This week in a contentious Board of Captains (BOC) meeting, two of the club's three keelboat fleet captains were removed from office by Commodore Matt Deurst, and the third resigned in protest. The keelboat fleet consists of the club's ten largest boats and is thus the most significant fleet in Hoofers. Apparently the blow-up was a personality conflict between ROTC-officer-in-training Duerst and hard-working fleet captains Paul Grinstead and Kyle Ankenbauer. The public meeting took place on 1-Jul-09 in the Hoofer Chartroom, but Duerst did not announce the agenda in advance (contrary to Wis. law). A full analysis will be forthcoming.
[def. boink (boingk). boinked, boink·ing, boinks. slang v.tr. 1. to hose. 2. to ball sack.]
July 10 update: The promised full analysis will be limited to what is obvious: Kyle and Paul (and indirectly, Barry) were all removed against their will, with no reasonable chance to remedy the situation, for reasons we'll never really know. Heck, the commodore doesn't even know why he removed them. In Hoofers, shit just happens. Sometimes it's illegal, and sometimes it's not.
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The Cruising Keelboat Fleet Captain did not resign in protest of the removals. He resigned before any removals took place.
ReplyDeleteThe agenda was posted a full three days in advance, via the Board of Captains email list, the board outside the Hoofer Lounge, and the Official Club announcement board at the end of the tunnel.
See meeting minutes for details.
Because so many people have access to the Board of Captains email list.
ReplyDeleteI suppose it's far too difficult to you know, post it on the club website, club forum, or any number of club email lists.
Yes, the truth is that the Cruising Fleet Captain resigned over spectacular asshattery by the commodore and BOC, prior to the removals.
ReplyDeleteOfficial club announcement board? Show of hands of people who knew that we had such a thing.
I'm curious how one subscribes to the Board of Captains email list to allow the lowly members to obtain such information next time?
ReplyDeleteOne has to wonder why BOC's Advisor just doesn't help them see the utility in transparency, and in publishing meeting agendas for all club members to see ahead of time. Is secret government really what these persons are supposed to be learning at Wisconsin public university?
ReplyDeleteI'm curious - how is something secret when it's posted in two public places three days in advance?
ReplyDeleteYeah the BOC email list is definitely only for Board of Captains members...
ReplyDelete...but from the way it looks, there were also two agendas posted at the bottom of the tunnel and outside the Hoofer Lounge. Pretty sure that's the most visible spot for Club members to see (even more so than the forums).
I guess the Commodore should get a radio spot, TV ads, and a news story for the next meeting's agenda so all of Dane County can attend a college sailing club's board meeting.
Are you asserting that because the agenda was allegedly made available in this one, isolated instance, that proper procedure has been followed for all meetings?
ReplyDeleteI can point out several meetings for which no agenda was made public in advance of the meeting.
One, possibly correct action, does not excuse a pattern of flagrant violations.
It's curious that the only BOC members removed were keelboat fleet captains. Several other members of the board, who have done virtually nothing, remain on the board.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, any good you do is outweighed by whatever bad. Lesson learned: do nothing.
"The agenda was posted a full three days in advance, via... the board outside the Hoofer Lounge, and the Official Club announcement board at the end of the tunnel."
ReplyDeleteHe means the blue bulletin board, but are those areas even public? I've been hearing rumors about the union harrassing people who are possibly not union members just because they come around Hoofers.
All sailing club members are required to be Union members. Only non-union members have to worry about 'getting harassed' for what's technically trespassing, something that the Union is wise to look out for, given past history.
ReplyDeleteTry again.
Huh? You missed the point. If BOC meetings are open meetings, then their agenda must be announced in a public place, not just on private sailing club bulletin boards. On the other hand, if BOC meetings aren't really public meetings, and they're just pretending they are (why?), then they don't actually have to follow any of the open meeting law requirements. In any case, the union is obviously open to the public for various things, although you do have to be a union members to join hoofers.
ReplyDeleteI was under the impression they were open to club members but not to the general public. Is this correct?
ReplyDeleteGosh, if only the commodore had access to some sort of email list that went to all members of the club. That'd be awesome.
ReplyDelete"** All sailing club members are required to be Union members. Only non-union members have to worry about 'getting harassed' for what's technically trespassing, something that the Union is wise to look out for, given past history.
ReplyDeleteTry again. **"
The meetings are covered under the Wisconsin Open Meeting Laws. These laws require the meetings of certain bodies (including the union and hoofers) to be open to the _public_, not just to "union members."
Posting items on "private property" doesn't seem a good faith effort to let the _public_ know of the meeting.
Please read the statutes again before you rely on false information and make ignorant assumptions.
You sir, please try again.
Easy enough.
ReplyDeleteThe agenda was posted at the end of the tunnel by the boathouse, which is open to *everyone* during the day, and absolutely anyone who's interested in these things can walk down and see it.
But like another poster said, you seem to believe that anything short of radio/tv/newspaper announcements is insufficient, so there's not much point to this discussion.
"Easy enough.
ReplyDeleteThe agenda was posted at the end of the tunnel by the boathouse, which is open to *everyone* during the day, and absolutely anyone who's interested in these things can walk down and see it."
Not true. I suggest you review the findings of the courts regarding a case that was decided on Friday July 3rd.
I expect the law to be followed.
The law requires this (From the 2007 Open Meeting Law Compliance guide issued by the Attorney General):
The two most basic requirements of the open meetings law are that a governmental body:
(1) give advance public notice of each of its meetings, and
(2) conduct all of its business in open session, unless an exemption to the open session requirement applies.
1. To whom and how notice must be given
The chief presiding officer of a governmental body, or the officer’s designee, must give notice of each meeting of the body to: (1) the public, (2) any members of the news media who have submitted a written request for notice and (3) the official newspaper, designated pursuant to state statute, or if none exists, to a news medium likely to give notice in the area. Wis. Stat. § 19.84(1).
The chief presiding officer may give notice of a meeting to the public by posting the notice in one or more places likely to be seen by the general public. 66 Op. Att’y Gen. 93, 95. As a general rule, the Attorney General has advised posting notices at three different locations within the jurisdiction that the governmental body serves. 66 Op. Att’y Gen. 93, 95
2. Contents of notice
a. In general
Every public notice of a meeting must give the “time, date, place and subject matter of the meeting, including that intended for consideration at any contemplated closed session, in such form as is reasonably likely to apprise members of the public and the news media thereof.” Wis. Stat. § 19.84(2). The chief presiding officer of the governmental body is responsible for providing notice, and when he or she is aware of matters which may come before the body, those matters must be included in the meeting notice.
3. Time of notice
The provision in Wis. Stat. § 19.84(3) requires that every public notice of a meeting be given at least twenty-four hours in advance of the meeting, unless “for good cause” such notice is “impossible or impractical.” If “good cause” exists, the notice should be given as soon as possible and must be given at least two hours in advance of the meeting. Wis. Stat. § 19.84(3).
Specifically regarding the UW:
ReplyDeleteUniversity of Wisconsin departments and their subunits, as well as the Olympic ice training rink, are
exempt from the specific notice requirements in Wis. Stat. § 19.84(1)-(4). Those bodies are simply required to
provide notice “which is reasonably likely to apprise interested persons, and news media who have filed written
requests for such notice.” Wis. Stat. § 19.84(5).
---------------
I'm an interested person, and how "reasonably likely" is a posting at the bottom of the tunnel to apprise me, not very. I'm not the only one who wouldn't be "reasonably likely" to have noticed it there.
Dang, why is everybody discussing the posting of paper notices? Seriously, we've had email and webpages for a while now, so why isn't the club leadership using them?
ReplyDeleteThey're having a hard time getting minutes posted, 5 minutes after the fact, and you expect them to be able to put up an agenda on the website more than 24hrs before a meeting?
ReplyDeleteTechnology is scary!
If Somali Pirate, Mr. Bad Attitude, Frank, Admiral Ackbar, and half the "anonymouses" sat down to dinner together, would they need more than one chair?
ReplyDeleteAmused minds are watching.
That's the advantage and disadvantage of an open forum like this that doesn't require you to login. Personally I hope the owner keeps it this way.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it would be nice of people would pick a name, and then just stick with it. It's no harder to click "name/URL" and type your name than it is to click "anonymous".
Wow. You're all giving Hoofers an awful name... on BOTH sides of your argument. And the biggest ass-hat of all is the one running this site. We all know who you are and wish you'd stop your illegal activities.
ReplyDeleteHey Anonymous, who's running this site? Inquiring minds want to know! The reference to "illegal activities" would seem to implicate the BOC.
ReplyDeleteWe wouldn't need that many chairs to sit down to dinner... Mr. Bad Attitude can sit on my lap. Oh yeah, baby!
"Illegal activities"..? Um, you mean like posting opinions on a blog? Or criticizing state employees? That's only illegal if we're in China or Russia. Hang on. [runs to look out window.] Nope, I just checked, and this is still the U.S. of A.
ReplyDeleteI guess by "illegal activities" you must mean acts committed by Wisconsin Hoofer staff (see previous post in blog).
Fleet Commander, I'd love to meet you for a beer on the Terrace and discuss this stuff. I'm at Madison for at least the next 2 years, so any time in there would be great.
ReplyDeleteHah. That's just the sort of gay comment an ex-commodore who was charged with felony sexual assault would write. Or the other ex-commodore who was recently fired from his teaching assistant job for sexual harassment. Or the other one who declared bankruptcy because he's such a moron. Or any of the other ex- (or current) Hoofer officers who are marginal criminals, which unfortunately is a lot of them.
ReplyDelete