Advisory Board Minutes - February 2005

The February 2005 meeting of The USGenWeb Advisory Board meeting continued uninterrupted from the January meeting.

AGENDA
February 2005 Meeting

MOTION 05-01: BYLAWS ARTICLE V. AMENDMENT
MOTION 05-02 - GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE PROCEDURES
RESIGNATION OF HEARING CHAIR
ANNOUNCEMENT(S) BY THE EC - LOGO POLL
MOTION 05-03 - GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE
ANNOUNCEMENT - CONCLUSION OF RICHARD PETTYS HEARING
REQUEST FOR CHANGE IN EC PROCEDURES

(1 February 2005) Motion declared out of order by the NC, after conferring with the Parliamentarian. Instructions were issued by the NC to the National Webmaster to post the proposed Bylaw Amendment referenced in Motion 05-01 to the National Web Site as specified in bylaw Article XVI, Sections 2 and 3.

Requested Posting (corrected version):

The USGenWeb Advisory Board is in receipt of the following Bylaws Amendment Proposal, sponsored by the ARGenWeb and co-sponsored by MSGenWeb, TXGenWeb, DEGenWeb, MIGenWeb, ORGenWeb and WIGenWeb Projects:

Current Article:
ARTICLE V. COMPOSITION OF ADVISORY BOARD

The Advisory Board membership shall consist of: the National Coordinator, four (4) State Coordinator Regional Representatives, eight (8) Local Coordinator Regional Representatives, one (1) representative each from The
USGenWeb Archives Project, The USGenWeb Census Project, and The USGenWeb Tombstone Project, and beginning in 1999, one (1) at-large representative. All shall have voting privileges except the National Coordinator who shall vote only in the case of a tie. The regions from which State Coordinator and Local Coordinator Representatives are elected shall be decided by the Advisory Board on an annual basis.

Strike “one (1) representative each from The USGenWeb Archives Project, The USGenWeb Census Project, and The USGenWeb Tombstone Project,” and replace with “one (1) Special Projects representative elected by members of the special projects.”

The amended article will then read:

ARTICLE V. COMPOSITION OF ADVISORY BOARD

The Advisory Board membership shall consist of: the National Coordinator, four (4) State Coordinator Regional Representatives, eight (8) Local Coordinator Regional Representatives, one (1) Special Projects representative elected by members of the special projects, and one (1) at-large representative. All shall have voting privileges except the National Coordinator who shall vote only in the case of a tie. The regions
from which State Coordinator and Local Coordinator Representatives are elected shall be decided by the Advisory Board on an annual basis.

In addition, the Section 3 of Article XIII regarding Special Projects would need to be amended:

Current article:
ARTICLE XIII. SPECIAL PROJECTS

Section 3. The staff members of The USGenWeb Archives Project, The USGenWeb Census Project, and The USGenWeb Tombstone Project shall each elect one Special Project Representative to serve as a voting member of The USGenWeb Project Advisory Board.

This amended section would read:
Section 3. The staff members of any special projects (as defined in Section 1) shall elect one Special Project Representative to serve as a voting member of The USGenWeb Project Advisory Board.

(6 Feb 2005) The NC requested a motion to adopt Grievance Committee procedures and appointments for cases in which the mediation process has failed, as presented on 18 January 2005.
( 7 Feb 2005) A motion, as written, was made by Don Kelly, and amended at the suggestion of Jan Cortez.
(8 Feb 2005) The amended motion was seconded by Larry Flesher, numbered 05-02, and was opened for discussion.

Amended Motion:

COMMITTEE DUTIES
The committee of three, plus the original parties to the failed mediation, will be subscribed to an empty list. The committee will hear the grievance and evidence, ask any questions it needs to in order to get as clear a picture of the situation as possible, and issue a ruling which would be binding upon all parties to the grievance.

APPEAL
Either party to a grievance may ask for an appeal of the Grievance Committee ruling. The Advisory Board is not obligated to hear an appeal. If an appeal is filed, there will be a simple poll of the Advisory Board (excluding those members who ruled on the grievance) asking if the appeal should be heard. A simple majority of those voting will rule as to whether an appeal will be heard by the full Advisory Board. If the majority of those voting decides NOT to hear the appeal, then the ruling of the Grievance Committee will stand and will then be final. If the majority decides that an appeal WILL be heard, both parties will be asked to submit one written statement, explaining their position and why they feel the ruling should or should not be overturned. These statements will be posted to the AB’s executive session list, and a decision will be made by the AB (excluding the 3 members who ruled on the grievance) based on the information provided in the statements. A 2/3 majority of the AB members voting will be required to overturn a ruling of the Grievance Committee.

The Grievance Committee will consist of the following AB members:

Betsy Mills, chair
Angie Rayfield
Jan Cortez
Denise Woodside, alternate
Don Kelly, alternate
Bettie Wood, alternate
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(13 Feb 2005) A vote was called on Motion 05-02:
YES to adopt the Grievance Committee procedures and appointments
NO to reject the Grievance Committee procedures and appointments

With 6 “yes” votes, 7 “no” votes, and 2 members not voting, Motion 05-02 failed.
Members voting Yes: Don Kelly, Cyndie Enfinger, Darilee Bednar, Jan Cortez, Kathi Jones-Hudson, Larry Flesher
Members voting No: Angie Rayfield, Betsy Mills, Bettie Woods, Gail Meyer Kilgore, David Morgan, Denise Woodside, Linda Blum-Barton.
No Abstentions.
Members not voting: Richard Howland, Teri Brown.

(11 Feb 2005) Darilee Bednar resigned as chair of a private hearing involving Richard Pettys.

(17 Feb 2005) Announcement - USGenWeb Project - Upcoming Poll

To the USGenWeb Project membership:

**Please forward to all USGenWeb Members and Lists**

With the passage of Motion 04-24: Single or Multiple Logos, December 28, 2004, the Election Committee was directed by the Advisory Board to “... conduct a poll of the membership to establish the wishes of the membership as to whether one or multiple logos should be used by the Project.”

The poll will be conducted from February 22, 2005 concluding March 9, 2005.

Passwords will be mailed to all registered voters beginning on February 17, 2005.

If you are a Registered USGenWeb Member and have not received a voting password by February 22, please contact your local EC Representative immediately.

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usgwelections/current.html

Please state your full name, the areas of the project for which you are a volunteer, and any E-mail addresses you may use. Please be sure your spam filter settings are not preventing receipt.

Follow the instructions carefully in the password note, and on the voting form. Voters may have to designate the election in which they wish to participate. Cookies must be enabled in order to vote.

No information is retained permanently.

Members may only vote once. It will not be possible to go back later and change your vote.

The EC would like to encourage everyone to vote!

The USGenWeb Election Committee

Sincerely,

USGenWeb Project Election Committee
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usgwelections/

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(21 Feb 2005) EC Announcement of Delay of Poll

To the USGenWeb Project membership:

**Please forward to all USGenWeb Members and Lists**

There has been an unavoidable delay in the issuance of passwords for the upcoming poll. Passwords will be
sent out as soon as possible, and a new voting period will be announced. Hopefully the delay will not be
more than a day or two. Thank you for your patience.

Sincerely,
USGenWeb Project Election Committee
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usgwelections/

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(22 Feb 2005) EC Announcement - Poll resumed

To the USGenWeb Project membership:

**Please forward to all USGenWeb Members and Lists**

Passwords are being out for the USGenWeb Project Logo Poll. All Registered USGenWeb Members as defined in the USGenWeb Bylaws are eligible to vote.

Voting will begin February 23, 2005 12:01 am EST and will end March 9, 2005 11:59 pm EST. If you do not
receive your voting password in the next couple of days, please contact the Election Committee.

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usgwelections/current.html

Sincerely,
USGenWeb Project Election Committee
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usgwelections/

(19 Feb 2005) Moved by Angie Rayfield:

I move that the volunteers to the Grievance Committee meet on a separate list in order to develop and present a new set of procedures and policies for the handling of grievances within the USGenWeb Project.
This list will be open to subscription by any project members on a read-only basis in order to solicit participation by all members of the USGenWeb Project, and an announcement/invitation will be announced on
all relevant project lists. The procedures and policies for the handling of grievances will include
the handling of requests for mediation within the USGenWeb Project.

Upon completion of a draft of the procedures and policies, the committee will present their recommendation to the full Advisory Board for a vote on their acceptance.

The volunteers are as follows:
Betsy Mills
Angie Rayfield
Jan Cortez
Denise Woodside
Don Kelly
Bettie Wood
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(26 Feb 1005) Motion seconded by Larry Fleshner.
(27 Feb 2005) Motion was numbered, and discussion opened.

Discussion continued to the end of the month.

ANNOUNCEMENT - ONCLUSION OF RICHARD PETTYS HEARING

(21 Feb 2005) Announcement by the NC:

The USGenWeb Advisory Board has reviewed and accepted the following recommendation of the Pettys Hearing Committee for resolution of the disciplinary hearing of Richard Pettys, Jr. This recommendation is
hereby adopted, effective 21 February 2005.

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The USGenWeb Advisory Board Hearing Committee issues this finding in response to the charges brought against Mr. Pettys by members of the GAGenWeb Project and recommends that:

1) Because of Mr. Pettys’ actions while RC of GAGenWeb wherein he was not responding promptly to email, not actively supporting researchers’ efforts to find information, and not serving as a good example of the
guidelines and standards of The USGenWeb Project, it is the finding of the hearing committee that Mr. Pettys shall be found MNIGS. After a period of one (1) year, Mr. Pettys may apply for removal of MNIGS status.

2) Mr. Pettys’ counties were never “removed” from him, only his affiliation with GAGenWeb was suspended and that affiliation will not be restored by the Advisory Board. Therefore, after MNIGS status is removed, the AB will recommend to the SC of the GAGenWeb Project that Mr. Pettys’ application for any open county be considered at the end of his MNIGS status just as any other person’s would be; however, should the GA leadership ever decide to reinstate Mr. Pettys, the AB recommends that it be on a probationary basis depending on demonstrated and continued good conduct within USGenWeb and GAGenWeb Projects.

3) As an appointee to the positions of ASC and RC in the state of Georgia, Mr. Pettys’ appointment ended upon the termination of the appointing SC, Tim Stowell, and therefore, he has no further claim upon these positions.

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The motion passed with 10 “YES” votes, 0 “NO” votes, 1 abstention, and 4 members not voting.
AB Members voting “YES”: Cyndie Enfinger, Kathi Jones-Hudson, Betsy Mills, Jan Cortez, Don Kelly, Gail Meyer Kilgore, Denise Woodside, Linda Blum-Barton, Larry Flesher, Bettie Wood
AB Members voting “NO”: None
AB Members abstaining from the vote: Darilee Bednar
AB Members not voting: Richard Howland, Teri Brown, Angie Rayfield, David Morgan

(22 Feb 2005) Discussion opened by the NC on the following proposed change in EC Procedures:

CURRENT: 1. When nominations are made, the EC shall be responsible for obtaining verification that the nominees are eligible to run for and hold the office for which they are nominated, by contacting the
appropriate project leadership, and based solely on the criteria in Article VI, Section 9 of the Bylaws. No determination of eligibility shall be made by the EC, including that of good standing. Nominees shall be assumed to be in good standing unless determined otherwise by the Advisory Board or State Coordinators or Special Projects leadership.

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PROPOSED: 1. When nominations are made, the EC shall be responsible for obtaining verification that the nominees are eligible to run for and hold the office for which they are nominated, and for obtaining verification that the nominees understand and intend to abide by the confidentiality aspect of lists which may be used by the Advisory Board.

a. Verification of eligibility will be made by contacting the appropriate project leadership, and based solely on the criteria in Article VI, Section 9 of the Bylaws. No determination of eligibility shall be made by the EC, including that of good standing. Nominees shall be assumed to be in good standing unless determined otherwise by the Advisory Board or State Coordinators or Special Projects leadership.

b. Verification of understanding of and intent to abide by the confidentiality aspect of Advisory Board lists will be made by asking the nominee to read and agree to the following:

”As a nominee for a position on the USGenWeb Advisory Board, if elected I agree to refrain from divulging information from any confidential Advisory Board list, without prior permission from the Advisory Board and/or the National Coordinator.”

c. Nominees who do not meet eligibility requirements, or who fail to agree to the terms of a confidential Advisory Board list will not be accepted as nominees.

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Discussion continued to the end of the month.