“Thank you for your respectful email, Jennifer. The Board appreciates your sentiments. “
The president of NCRA loves to send platitudes, and to receive them, too.
“First let me say that the East Coast is in the midst of a nasty winter storm. The federal government is shut down as is the NCRA headquarters. Staff is working from home, many without power; therefore, access is limited and there may be a delay in getting logistics worked out. “
Saved by a nor’easter!!! Except that we are reporters and very used to fulfilling last-minute technological requests. We are SURE that there are MANY reporting agencies in the D.C./Virginia area that are more than willing to set up videoconferencing in NCRA’s new Class-A office space so that membership has access to the March 9th board meeting. NCRA is already in the Webinar business and has knowledgeable people on contract or salary that have the background to give the requested access of membership to participate in the March 9th board meeting. Crazier things have been live-streamed from a smartphone to a Facebook account. In summary, Madam President, there is NO EXCUSE for not granting video/audio access to every single member of NCRA to the March 9th board meeting.
“In the meantime, here in sunny Wisconsin, I propose this:
“So that everyone has equal opportunity to share their concerns, we are requesting that any state that wishes to submit a one-page position statement do so by emailing it to [email protected] no later than close of business Monday, March 5. This statement should abide by the antitrust laws as set out by the Federal Trade Commission here and here. These statements will be provided to the Board for consideration in our discussion. “
How nice of the president of NCRA to give a weekend homework assignment to state leaders while she basks in the sunshine of Wisconsin. If she doesn’t understand the concerns of just about every single member of the association regarding this contracting issue and NCRA’s “neutrality” stance on it, then she is just too out of touch, and we respectfully request for her resignation. To request that state leaders gather their boards together to submit their concerns to the NCRA board in 48 hours is just unconscionable!
“Anyone is certainly welcome to attend the meeting in person if they wish. Please refer to the agenda once it is posted. The rest of the agenda items may or may not be of interest to you. I will also forward it to this listserv when available.
“There is also important information about attending an NCRA Board meeting here. As a courtesy, please inform me at [email protected] as soon as possible if you intend to join us. We want to be sure we save you a chair!”
Madam President, another very important piece of information was yours and the rest of the board’s change in stance on the contracting issue to “neutral” that was done in executive session in November of 2016 without the courtesy of sharing that important tidbit with membership until it was discovered after NCRA refused to show up for Virginia during their legislative needs.
“We are considering the possibility of captioning the meeting; however, because of the weather issues today in the DC area, those efforts are also being hampered at this point. “
If this is all that you are going to do for YOUR members to participate in the March 9th board meeting, just do us all a favor and resign now!
“We are committed to finding a way forward that serves our members and protects NCRA. Thank you for all the work you are doing on behalf of our members. “
Platitudes!
“Have a fantastic weekend.
Chris”
We hope that the sun shone for you all weekend in Wisconsin, too!
WAKE UP, NCRA!
Frank N. Sense
P.S. Thank you, again, to the contributors of this post.