Board of Directors/Trustees appointments or
"elections" are often as political as any other public
appointment of election.

I served for five years as a Life Trustee on the Board
of Trustees of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and
Music Hall in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, one of the
earliest Carnegie Libraries and one of only five that
Andrew Carnegie actually endowed. This Library also
opeated a small Civil War Museum.

However, with the endowment, Andrew Carnegie did NOT
require the Borough of Carnegie to fund the library.
For years there was a dispute between the Borough
Government and the Library Board regarding municipal
funding of the Library. Finally, in 1998, the Borough
agreed to provide more than token funding to the
Library.

However, this agreement came at a cost. The Borough
insisted that the position of Life Trustee be
eliminated. As a Life Trustee, I did not have to worry
about being re-elected to the Board; this arrangement
was specifically Andrew Carnegie's idea, through the
Declaraton of Trust agreement he set-up for the
Library [the Library's governing charter]. 

Andrew Carnegie felt that a Life Trustee, who did not
have to worry about day-to-day local politics, would
then be free to consider the long-term best interests
of the Library. He also felt that when a Board member
got to a certain age when they would no longer be
contributing to the Library Board, they would
voluntarily retire from the Board. As Andrew Carnegie
mostly appointed hard-nosed businessmen to his Boards,
his experience was that this arrangement would work
best for the Library.

However, with the elimination of Life Trustees, the
Borough could have some political control, if not
direct control, over who served on the Board.

To implement this change meant petitioning
Pennsylvania Orphans' Court, which is responsible for
overseeing wills and trusts. I threatened to challenge
this petition in Court.

However, at the Board meeting where the decision was
amde to petition Orphans' Court for the change, both
the Mayor and the President of Borough Council told me
that if I challenged the petition in Court, the
Borough would stop funding the Library!

So, what could I do? I did not challenge the petition
in Court. However, about a year before the change took
place I sent a letter of resignation, with my
resignation from the Board of Trustees taking effect
at the exact moment the Court issued the order to
amend the Trust agreement: that moment turned-out to
be 2000 June 6 at precisely 10:50:00 a.m. EDST.

The answer to your question is that members of a Board
have to realize that, in many cases, politics makes
Board appointment decisions, not the quality or
effectiveness of the Board member or potential Board
member. If this valuable Board member is no longer
wanted on this Board, I would suggest that h/she move
on to another organization where their contributions
would be more appreciated.

gaw

--- HHSDIRECTOR <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Date:         Thu, 9 Aug 2007 09:33:24 -0400
> From:         HHSDIRECTOR <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: [MUSEUM-L] delicate board relationships
> To:           [log in to unmask]
> 
> Hello List serve,
> 
>  
> 
> An ex-board member contacted me very upset that s/he
> had not been
> re-nominated to the board after a two year hiatus,
> during which s/he still
> attended board meetings and played a  fairly active,
> though often
> contentious volunteer role. This board member
> rightly indicated that s/he
> didn't want me to solve the problem, just that they
> felt volunteers needed
> to be shown more appreciation. It's something I
> agree with wholeheartedly,
> though the tactic is a bit passive-aggressive. Not
> long after this note,
> another board member has e-mailed me and the
> president indicating that they
> would be willing to vacate their seat to keep the
> peace. 
> 
>  
> 
> I hope to be able to keep my distance, only offering
> soothing words where
> necessary. I already have enough to do keeping day
> to day business going.
> Advice from those who've successfully negotiated
> these shark-infested waters
> in the past would be greatly appreciated.

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh
Electronic Mail - < [log in to unmask] >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
  < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/#news >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh: 
  < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries: 
  < http://andrewcarnegie.tripod.com > 
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh: 
  < http://incline.pghfree.net >
* Public Transit:
  < http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >


       
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