of resignation by email to other members of the board:
“Hi all… Let me make it clear that this is not about our Station Directors it is about the board. It is clear to me that I do not enjoy the backing of the board… and it appears to me this board like previous boards is totally dysfunctional. I envisioned my leadership would be based on our bylaws and policies and yet this board does not follow either of them. It would have been easier for me to judge our Station Directors performance had they made the reports the policy handbook requires and that I had requested citing handbook policies. I realize that in the past the Station Directors have been required to work in a vacuum without direction from an active board. I intended to change that perspective but have been met with indifference by the board and total disrespect from the Station Directors. I have suggested on many occasions that the policies and job descriptions be updated but to no avail. During my tenure on the board committees have been appointed to make those updates and I volunteered to help but no action was taken. Given that I have no support from the board I have little choice but to resign as president and resign my chair on the board effective immediately. Good luck in your future endeavors. ”
Although my tenure on the board will not continue the story will not end here.
tbc byLarry
