July 29, 2010, 3:45 p.m.
The Public's Right to be Fully and Timely Informed
(bought to you by FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com*)
A little over three years ago the UICCU credit union leadership suffered, and lost, an unpleasant battle with its membership. See "Optiva; Optiva Voted Down," March 1, 2007. It thought it could unilaterally change the name from "University of Iowa Community Credit Union" to "Optiva" without bothering to fully inform, and involve, the credit union's membership. It found out otherwise.
What a difference three years makes!
The "Dear Member" letter I got the other day from UICCU President and CEO Jeff Disterhoft, along with a two-page, single-spaced "Q&A: UICCU Member Support Center" briefing, is about as full an explanation for a decision as one can find outside of what the old U.S. Supreme Court used to provide the public during its better days.
Yeah, it looks like another unilateral done deal. And, yes, at $25-30 million for this "Support Center," my guess is that's ballpark $500 from every member. (That's on the assumption that "building cost" includes the cost of land; otherwise it will be more.) There hasn't been, and won't be, a membership vote on this substantial expense undertaken by management. There's a promise to use "local contractors," but no mention of local workers ("local contractors" sometimes hire cheaper labor from out of town) or a "project labor agreement" (providing for union-level pay, even if the contractor chooses to use non-union labor). And the letter arrives at a time when a disproportionate number of members are out of town and may mistakenly pitch it as junk mail when they return. Nor is there any mention of what could be another controversial one, if the rumor is true: UICCU's purchase of another credit union.
But as full disclosure and transparency go, this letter and "Q&A" are about as good as it gets: "Why are we building this?" "How much will the building cost?" "Why do we need 25 acres of land for a 100,000 square foot facility?" "How will the UICCU keep Members notified of the progress?" are four examples of the 15 questions answered.
Moreover, there are six public meetings scheduled -- and at times such that virtually all members who want to can attend at least one. There is a human with a name, phone number, and email address one can contact with questions; and there will be updates in the members' newsletter and online at the credit union's Website.
And, not incidentally, the professed rationale for this expensive construction project, and its location, seem to make sense. That always helps with something like this (and seemed to be absent with Optiva).
But the purpose of this blog entry is not just to praise Disterhoft and one of the nation's most successful credit unions.
It's to contrast it with another local decision, one that impacts the public generally, and is not being handled with the same commitment to openness, public participation, transparency, and logical rationale.
Many of the institutional CEOs I've dealt with, when asked what they want, respond, "No surprises." Good news or bad, they want to know about it, and as soon before it's going to happen as possible.
The public is entitled to no less.
I've been impressed with what seems to me a much more common practice now than 30 years ago: informing the customer ahead of time -- whether by a doctor or dentist, or an auto mechanic -- what's about to happen, how and why.
Unfortunately, the practice has not been widely adopted by public officials.
Case in point: the apparent done deal on the ICCSD's sale of its very valuable downtown location/property/building for its central administrative offices ("CAO") to the University of Iowa. Rob Daniel, "District OKs office sale to UI for $4.5M," Iowa City Press-Citizen, July 28, 2010.
There are four, count 'em four, categories of public institutions -- with their supporting taxpayers -- involved in (or left out of, as it happens) this decision.
The County Board of Supervisors has long looked to this property in connection with its possible expansion (or replacement) of the current County jail. This public body is supported by County taxpayers.
The City Council of Iowa City, along with the downtown business community, has talked of coordinated planning of the area south of Burlington Street (where the CAO is located). The Council is supported by City taxpayers.
The University of Iowa -- Iowa City's "800-pound gorilla" that takes land wherever it pleases, and has eminent domain power if it can't otherwise destroy family neighborhoods and the downtown area -- is funded, at least still in part, by Iowa's taxpayers generally.
Finally, there is the School District, supported by many of the same taxpayers through property and sales taxes designated for the schools.
Even responsible for-profit corporations feel some obligation to take the feelings of local residents into account -- whether they legally have to or not.
There are more issues here than I care to write or you care to read about.
But here are a couple.
The University is apparently, as has all too often been the case in the past, refusing to say why it wants the property or what it will do with it -- let alone how those desires and uses relate to what it may have in mind for ten, twenty or thirty years from now, that it also has no intention of letting any of us know.
Compare this with the very open and commendable way it handled the Hancher-Voxman-Clapp reconstruction/relocation decisions. "Hancher Relocation Process and Site; University Offers Useful Model for Major Decisions," July 10, 2009.
Not incidentally, it also has it within its power to help the County but refuses to do so (by letting it have the little land required to expand the jail where it is).
The School District (so far as I now know; I may be wrong) has not indicated precisely where it plans to move its administrative functions or what it is going to do with the money from the sale. The same parents who tend to go unrepresented in other District decisions (remember boundaries?) may well be left out of this decision, too. No District Board member, or administrator, is lacking a personal automobile (or at least family car they can use) to travel to meetings at the CAO. That is not true for all of our students' parents. The CAO, at its present location, is a three-block walk from the central, downtown bus stop for all bus lines. Will a CEO at another location be, could it possibly be, equally accessible elsewhere within the District?
It's especially disturbing to read that these four public bodies have not even fully communicated among themselves regarding this decision.
But we, the public, are also involved -- big time -- in this sale. It is, after all, our money these four public bodies are using, not the personal funds of our elected and appointed officials.
We deserve better treatment. We deserve "No Surprises."
At a minimum, we deserve the degree of sensitivity and openness the UICCU credit union has given its members regarding its proposed new construction project.
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* Why do I put this blog ID at the top of the entry, when you know full well what blog you're reading? Because there are a number of Internet sites that, for whatever reason, simply take the blog entries of others and reproduce them as their own without crediting the source. I don't mind the flattering attention, but would appreciate acknowledgment as the source -- even if I have to embed it myself.
-- Nicholas Johnson
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March 23, 9:30 a.m.
Democracy in General and . . .
Anyone who gets caught up in the political process (both in the sense of partisan politics or non-partisan policy issues in general), as I do, tends to focus on the issue at hand rather than the principles and processes that make the activity possible. For some reason, my thoughts for the last couple of days have turned to democracy in general. And today's blog entry will have a lot of examples of our democratic glass being half full. Here's the first:
. . . the UICCU in Particular
The Gazette reports this morning on the UICCU's membership meeting last Wednesday evening, March 21: Dave DeWitte, "Incumbents Win Credit Union Vote," The Gazette, March 23, 2007, p. 7B. But this story -- from my perspective -- is not about what happened October 4 or February 28 regarding members' reaction to "Optiva."
Nor is the story that the incumbents won re-election March 21.
Few if any expected that a credit union member, nominated from the floor for a Board position, at a poorly attended membership meeting, for which there had been no postcard notice to members, no advance notice to members of her nomination, and no access to a membership list for campaigning, could "win." At least as I understood it (my teaching a class that evening precluded my attendance, and I have not talked with the nominated candidate), while no one runs for anything with the desire or intention of losing, one of the primary purposes of nominating her was simply to establish the democratic principle that members should have some alternative in an "election" to simply rubber stamping the Board's closed-meeting nomination of three of its own members for re-election to three positions. There should be a choice. And that point was made, that purpose accomplished.
The story, in short, is about what has happened since February 28. Not only did the Board permit this nomination from the floor, there seems to be an increasing focus generally by the CEO and Board, as well as the membership, on "process," on democratizing what Congress calls credit unions: "democratically operated organizations."
There are now bios of the Board members, with an email address for each, posted on the UICCU Web site. Although there is no easy link to it, the Web site now offers the credit union's bylaws, some annual reports, and minutes from the October 4, 2006, and February 28, 2007, membership meetings. The direct link is: http://www.uiccu.org/asp/services/service_3_2.asp.
The Gazette reports CEO Jeff Disterhoft says "The board has begun exploring steps to make its electoral process more open [including] mail-in ballots [for elections to the board and] to become more proactive in notifying credit union members about their eligibility to be nominated for board positions."
Once the Board, CEO and interested members really get into the swing of this, and put their minds to it in a spirit of creative cooperation, the UICCU could actually become known as one of the nation's preeminent "democratically operated organizations" among credit unions -- in addition to being one of the best run in terms of financial returns to members. Wouldn't that be another feather in our fully-feathered cap of Iowa City brags!
Thinking Back . . .
. . . over the past few months I was kind of stunned to recall the number of times the democratic process played a significant role.
Now don't get me wrong. Democracy is messy. The democratic process can be manipulated. There's lots of apathy. (Recall the poll question: "What's the worst problem in our community, ignorance or apathy?" and the modal answer: "I don't know and I don't care.") Half the eligible voters don't bother to vote even for president. And in a school board, or city council, election that percentage may go as high as 90 or 95 percent.
Winston Churchill is credited with a number of observations about democracy: "democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." And, "The biggest argument against democracy is a five minute discussion with the average voter."
So I would not argue that the results of the democratic process are always the best. But I would share Churchill's view that on average, over time, they will be better than any alternative design for decisions. Moreover, the process can contribute to an individual's self-actualization, and sense of empowerment, and that is humanizing and good for the soul.
I think back to the November election. Not because "the Democrats won" in both Washington and Des Moines -- I have as much problem with the Democrats as I do with the Republicans -- but because it represented a citizen response, involvement, organization, action -- and results.
I think of the Regents' actions a couple of weeks later -- not because of their conduct in general, and the mess they made of the UI presidential search in particular -- but because of what happened next. Every group on campus took the unprecedented action of voting "no confidence" in the Regents. A new search committee was created that has operated with dignity and openness. And the new governor has now appointed four new Regents.
I suddenly realized that the Iowa rainforest project, which I have been writing about for four years or more, has not been heard from for a matter of months. If it fails (it has to raise a $50 million match by the end of this year to get the $50 million from Senator Grassley toward the $200 million it needs and for which it has not raised a dime in 10 years) it will be in no small measure because of the public opinion of Iowans who cared enough to inform themselves about it.
My concern about the UI ties with the gambling industry have been addressed by the UI's Faculty Council and Faculty Senate.
There was the rather unprecedented turnout and vote of the UICCU membership at the February 28 meeting regarding "Optiva" with -- so far as I am aware -- virtually no organized effort, aside from the postcard notice sent to members by the Board.
Yesterday I found myself chatting with some representatives of the carpenters union, standing with a banner on the sidewalk in front of the Pentacrest. I reflected later on this tangible example of one of the forms of free speech that our democracy both requires, and makes possible.
Another fundamental form of democracy's free speech is citizen participation in media -- letters to the editor in our local papers, calling in to radio talk shows, challenging stations' license renewals, creating programs for cable's public access channels, and of course blogging.
Maybe my reflection about the carpenters' banner was because I had just come from a recording studio where I was narrating a half-hour program for Pacifica Radio about the RadioForPeople.org project. This is a coalition of community radio groups trying to bring national attention to what is believed to be a forthcoming FCC opening up of a window for applications for community radio stations. They want to inform interested citizens throughout the country of this opportunity, and encourage them to get ready to apply.
I often keep the radio on around the house, tuned to NPR -- and especially when our local station is rebroadcasting from the world's best news organization, the BBC. So when I got home from work I caught the tag end of an NPR piece about some blog that is promoting citizen journalism. If I got the story right, it is helping to organize 100 or more citizens to divide up, read, and comment on some 3000 Department of Justice documents (perhaps, I don't know, relating to the fired U.S. Attorneys).
Next on my agenda was a local gathering prompted by a national organization, freepress. It's an example of the impact of the Internet on local and national politics and citizen action that was dramatized in the Dean campaign. Freepress sends out the emails, makes the materials available, and before you know it there are gatherings in thousands of living rooms across the country, listening to a live, Internet distributed discussion between Phil Donahue, Robert McChesney and Josh Silver. Following that, a DVD distributed to our host by the organization enabled us to watch presentations from the organization's last national gathering (in Memphis this year) a couple of months ago. (It includes a hilarious interview between the real Helen Thomas and a George W. Bush look-alike and impersonator.) Freepress, around for only four years, pulls as many as 4000 participant activists to its national conventions.
Afterwards, we discussed among other things the forthcoming community, full-power FM stations that RadioForPeople is promoting, a TV license challenge some in the group had filed, and the Iowa legislature's vote to cut back on citizen access to television by way of the public access channels on cable.
This morning, as I came downstairs to make coffee, I got the tag end of a BBC report about the value of blogs from Iraq for the mainstream media.
Democracy in This Morning's Newspapers
Once I turned to the morning papers, with my mind on this democracy theme, I noticed . . .
Mesquakies to Vote on Casino Alcohol Sales
Since 1857, when the Mesquakie Indians discovered that the white man had this crazy notion that land could be "owned" (rather than shared), they have bought up the land on which they live -- which is why 1500 of them live outside of Tama on a "settlement" rather than a "reservation." On their settlement they have had the good judgment to have created, and maintained, a prohibition on the sale of alcohol for the past 150 years. They also operate what I characterize as the Native Americans' Non-Violent Revenge: a gambling casino. But theirs is a casino that does not serve alcohol. In an increasingly competitive gambling market in Iowa that policy doesn't help the casino's bottom line. Not only do you lose the revenue from the very profitable sale of alcohol, you also lose the increase in gambling losses patrons suffer when drunk. How are the Mesquaki going to resolve this difficult choice? They're going to vote. Orian Love, "Should Tribe Sell Alcohol at Casino? Meskwakis Divided Over Plan to Reverse Long-Standing Tradition," The Gazette, March 23, 2007, p. 1A.
Cedar Rapids Citizens' Input
The City of Cedar Rapids, as well as The Gazette, seem to sponsor quite a few citizen input sessions. That's another form of, or consequence of, democracy. Anyhow, they did it again last night at the first of two "Enhance Our Neighborhoods" gatherings. They're trying to come up with ideas for the city's "core neighborhoods." Rick Smith, "C.R. Gets Input From Residents; Levee, Bad Landlords and Tenants Among Main Concerns," The Gazette, March 23, 2007, p. 1B.
Non-Political Politicians
Those who have held public office -- or who could probably win, were they to choose that path -- often opt to focus their democratic contribution on activities other than capital-P "Politics." The Gazette quotes Senator Tom Harkin speaking of former Vice President Al Gore, and his campaign regarding global warming, "Maybe he is better able to [make a difference] now than as a candidate running for president." E. Michael Myers, "Harkin Meets With Gore; But No Talk of Gore Presidential Run," The Gazette, March 23, 2007, p. 5B. This was certainly Ralph Nader's judgment when, during the 1970s, he was probably responsible for more progressive legislation passed by the U.S. Senate than any elected senator.
Response to Loss of Public Access Cable Channels
Our elected legislative representatives in Des Moines have yielded to the pressures (and campaign contributions?) of phone companies that want a piece of the cable television pie -- but don't want to give back what cable companies have given as a result of local franchises. Public access channels, franchise fees, and a requirement that all neighborhoods be wired will become a thing of the past. But city council members and officials, as a result of knowledgeable local critics of the legislation, are beginning to fight back. Hieu Pham, "Franchise Bill Worries Some City Leaders; Fear Losing Local Control of Cable Deal," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 23, 2007, p. 1A. In fact, this is one of the subjects discussed at that local gathering of media activists last night.
Retention of Basketball Coaches
Given America's, and Iowans', sports mania, the news that UI basketball coach Steve Alford is leaving for New Mexico is all over the states' papers this morning. (E.g., Susan Harman, "Done Deal; Alford Resigns to Take New Mexico Job; Lobos Set to Make Announcement Today," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 23, 2007, p. 1A. While not the result of a "vote" of any kind, as the Press-Citizen's editorial points out, "Over the years . . . it has become readily apparent that Iowa has been as terrible a fit for Alford as it has been a perfect fit for Ferentz." Editorial, "Move to UNM Good for UI, Good for Alford," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 23, 2007, p. 13A. The unilateral decision by a UI Athletic Director as to who will be the University's basketball coach is a pretty far cry from a "democratic election." And yet, even in that context, it is those who live in the community whose emerging consensus regarding coaches determines who does, and does not, "fit" here.
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I'll have to remember to bookmark this blog entry and re-read it from time to time when things aren't going as well as I'd hoped. The fact is, democracy really is a precious and valuable thing, something worth extending throughout all our institutions, well beyond conventional "Politics." And in spite of all its faults, and the reluctance of many of Americans to truly embrace it (consider the current opposition to same-day voter registration), it's working pretty well for us. There are examples everywhere in a civic society, if only we will take note and appreciate.
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UICCU and "Optiva"
The UICCU-Optiva story is essentially behind us. There may be occasional additions "for the record," but for the most part the last major entry, with links to the prior material from October 2006 through March 2007, is "UICCU and 'Optiva'" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 406 - March 3 - Optiva," March 3, 2007.
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[Note: If you're new to this blog, and interested in the whole UI President Search story . . .
These blog entries begin with Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search I," November 18, 2006.
Wondering where the "UI Held Hostage" came from? Click here. (As of January 25 the count has run from January 21, 2006, rather than last November.)
For any given entry, links to the prior 10 will be found in the left-most column. Going directly to FromDC2Iowa.Blogspot.com will take you to the latest. Each contains links to the full text of virtually all known media stories and commentary, including mine, since the last blog entry. Together they represent what The Chronicle of Higher Education has called "one of the most comprehensive analyses of the controversy." The last time there was an entry containing the summary of prior entries' commentary (with the heading "This Blog's Focus on Regents' Presidential Search") is Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search XIII -- Last Week," December 11, 2006.
My early proposed solution to the conflict is provided in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search VII: The Answer," November 26, 2006.
Searching: the fullest collection of basic documents related to the search is contained in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search - Dec. 21-25," December 21, 2006 (and updated thereafter), at the bottom of that blog entry under "References." A Blog Index of entries on all subjects since June 2006 is also available. And note that if you know (or can guess at) a word to search on, the "Blogger" bar near the top of your browser has a blank, followed by "SEARCH THIS BLOG," that enables you to search all entries in this Blog since June 2006.]
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Media Stories and Commentary
See above.
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Technorati tags: football, athletics, academics, high school, college, University of Iowa, education, K-12, leadership, university president, Michael Gartner, Iowa Board of Regents, UI president search, Nicholas Johnson, FromDC2Iowa
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Nicholas Johnson's Main Web Site http://www.nicholasjohnson.org/
Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site
Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
Nicholas Johnson's Blog Index
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March 21, 7:30 a.m.
[Note: See below for UICCU Chair Dean Borg's response to yesterday's "Open Letter;" my response to a couple readers' critical comments about the "Open Letter;" and Jeff Cox' statement regarding this evening's meeting and his nomination of Caroline Dieterle as a Board member.]
"Open Letter": Confirmation from World Council of Credit Unions
Every once in awhile I have the delightful experience of discovering that some idea that I have come to instinctively turns out to be virtually identical to the position of those who really are experts on the subject. This has been one of those occasions. (Of course, my more common experience is the discovery that my instinct turns out to be closer to what Stephen Colbert calls "truthiness.")
Yesterday this blog's entry was an "Open Letter to UICCU Board" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 423 - March 20 - UICCU," March 20, 2007.
I advocated, among other things, that we -- Board and membership -- continue to explore the issues of member participation in governance, the "process" questions that seemed to lie at the heart of the "Optiva" controversy and that were resolved in a membership revolt the evening of February 28. I identified three categories of focus: "Board Elections and Membership Meetings," "Ongoing Membership Involvement," and "Membership Outreach and Marketing."
I contrasted our relatively closed process for electing (or re-electing) board members with the much more welcoming and open process of our next door neighbor, the Linn Area Credit Union. I suggested ways we might have more rotation among board members.
Ongoing involvement of members could be encouraged by holding open, rather than closed, board meetings, and publishing on the Web (rather than keeping secret) the minutes of those meetings. I mentioned the possibility of members' committees, online discussion groups and polling of members before controversial board decisions, and creating an ombudsperson position.
Under membership outreach and marketing I mentioned counseling and classes on financial management, videos on public access television and DVDs, social events, "friends inviting friends," and advertising the fact that credit union membership is open to all.
Late in the day, only after I'd written all this, off the top of my head, in a relatively short time, drawing on nothing but what seemed to me to be common sense and my own experience with organizations and boards over the years, I came upon the Web site of the "World Council of Credit Unions" -- http://www.woccu.org -- and its basic confirmation of virtually everything I'd said earlier in the day.
It's true that there are "credit unions in 92 countries [serving] more than 157 million people." But lest an organization representing them sound a little too other worldly for applicability in Iowa, let me reassure you that one of the organization's two main offices is right next door, in Madison, Wisconsin. (The other is in Washington, D.C.)
As you might imagine, the organization provides a range of services for credit unions. (Its Web site has headings, or drop-down menus, for "News," "Development," "Advocacy," "Events and Education," "Development Finance," "Best Practices," and "Publications.")
One of its areas of focus is "governance." See, for example, the publication from which I will be quoting: Karen Cak Niederkohr and John Ikeda, "Credit Union Governance," World Council of Credit Unions White Paper (2005).
In part, credit union governance involves many of the same models and principles of any system of board governance. I worked to apply the John Carver model of board governance for the School Board of the Iowa City Community School District, and have described the Carver theory and the School Board's application of it in Nicholas Johnson, "Board Governance: Theory and Practice" (2001) . It includes setting measurable goals (Carver's "ends policies"), and articulating the relationships between the board and CEO, among other things. And the authors of the World Council white paper were obviously familiar with Carver.
But, as they acknowledge, credit unions and their boards are not like other organizations. Their "customers" are "members" and "owners" of what Congress has described as "democratically operated organizations." That necessarily affects "best practices" when it comes to board-member relations -- which was the focus of my "open letter."
What follows are some of the more relevant quotes from the World Council's "Credit Union Governance" paper.
I keep emphasizing democratic control of credit unions by members. The World Council says, "[C]redit unions are democratic institutions, where a single member receives a single vote, regardless of financial stake in the organization."
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I commented on the extent to which there was inadequate communication from the Board and CEO to the membership, and proposed that there be more member access to Board meetings and minutes. The World Council has a good deal to say about this:
"Transparency
"Transparency requires the actions of the board of directors to be visible to the credit union members . . .. To be transparent, credit unions should commit to regular honest communication of their activities . . . in the spirit of full disclosure.
* * *
"The board and management of the credit union should engage in regular, honest communication to explain the actions of the organization to anyone who may be affected by them. This disclosure should include the objectives of the credit union . . .. By ensuring that its decisions are made in the light of day, members have the ability to oversee the actions of the board that represents them.
* * *
"The board or management should then convey the disclosure through communication methods, including but not limited to member meetings, postings, online interaction or newsletters. The communication must occur at regular intervals to members and must provide honest, unvarnished facts.
* * *
"[C]redit unions should make available to members and the public financial statements that are . . . provided in a timely manner to . . . especially credit union members. [p. 3]
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I noted the advantages to the credit union of something in the nature of term limits and rotation in membership on the board, and that the UICCU might seek to emulate the more welcoming and open board election process of the Linn Area Credit Union. The World Council says,
"Structure
"World Council recommends the board be composed of an odd number of members, no less than five and no greater than nine. The purpose of this structure is to prevent tied votes. . . . [M]ore than nine members may make consensus achieving difficult and may increase logistical problems.
"World Council recommends that consideration should be given to the rotation of directors. A rotation approach can encourage fresh viewpoints to enter the boardroom without the potential loss of organizational knowledge. . . .
"[I]nterested credit union members . . . should be allowed to stand for the nominating process. . . . [T]he democratic nature of credit unions requires that general members be allowed . . . on the board. The opening of the process to general members helps regulate the power of the board . . ..
I also noted the UICCU's failure to provide individual members notice of the Wednesday night membership meeting. The World Council says,
"The annual general meeting . . . should be adequately promoted to ensure sufficient member participation. This meeting is the backbone of the internal governance system and is the highest decision making body in the credit union. By providing a forum for . . . members to interact with the board, the annual general meeting of members serves as a check on the power of the board and management. However, the meeting cannot provide this check if members are not aware of it.
"The annual general meeting should also be an opportunity for the directors to receive feedback and guidance from their fellow members. The board should encourage dialogue with general members at the annual general meeting, because it is the ultimate duty of the board to represent the wishes of the . . . members." [p. 5]
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There are other comments in the World Council report I thought worth repeating:
"Balance
"Unlike for-profit institutions, credit unions should strive for a board that responds to the demands of the general membership. By creating a board in this manner, members are more likely to feel that they have a voice on the board and are more likely to feel a stronger connection with the credit union. As a result, a greater likelihood exists that members will continue their membership with the credit union.
"The composition of the board should aim to reflect the demographic makeup of its members . . .. By creating a board that reflects the age, gender and ethnic background of the credit union, the desires of the [members] can more easily be developed by directors.
* * *
"Accountability
"[T]he board, first and foremost, has a duty to the [members]. As the ultimate owners of the credit union, the members . . . delegate the board directors to function on their behalf. The [members] then [have] the ability to question the actions of the board and to hold the board accountable. . . .
"[T]he board must . . . follow up with management regularly to chart its progress against predefined measures of success. . . . Since both the board of directors and credit union management are held accountable . . . the ultimate goal of serving the members becomes obtainable. [p. 7]
* * *
"To fully understand and complete their responsibilities, individual [board] members should have . . . a member-focused viewpoint. [p. 9]
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Now the mere fact that the World Council advocates many of the same things I was writing about yesterday does not mean that either of us is correct. Hopefully, however, this level of agreement may at least be taken as some evidence that I am not advocating some radical, bonkers, off-the-wall set of proposals that no one who knows anything about credit unions would ever try to advance.
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For the record, and in fairness to the Board, here is the response Board Chair Dean Borg promptly provided by email to my "Open Letter" yesterday. I think it speaks for itself without comment from me:
"I greatly appreciate the time and thought you have given to the document you provided to us.
"I also greatly value your compliments for the Board's overall intent and pursuit of excellence, without ulterior motives. You are correct in intimating that this is a highly motivated, very hardworking group of women and men representing a cross-section of the greater Iowa City community.
"We are actively--and currently--pursuing use of absentee balloting, although the Iowa Code does specify restrictions with which we must comply. This is not the first time we have explored the absentee option.
"Your suggestion about involving members in social events is a part of our culture and practice. Our Prime Club members meet regularly, and social events are structured for that age group.
"Even our annual meeting is historically a social event, with entertainment, gifts for all members, and valuable door prizes. Many people attend the annual meeting just for the social component.
"Again, thanks Nick."
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There were two essentially critical comments from readers attached to yesterday's blog entry from "John Barleykorn" and "Anonymous." They argue, basically, that (a) no one really cares about credit union management and "process," and (b) in effect, we can be grateful this is the case, as chaos would reign if various groups of members were actually permitted to micromanage the daily operation of the credit union in ways contrary to the best judgment of the Board (I am "arguing for mob rule of the credit union").
I can't really disagree with either point. I expressly noted that roughly half the electorate won't even bother to vote for president of the United States 18 months from now -- but that their disinterest is no reason to cancel the election for those who do take it seriously. And I suggest the same principle is applicable to what Congress has described as those "democratically operated organizations" called credit unions. ("Democracy within credit unions is not just a good idea, it's the law.") And as I have now discovered, the World Council of Credit Unions apparently agrees with me.
And, of course, I'm not advocating the straw man that "John Barleykorn" builds and then destroys. I can't imagine that anyone would advocate that. But I think anyone who reads through the World Council quotes, above, will see a consistent theme that seems to run through all of them regarding the responsibility of a board member of membership organizations in general, and credit unions in particular, to ascertain and then effectuate the desires of the membership.
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Meanwhile, Jeff Cox issued the following statement yesterday regarding his proposed nomination of Caroline Dieterle for a UICCU Board position at the membership meeting this evening:
"The UICCU Credit Union annual members' meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 21, 7 p.m., at the Quality Inn & Suites Highlander Conference Center, 2525 N. Dodge Street. Credit Union Board members are elected at the membership meeting. The Credit Union Board's nominating committee has nominated three board incumbents for re-election to the three open positions. In the past, the board has from time to time nominated more candidates than positions in order to guarantee a contested election, but this year they have decided upon an uncontested election.
"Candidates can be nominated from the floor at the meeting, and I intend to nominate Caroline Dieterle. She has long experience as a member of the board of the New Pioneer Cooperative, which has grown to 16,000 members while maintaining, and even strengthening, its democratic character.
"I hope we can have some discussion at the Members' Meeting of the need for future Credit Union boards to promote (1) contested elections each year, (2) open and transparent board meetings, (3) mail ballots for board elections, and (4) credit union literature that lists among the "benefits of membership" the rights and obligations that members have to participate in a democratic, member-owned cooperative.
"I hope you can find time to attend the membership meeting, and vote for Caroline.
"jeffcox@inavia.net"
_____________
UICCU and "Optiva"
The UICCU-Optiva story is essentially behind us. There may be occasional additions "for the record," but for the most part the last major entry, with links to the prior material from October 2006 through March 2007, is "UICCU and 'Optiva'" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 406 - March 3 - Optiva," March 3, 2007.
# # #
[Note: If you're new to this blog, and interested in the whole UI President Search story . . .
These blog entries begin with Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search I," November 18, 2006.
Wondering where the "UI Held Hostage" came from? Click here. (As of January 25 the count has run from January 21, 2006, rather than last November.)
For any given entry, links to the prior 10 will be found in the left-most column. Going directly to FromDC2Iowa.Blogspot.com will take you to the latest. Each contains links to the full text of virtually all known media stories and commentary, including mine, since the last blog entry. Together they represent what The Chronicle of Higher Education has called "one of the most comprehensive analyses of the controversy." The last time there was an entry containing the summary of prior entries' commentary (with the heading "This Blog's Focus on Regents' Presidential Search") is Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search XIII -- Last Week," December 11, 2006.
My early proposed solution to the conflict is provided in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search VII: The Answer," November 26, 2006.
Searching: the fullest collection of basic documents related to the search is contained in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search - Dec. 21-25," December 21, 2006 (and updated thereafter), at the bottom of that blog entry under "References." A Blog Index of entries on all subjects since June 2006 is also available. And note that if you know (or can guess at) a word to search on, the "Blogger" bar near the top of your browser has a blank, followed by "SEARCH THIS BLOG," that enables you to search all entries in this Blog since June 2006.]
# # #
Media Stories and Commentary
See above.
_______________
Technorati tags: football, athletics, academics, high school, college, University of Iowa, education, K-12, leadership, university president, Michael Gartner, Iowa Board of Regents, UI president search, Nicholas Johnson, FromDC2Iowa
_______________
Nicholas Johnson's Main Web Site http://www.nicholasjohnson.org/
Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site
Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
Nicholas Johnson's Blog Index
_______________
March 20, 7:30 a.m., 9:20 a.m.
Open Letter to UICCU Board
March 20, 2007
Dean Borg, President
Karin Franklin
Jean Harney
Tom Lepic
Charles Mason
Charles McComas
Fred Mims
Kenneth Moore
Laura Reed
Duane Thompson
Dear UICCU Board Members:
Tomorrow night, Wednesday, March 21, is our membership meeting. Because the timing conflicts with my teaching schedule, I will be unable to attend. So I am taking this way of sharing my thoughts with you.
One of the things we all learned the evening of February 28, is that process matters -- in any institution, but especially a membership organization that is even described in federal law as a "democratically operated organization."
As we now look forward, not back, the question is: What more did we learn? What changes can we make to reduce the likelihood of future "February 28ths"? They may not be as expensive. They may not be as divisive. We cannot now predict what the issues will be. But what we can know, with as much certainty as we can know anything, is that -- especially for this credit union -- they will occur. It's not "whether," it's just "when."
Most of the time, in an "us" (UICCU board, CEO and employees) against "them" (groups of members) the "us" will win. I would guess the three of you running for re-election to what has become a self-perpetuating board will probably be re-elected tomorrow evening. (But then, I assumed the February 28 vote would sustain the "Optiva" choice, too.) The issue here is not about limits on your legal rights.
The issue involves Southwest Airlines' motto: "We hire for attitude and train for skills."
It is obvious from UICCU's financial numbers, and its national ranking among credit unions, that together you have the skills.
That's not the issue. The issue before us as an organization is not your skills, it's your attitude.
What is your attitude, and that of the CEO, regarding membership involvement in the governance of what Congress has called this "democratically operated organization"? Are you (a) bringing imagination and innovation to the search for every possible way to ascertain members' opinions and desires regarding the UICCU's policies and future direction and involve them in governance, (b) relatively oblivious to issues of credit union democracy, or (c) affirmatively hostile to members who seek information, participation, ask questions, hold opinions contrary to yours, and otherwise "meddle in, and make more difficult, what is after all your responsibility and 'none of their business'"?
To the extent you, too, would like to look to the future, and figure out ways to avoid continual replays of the February 28th experience, to the extent you would place yourself in category (a), above, here are some suggestions from one member as to how we might go about this evolution.
1. The process you use for addressing the "process question" will determine the richness and acceptability to the membership of the innovations you come up with.
In other words, this is not an issue for the board members to address in a closed "retreat" session.
Trust your membership. Be genuinely open to what members may come up with. This is an issue to be thrown open to the entire membership -- a group far more extensive than those few individuals able and inclined to come to a meeting at a fixed time and place.
For these reasons, I don't represent that my ideas, that follow, are "the answer." They are only one member's first draft, designed to help get the discussion started.
For convenience, I break the suggestions down into three categories: board elections and membership meetings; ongoing membership involvement; and what might be thought of as membership outreach and marketing.
2. Board elections and membership meetings.
(a) We have a relatively closed board election process in contrast, for example, with that followed by the Linn Area Credit Union. Linn encourages members to run for board positions and explains how they can do it, listing the CEO's phone number (something we still do not do). It makes it possible for members to vote throughout the day at any branch office. It sends a postcard to members, designed to get their attention, laying out all of this. Were I a member of Linn I could vote tomorrow. Because I am a member of UICCU I cannot (unless I am willing to "skip work"). Even if not true in fact, our process gives the impression that the board and CEO have deliberately created a process to exclude maximum possible membership participation while retaining their own tight control.
(While it is true that there can be nominations from the floor during the meeting this is obviously a far cry from the advantages held by board members who wish to be re-elected. There is no mechanism by which members can communicate with each other prior to a membership meeting. There is no member access to a membership list -- or even a procedure for sending email to a members' email list (without disclosing members' names or emails to the sender). There is no opportunity to include the names of board candidates in the Board/CEO postcard announcement of the meeting. Indeed, on this occasion there was no postcard announcement of the meeting.)
(b) "New blood" for the board. Every organization, no matter how successful, needs a bit of new blood, new thinking, new ideas from time to time. The same is true of our UICCU board. This is a complex issue. When I served on the national board of Common Cause I pointed out the irony in the organization's position: there was a two-term limit on national board members -- while the organization simultaneously opposed term limits for members of Congress! The UICCU has obviously benefited from the experience of its board members. But the average length of service is something over 10 years each. (Nine of the 10 bios on the Web site indicate length of service as 8, 30, 4, 6, 8, 1, 7, ?, 7, and 13 years. The "?" is for the one member for whom length of service is not indicated, although I have been (unreliably) informed it is 25 years.)
There would be a number of ways of addressing this (if the membership wanted to do so). (1) We could have a two- or three-term (6 or 9-year) limit. (2) When the terms of the three or four members are up, the one who has served the longest could be required to drop out, thereby creating an "open seat."
Either of those proposals, or others that might be thought of, would be preferable in my opinion to what may be in the works for tomorrow evening: a credit union member running against a board member or members. (The former reflects a board that is open to, and encouraging of, members participating as new board members. The latter perpetuates the divisiveness we're trying to get away from.)
3. Ongoing Membership Involvement.
However true it may be that most UICCU members do not care about the operations of their credit union so long as the ATMs work and the interest rates are favorable, that is not a reason for foreclosing the participation of those who do care.
Half of the eligible electorate don't bother to vote for president of the United States either, but that's not been thought a persuasive reason to call off the election.
It's the opportunity for participation, the perception that the Board and CEO wish to encourage (rather than discourage) participation, the sharing of information, the inclusion of interested members in the decision and governing process, the reality as well as the appearance of genuine democratic opportunity that is important.
If you, as a Board member, would like to do more in this direction, here are some suggestions.
(a) Open Board meetings, public records. Your present practice, as I understand it, is to exclude members from your board meetings, and to refuse to publish minutes of your meetings on your Web site. This is, presumably, your legal right; but none of this letter has been about legal rights and wrongs. It is about what is in the best interests of the Board, as well as the membership, of the UICCU in our effort to avoid future February 28ths.
Clearly, one of the major causes of the February 28th problems was what's called "a failure of communication." Suspicion, rumors and hostility grow like mold when stakeholders (of any organization) are kept in the dark. The disinfectant of sunshine works to the Board's advantage as much, or more, than it does for the members.
Regardless of what's done with opening the Board meetings, and publishing the Board meeting minutes, something must be done to communicate forthrightly to the membership the program and policy options being considered by the Board, with a candid and full disclosure of the pros and cons of each, and a meaningful opportunity for the members who care to be heard.
I would suggest you consider the ideas contained in the Iowa open meetings and public records acts (laws applicable to government agencies, but not credit unions) as your starting point in thinking through how you might loosen these restrictions. They start with the assumption that all meetings should be open, and all documents should be available to the media and public. But they go on to provide a long list of exceptions. Meetings can be closed, but the reason, the applicable exception, must be stated. I would assume that much, if not most, of what goes on in your Board meetings could be open to any interested members. Similarly with the minutes of your Board meetings, and with many of the reports and documents you and the CEO use. There would be good reason to keep some confidential; others could be made available to members.
(b) Advisory committee. A supplement, or perhaps even an alternative of sorts, to opening up the board nomination and election process would be the use of advisory committees to the Board, made up of those who would like to be heard on credit union issues. Properly conceived, this could be a real benefit to the Board.
(c) Online discussion groups and polling. There needs to be some way for the members who care to communicate with each other, and with the membership at large. The Press-Citizen (among other papers) includes in its letters to the editor and op ed columns some pretty tough (and sometimes unfair) criticism of the paper -- and thereby strengthens its credibility (and circulation). If it can do it, the credit union should have even less to fear from free speech.
Polling of members can be done online. There are technological ways of insuring that individual members only vote once. Estonia just conducted a nationwide presidential election with online voting. If a nation can do it, presumably a credit union can.
Suppose, for example, that there had been an online poll of UICCU members regarding the Optiva name change -- as I proposed to some of you and our CEO. Suppose only 10% of the membership actually bothered to express a view -- 4500 members. And, of them, suppose that 80% voted in favor of the Optiva name. I may be wrong, but my guess is that virtually all members -- including those opposed to the name -- would have accepted that result.
One of the underlying assumptions in the name change was that "growth is good," and that "we may want to expand into Illinois." That may or may not be right; I'm not expressing a view on that; "show me the data" and I can be persuaded. But it remains another major issue for which we need to have a substantial majority of the membership involved, informed, persuaded and on board or we're going down the conveyor belt into another February 28th buzz saw at some point.
An online discussion -- pro and con -- followed by a polling of the membership could help avoid that preventable disaster.
(d) Ombudsperson. Many organizations, not just government and universities, have a designated ombudsperson. This is, ideally, a truly independent person who is perceived as trustworthy and neither hired nor subject to being fired by management. The ombuds is someone to whom various stakeholders (customers, students, employees) can go to present a grievance (or suggestion) anonymously -- thereby avoiding the intimidation of having to present it to a supervisor who at best may be provoked to recrimination and at worst may actually be the subject of the complaint. It is the job of the ombuds to try to resolve the problem while protecting, insofar as possible, the complainant.
At the present time, anyone who has a problem with a credit union practice or a decision of the credit union's CEO has nowhere to go but to the CEO who made the decision and, like any human, is disinclined to confess error or change policy.
4. Membership Outreach and Marketing
Don't discount the possibility that members might be able to come up with some useful ideas for building membership, marketing the credit union -- and in the process creating greater membership involvement.
Like most brainstorming, probably 90% of the ideas won't prove out. But that's the process. Here are some for starters:
Counseling and classes. The UICCU used to have financial counselors. It was a great selling point. It's a niche that is not (perhaps deliberately not) being fulfilled by the commercial banks that profit from customers' overloaded credit cards, high interest rates, and ATM charges. It's something we could do with free classes for members, one-on-one counseling, and presentations in the local junior highs and high schools.
PATV and DVDs. "Person-in-the-street" interview clips of UICCU members talking about the credit union's features could be incorporated in online and public access cable videos providing financial advice. A DVD incorporating some of this material could be provided as a recruiting item, or provided members. And of course all of this can be streamed online.
Social events. I don't know whether it would work with the UICCU, but other credit unions have picnics and other social events. The Linn Area Credit Union, mentioned above, has a dinner at its annual membership meeting.
Friends inviting friends. One of the advantages of social events is that they can be an opportunity for members to bring non-member friends to the event. But it doesn't have to require a social event. "Friends inviting friends" to UICCU membership could be tied in with some kind of financial or other reward for finding new members.
Tag line. During the February 28 meeting someone mentioned that membership of the UICCU actually grew during the months the possibility of its name change was under consideration because, went the speculation, more people became aware of the fact that UI association was not required for membership. To this, someone else responded, in effect, if that's the case, why not a one-liner in marketing and advertising mentioning this fact? Why not? "UICCU -- It's for everyone." Or, "UICCU -- It's all Iowans' first choice." Maybe ask the membership for better suggestions?
Thank you for your volunteer service over the years. I would welcome your response to my letter. What is your attitude? What do you think of the ideas I've outlined? Are you interested in working further with me and others in making the UICCU not only one of the most financially successful credit unions in the United States, but the lighthouse beacon example of the most "democratically operated organization" in the country as well?
Respectfully,
Nicholas Johnson
_____________
UICCU and "Optiva"
The UICCU-Optiva story is essentially behind us. There may be occasional additions "for the record," but for the most part the last major entry, with links to the prior material from October 2006 through March 2007, is "UICCU and 'Optiva'" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 406 - March 3 - Optiva," March 3, 2007.
# # #
[Note: If you're new to this blog, and interested in the whole UI President Search story . . .
These blog entries begin with Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search I," November 18, 2006.
Wondering where the "UI Held Hostage" came from? Click here. (As of January 25 the count has run from January 21, 2006, rather than last November.)
For any given entry, links to the prior 10 will be found in the left-most column. Going directly to FromDC2Iowa.Blogspot.com will take you to the latest. Each contains links to the full text of virtually all known media stories and commentary, including mine, since the last blog entry. Together they represent what The Chronicle of Higher Education has called "one of the most comprehensive analyses of the controversy." The last time there was an entry containing the summary of prior entries' commentary (with the heading "This Blog's Focus on Regents' Presidential Search") is Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search XIII -- Last Week," December 11, 2006.
My early proposed solution to the conflict is provided in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search VII: The Answer," November 26, 2006.
Searching: the fullest collection of basic documents related to the search is contained in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search - Dec. 21-25," December 21, 2006 (and updated thereafter), at the bottom of that blog entry under "References." A Blog Index of entries on all subjects since June 2006 is also available. And note that if you know (or can guess at) a word to search on, the "Blogger" bar near the top of your browser has a blank, followed by "SEARCH THIS BLOG," that enables you to search all entries in this Blog since June 2006.]
# # #
Media Stories and Commentary
See above.
_______________
Technorati tags: football, athletics, academics, high school, college, University of Iowa, education, K-12, leadership, university president, Michael Gartner, Iowa Board of Regents, UI president search, Nicholas Johnson, FromDC2Iowa
_______________
Nicholas Johnson's Main Web Site http://www.nicholasjohnson.org/
Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site
Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
Nicholas Johnson's Blog Index
_______________
March 14, 9:00 a.m.
Credit unions, corporate welfare, the search for Regents, and return on investment in college athletics are four of this morning's topics.
UI Problem with "UICCU"? Oh, "Never Mind"
One of the major reasons advanced for the necessity of a change from "University of Iowa Community Credit Union" to "Optiva" was the representation by the UICCU CEO and Board of objections from the University of a perceived relationship between the UI and UICCU.
Yesterday's actions by the Regents would seem to have put that concern to rest. Knowing that the name change was rejected by the membership, and that the credit union was continuing to use its "University of Iowa" name, the Regents voted to approve the credit union's return to the campus. (At its inception, in 1938, and for years thereafter it was housed on the campus.) See Brian Morelli, "Regents OK UI Relationship with Credit Union," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 14, 2007.
"Corporate Welfare, 'Good;'" "Welfare for the Downtrodden, 'Bad'"
Beth Cody has taken on the local Chamber of Commerce in this morning's Press-Citizen, charging that it "lobbies for . . . corporate welfare for big-industry special interest groups." She continues with examples:
"The chamber's 2007 Legislative Agenda is illustrative of the wrong turn it has taken: They are lobbying to increase big business handouts such as Tax Increment Financing, Economic Development Funds like the Iowa Values Fund (remember the rain forest boondoggle?) and a Destination Attraction Fund.
"They also want more tax-financed research facilities and support Iowa's ambition to become the nation's renewable fuels leader. This is a fine goal -- for private industry, not taxpayer-subsidized ones."
Beth Cody, "Local Chamber of Commerce Has Wrong Priorities," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 14, 2007.
She starts from what is essentially an anti-tax, anti-government position: "The chamber is supposed to work to keep taxes in check so that businesses can thrive." That's where Cody and I part company. As I've written before, I think focusing on taxes qua taxes is almost meaningless. (The exception is tax policy; e.g., how the tax burden is allocated among socio-economic classes; the relative merits of income, property, sales and other taxes; or the role of "user fees," such as using gasoline taxes to pay for road repair.) The discussion, the analysis, needs to begin with programs. Which programs do you want to eliminate or cut -- or add or expand -- not how much do you want to "cut taxes."
But we "meet in the middle" when it comes to programs that essentially transfer taxpayers' dollars into the pockets of for-profit businesses. She's right that there's a certain irony, or hypocracy, to someone simultaneously preaching with a religious fervor that free private enterprise and "the marketplace" are the natural order of things, and that hundreds of dollars to a "welfare mother" is a moral outrage, while simultaneously holding out a tin cup and begging for millions of dollars in taxpayer-financed corporate welfare.
The Search for a UI President . . . and Four Regents
David Letterman has a feature called "A George Bush Joke That's Not Really a Joke." One is tempted to say that this morning we have "A Press-Citizen Story That's Not Really a Story." But that would be unfair.
The lead, page-one story -- Brian Morelli, "Regents to be named this week; No word on who Culver has tapped," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 14, 2007 -- actually does leave us knowing more than we knew before. Example: "Culver has hinted that he is leaning toward naming four new members instead of reappointments, and Arbisser has said Culver told him as much." So the paper is not just offering us the "news" that "there is no buzz about who will be appointed." And see Erin Jordan, "Shake-up of Regents Expected This Week," Des Moines Register, March 14, 2007.
It's a matter of no little consequence for the UI president search. After all, knowing the history of Regents President Michael Gartner's relationship with the University of Iowa would you want to take a job trying to work under his thumb? Or, otherwise put, if Search Committee II comes up with a candidate who is willing to work under those conditions, is that someone the University community should want?
Thus, who the new four Regents turn out to be, and the degree to which they are willing to recapture the powers and responsibilities of the Board of Regents from the one-man rule the present Board members seem to find acceptable, will have a major impact on whom Search Committee II is going to be able to submit to that new Board as "finalists" for the UI presidency.
Meanwhile, the Search Committee II Web site is looking up. There is now a link to "Meeting Minutes" (formerly submerged within "Meeting Schedule"). And there's a description of Iowa City and the University that makes you wonder why even more people don't come here as faculty, students -- and just to live. And a description of the president's job that makes you wonder (a) where we're going to find a single individual with the qualities formerly only found in Jesus plus Jefferson plus Einstein plus Franklin Roosevelt, etc., and (b) why anyone would want it.
If you haven't looked it recently, take a click over to: http://www.uiowa.edu/uipresidentialsearch/ .
College Athletics Budgets as "Investments"
A professor at the Des Moines Area Community College Boone campus, Bruce Kelly, has an op ed in this morning's Register that addresses one of the arguments for college athletic programs: "they are revenue producers." Bruce Kelly, "Let's Fund Education, Not College Sports Machine," Des Moines Register, March 14, 2007. Kelly reports that of 121 NCAA Division I-A schools, 52 either made no money or actually lost. All told, 75% earned less than a 6% return on their athletic "investment." Not surprisingly, Kelly offers some better ways to spend the nearly $3 billion a year spent on these non-remunerative supposedly "money-making" programs.
_______________
UICCU and "Optiva"
The UICCU-Optiva story is essentially behind us. There may be occasional additions "for the record," but for the most part the last major entry, with links to the prior material from October 2006 through March 2007, is "UICCU and 'Optiva'" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 406 - March 3 - Optiva," March 3, 2007.
# # #
[Note: If you're new to this blog, and interested in the whole UI President Search story . . .
These blog entries begin with Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search I," November 18, 2006.
Wondering where the "UI Held Hostage" came from? Click here. (As of January 25 the count has run from January 21, 2006, rather than last November.)
For any given entry, links to the prior 10 will be found in the left-most column. Going directly to FromDC2Iowa.Blogspot.com will take you to the latest. Each contains links to the full text of virtually all known media stories and commentary, including mine, since the last blog entry. Together they represent what The Chronicle of Higher Education has called "one of the most comprehensive analyses of the controversy." The last time there was an entry containing the summary of prior entries' commentary (with the heading "This Blog's Focus on Regents' Presidential Search") is Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search XIII -- Last Week," December 11, 2006.
My early proposed solution to the conflict is provided in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search VII: The Answer," November 26, 2006.
Searching: the fullest collection of basic documents related to the search is contained in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search - Dec. 21-25," December 21, 2006 (and updated thereafter), at the bottom of that blog entry under "References." A Blog Index of entries on all subjects since June 2006 is also available. And note that if you know (or can guess at) a word to search on, the "Blogger" bar near the top of your browser has a blank, followed by "SEARCH THIS BLOG," that enables you to search all entries in this Blog since June 2006.]
# # #
Media Stories and Commentary
See above.
_______________
Technorati tags: football, athletics, academics, high school, college, University of Iowa, education, K-12, leadership, university president, Michael Gartner, Iowa Board of Regents, UI president search, Nicholas Johnson, FromDC2Iowa
_______________
Nicholas Johnson's Main Web Site http://www.nicholasjohnson.org/
Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site
Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
Nicholas Johnson's Blog Index
_______________
March 13, 8:40 a.m.
Today's news includes credit unions, gambling casinos, drug courts, and Mary Gilchrist's court. And see State29 on Iowa Values Fund (State29, "'This is a Scandal, Or Should Be," March 12, 2007) and gambling casino expansion (State29, "Gambling Diet or Cannibalization?" March 12, 2007).
In Praise of a Credit Union
A friend shared with me the notice they received from their credit union. It's the "Linn Area Credit Union." Not incidentally, that's an example of a geographically broad (county-wide) name, suggesting anyone in the county can be a member, and that has not discouraged those outside the county, like my friend, from joining.
Note the features of the notice that encourage membership involvement.
1. It's a large postcard, with a resulting actual notice almost impossible to miss. (So far as I'm aware I've received no notice of my credit union's forthcoming membership meeting.)
2. Note the language: "You'll have an opportunity to vote for Directors to represent your interests." "The primary difference between a credit union and a 'for profit' bank is that members – not stockholders – own the credit union and have a say in how it is run." "We hope to see you there!"
3. The meeting's agenda is clearly set forth.
4. To encourage member attendance, the meeting is scheduled for 5:30, dinner is served, and door prizes are awarded.
5. But member participation is not limited to those able to attend an evening meeting. They can vote for Directors anytime between 9 and 5 on the day of the meeting at any credit union branch office and up until 6 at the main office.
6. Members are actually encouraged to run for positions as Directors (i.e., necessarily, thereby, running "against" currently sitting Directors)!
7. Members are provided the name and phone number of the CEO (phone numbers for my credit union's CEO and board members have yet to appear on its Web site), with the details regarding how to run for a Director position ("please call" the CEO "by March 23rd").
Here is the full text of the postcard message:
Linn Area Credit Union’s Annual Membership Meeting
You’re invited to Linn Area Credit Union’s annual meeting at our Blair’s Ferry Road office on Tuesday, April 10th at 5:30 pm. You’ll have an opportunity to vote for Directors to represent your interests. Then we’ll have a light dinner followed by a short business meeting.
Can’t make it to the meeting but still want to vote? Stop by any Linn Area Credit Union location between 9 am and 5 pm on April 10th to cast your vote for the Board of Directors and register for door prizes. Voting at the Blairs Ferry Road branch will run from 9 am until 6 pm.
Why should you vote? The primary difference between a credit union and a “for profit” bank is that members – not stockholders – own the credit union and have a say in how it is run. Since you are one of the owners of Linn Area Credit Union, we encourage you to elect the people who speak on your behalf when making decisions affecting your credit union.
Interested in running for a board position? Directors are unpaid volunteers who serve 3 year terms and oversee the credit union. For more information, please call Jim Hagerman, President/CEO by March 23rd at 378-0101 x 304.
We hope to see you there!
Gambling Casinos Expanding
The Gazette has a page-one report on the expansion of the nine gambling casinos within an easy drive of almost anywhere in eastern Iowa. The UI's gambling parter, the Riverside Gambling Casino, has spurred the competition, and caused double-digit percentage declines in the attendance and revenues of its closest casino competitors. It's a war of shares; there's a limit to how much discretionary income eastern Iowans have to drop into slot machines, so the casinos are fighting to hold on to as much of their former share of the area's gambling profits as they can. And they're fighting by spending. Riverside has hotel rooms, restaurants, swimming pool, spa -- and soon, a golf course. Now nine area casinos are following Riverside's example, hoping to at least look like Riverside even if their new hotels have occupancy rates far below profitable levels. I still believe there may be a rainbow, but there is no pot of gold; Iowa cannot gamble itself into economic prosperity. But no one seems to agree with me, so notwithstanding thousands of years of evidence to the contrary we're sticking to this fork in the yellow brick road, in the hopes that, with Robert Frost, that will make all the difference. Gregg Hennigan, "Casinos royale; Aspirations rise for luxury," The Gazette, March 13, 2007.
For the benefit of those who can't drive the short distance to one of their neighborhood gambling casinos, The Gazette's front page also offers advice on how to run a NCAA "pool" betting operation. Rick Smith, "Know the Basics with NCAA Pools," The Gazette, March 13, 2007.
Drug Courts
The Press-Citizen is editorializing in favor of drug courts this morning. "[Johnson County Attorney Janet] Lyness's election opened the possibility of more direct explorations of diversion for low-level substance abuse offenses, of a drug court for more serious substance abuse offenses, of a cite-and-release program for some serious and aggravated misdemeanors and of expansion of the mental health diversion program. . . . The Iowa Legislature, with the strong support of Coralville's Sen. Bob Dvorsky, is considering a $300,000 plan to bring a drug court to the district. We hope the Legislature provides the funding this session so our new county attorney can make good on her promise to explore such alternatives." Editorial, "Drug Court is a Needed Local Alternative," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 13, 2007
Mary Gilchrist's Court
Gilchrist wants a jury trial. Interim President Fethke and Vice President Meredith Hay prefer a "summary judgment" -- a judge's ruling in their favor that can't be tainted with the judgment of ordinary citizens. See "Fethke, Hay Ask for Summary Judgment," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 13, 2007.
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UICCU and "Optiva"
The UICCU-Optiva story is essentially behind us. There may be occasional additions "for the record," but for the most part the last major entry, with links to the prior material from October 2006 through March 2007, is "UICCU and 'Optiva'" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 406 - March 3 - Optiva," March 3, 2007.
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[Note: If you're new to this blog, and interested in the whole UI President Search story . . .
These blog entries begin with Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search I," November 18, 2006.
Wondering where the "UI Held Hostage" came from? Click here. (As of January 25 the count has run from January 21, 2006, rather than last November.)
For any given entry, links to the prior 10 will be found in the left-most column. Going directly to FromDC2Iowa.Blogspot.com will take you to the latest. Each contains links to the full text of virtually all known media stories and commentary, including mine, since the last blog entry. Together they represent what The Chronicle of Higher Education has called "one of the most comprehensive analyses of the controversy." The last time there was an entry containing the summary of prior entries' commentary (with the heading "This Blog's Focus on Regents' Presidential Search") is Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search XIII -- Last Week," December 11, 2006.
My early proposed solution to the conflict is provided in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search VII: The Answer," November 26, 2006.
Searching: the fullest collection of basic documents related to the search is contained in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search - Dec. 21-25," December 21, 2006 (and updated thereafter), at the bottom of that blog entry under "References." A Blog Index of entries on all subjects since June 2006 is also available. And note that if you know (or can guess at) a word to search on, the "Blogger" bar near the top of your browser has a blank, followed by "SEARCH THIS BLOG," that enables you to search all entries in this Blog since June 2006.]
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Media Stories and Commentary
See above.
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Technorati tags: football, athletics, academics, high school, college, University of Iowa, education, K-12, leadership, university president, Michael Gartner, Iowa Board of Regents, UI president search, Nicholas Johnson, FromDC2Iowa
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Nicholas Johnson's Main Web Site http://www.nicholasjohnson.org/
Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site
Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
Nicholas Johnson's Blog Index
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March 11, 11:55 a.m., 3:45 p.m.
Never did get back to the blog two days ago, when the topics were going to be "Iowa City as a writing community;" "Fair Share;" "drug courts;" "Colloton;" and "UICCU ('Optiva')." So here are those topics now along with a little more about "UI, Athletics and Gambling Partnerships."
And my one-person exploratory committee and sole supporter -- the insightful, humorous, fearless, articulate, and often cited but never sighted State 29 -- is continuing to urge my Democratic Primary run against incumbent U.S. Senator Tom Harkin. (State29, "Tom Harkin's Half-Assessed Competition," March 9, 2007 (a reference to Cedar Rapids Republican businessman Steve Rathje, lest that headline leave any ambiguity), and State29, "Tom Harkin is Fundraising for Re-Election in 2008," February 12, 2007.)
I'm going to try to get some academic writing done during this "spring break" week, so the comments will be much shorter, and the references to newspaper stories will only provide links to the papers' online versions (if they're available on a non-subscription basis) rather than permanently available copies on my server.
Iowa City: A Writing Community
My comments about this are found in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 412 - March 9," March 9, 2007.
The primary article on the subject is Diane Heldt, "University of Iowa a Writing Mecca; UI hopes to add another jewel to its crown by launching an undergrad writing program," The Gazette, March 9, 2007.
"Fair Share"
The proposal that those who personally benefit from unions' negotiations for higher pay and better benefits and working conditions ought to pay their "fair share" of the costs of those union activities -- while not requiring them to "join" the union and pay the full dues -- passed the Iowa Legislature, sort of. Rod Boshart, "Senate approves 'fair share,'" The Gazette, March 9, 2007. (The Senate voted 28-21 for a bill that would apply the requirement to public employees only.) And see letter from Barbara Beaumont, "Non-Members Get Benefits for Free," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 10, 2007 ("When non-members receive the good benefits of negotiations, they don't join the union, they just consider themselves clever for getting something for nothing.").
"Drug Courts"
On March 8, in discussing prison overcrowding and proposals for bigger jails, I mentioned "drug courts" as a way to better solve the drug problem than putting addicts in jail, while also reducing the pressure on overcrowded jails. ("Prison Alternatives" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 411 -- March 8," March 8, 2007.) Blog comments seldom have more than a slight, if any, impact on public policy, and certainly not that one of mine -- if for no other reason than the timing. But it was a delightful coincidence to see on the front page of the Press-Citizen the following day that the idea is apparently being taken seriously. Brian Morelli, "Drug court proposal may lighten legal load; Diverse team would supervise offender," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 9, 2007.
John Colloton
The ongoing praise of John Colloton, in op ed columns and letters to the editor, continues (See, e.g., Shams Ghoneim, "Colloton is an Iowa Jewel," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 9, 2007.) And now a much more tangible honor has come his way as well. Diane Hedt, "UI Pomerantz gives UI $4 million; Half of donation from former regent will honor Colloton," The Gazette, March 10, 2007 (the John W. Colloton Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine).
As with those Colloton fans who have written earlier, Ms. Ghoneim leads with, "I have been alarmed by the unjustified and public criticism of John W. Colloton." As I have written before, the public commentary involving Colloton has seemed to me to almost unanimously sing his praises for his years building the UIHC into the highly regarded institution it is today. I have not sensed either "justified" or "unjustified" "criticism of John W. Colloton." And for his fans to suggest that it is he who is being criticized, and then try to knock down this straw man of their own creation with a flood of praise of the man, seems to me to do him no favors. It's almost a "they protest too much" suggestion that maybe there should be "criticism of John W. Colloton."
Colloton has been the catalyst in bringing three issues to public attention -- none of which, however, involves any hint of wrongdoing on his part.
One involves the legal issues surrounding "email as public records." This happens to be a personal academic interest of mine. Colloton honestly believes that his email messages should be considered personal, private, documents unavailable to the public and media as "public records." The Iowa Attorney General agrees with him as a matter of law. Others disagree. Email as "open meetings" and "public records" raise interesting public policy questions to which the Iowa Legislature is turning its attention. But no one, so far as I know, has suggested that Colloton did anything wrong in sending email, or in asserting his belief that his emails are not public records. So I don't quite see how discussion of the issue (for which he happens to have been a recent focus) can be characterized as "criticism."
Another issue involves the Regents universities' policies regarding emeritus status. Few, if any, have suggested that the emeritus title should be done away with for Iowa's retired university professors. Here again there has been no hint, of which I am aware, of any wrongdoing by Colloton. He was given the title, and such perks as accompanied it, by a grateful University for years of quality service. He didn't steal any perks in the dead of night. He simply used what he had been given. In fact, the person of John Colloton is almost totally irrelevant to the issues, which go to the clarity and consistency of the policies regarding who is and is not awarded the title, and what perks should go with it. Those are, again, public policy issues worthy of attention. But to address them in no way suggests a "criticism" of Colloton merely because his case is what triggered the discussion.
The third issue is a little more problematical, but even it is more a matter of fact finding and public policy than it is a criticism of Colloton as such. It involves the relationship between Wellmark and UIHC, and the fact of Colloton's role on the board of Wellmark. Whether that could ever be a problem requires a fact finding regarding the relationship between the two institutions and the ways in which their interests might diverge. Even to the extent there is a potential problem here, so far as I am aware there was never a misrepresentation by Colloton as to his roles with both institutions, a violation of any law of Iowa or regulation of the Regents or the University, or a protest of the relationships from anyone with a responsiility for oversight. As with the other two issues, conflict of interest issues are clearly worthy of attention, exploration, review and revision of policies and regulations -- if necessary.
I may be wrong. There may have, in fact, been public ad hominum statements focused on criticism of Colloton as such. But, if not, I think his friends might want to think twice about "defending" him from charges that have not been made.
UI, Athletics and Gambling Partnerships
The Press-Citizen reports the Presidential Committee on Athletics (PCA) will be voting April 5 on the ties between the Athletic program, Iowa Lottery and Riverside Gambling Casino. The Faculty Council unanimously recommended the ties be severed. PCA Chair Charles Lynch noted that, unlike some faculty governance decisions, faculty committees can only recommend regarding matters having to do with athletics. And since Interim President Fethke, Athletic Director Barta and, seemingly, PCA Chair Lynch all favor gambling ties it's probable any faculty opponents will be stiffed on this one. Ryan Suchomel, "Vote set on UI ties to lottery; Decision by PCA will be nonbinding," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 9, 2007.
As a reminder of what's at stake here, a related story in the Des Moines Register reported the consequences of gambling for Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, banker Deb Anderson. S. P. Dinnen, "Gambling pushed banker to steal $1.4 million; The longtime employee of Pioneeer Bank embezzled to feed her addiction," Des Moines Register, March 10, 2007. The paper noted that this is certainly not the first time this consequence of legalized gambling has occurred in Iowa.
UICCU ("Optiva")
As I've written before, the UICCU-Optiva story is behind us, so far as commentary from me is concerned. But since this blog contains one of the more complete records of the matter, for those who come here looking for the details I'll continue to add such items from time to time as seem important for that record. (See Nicholas Johnson, "UICCU and 'Optiva'" in Nicholas Johnson, "UI Held Hostage Day 406 - March 3 - Optiva," March 3, 2007 (last entry, with links to prior entries October 2006 through March 2007).)
Among the questions that have been raised is the extent to which the UICCU management used the employees as a means of "winning" the issue and the vote, specifically the pro-Optiva letter-writing campaign. Someone has now done the research on that one:
"It seemed that many of the pro-Optiva [letters] were written by UICCU employees, and I decided to do some research to determine what percentage of the pro-Optiva letters were written by employees. Of the 21 pro-Optiva letters I saw, 19 were written by employees, and 2 were written by people of unknown affiliation. Of the 12 pro-UICCU letters, none were written by employees as far as I can determine. It makes me wonder how there can be such a disconnect between management and non-employee members." Sue Travis, "Listen better to members' votes," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 9, 2007. (The names, dates and details of this research are on file with the Iowa Credit Union Division.)
As of March 11 there were two comments from individuals I do not know added to the Travis letter on the Press-Citizen location linked above:
UICCU among the nation’s elite Posted by: sillyme on Fri Mar 09, 2007 4:34 pm
The UICCU is a cooperative financial institution. That the word financial appears in that sentence is no accident. The prime measure of management’s responsiveness is not the debate of participatory versus representative governance but the degree to which the cooperative's profits are returned to the membership. In that key respect the management of UICCU President Jeff Disterhoft and Board Chairman Dean Borg has led this representative cooperative to a place among the nation’s elite.
UICCU: Straying from the point Posted by: fromafar on Sat Mar 10, 2007 2:00 am
The admirable financial performance by UICCU has never been an issue in the debate regarding changing the name of the credit union, so this has no bearing on the present discussion. Failure to communicate, failure to seek and achieve "buy-in" by members/customers, and failure to demonstrate understanding, sympathy or empathy towards those who questioned the name change all represent textbook examples (literally) of how not to lead a major change in a brand.
# # #
[Note: If you're new to this blog, and interested in the whole UI President Search story . . .
These blog entries begin with Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search I," November 18, 2006.
Wondering where the "UI Held Hostage" came from? Click here. (As of January 25 the count has run from January 21, 2006, rather than last November.)
For any given entry, links to the prior 10 will be found in the left-most column. Going directly to FromDC2Iowa.Blogspot.com will take you to the latest. Each contains links to the full text of virtually all known media stories and commentary, including mine, since the last blog entry. Together they represent what The Chronicle of Higher Education has called "one of the most comprehensive analyses of the controversy." The last time there was an entry containing the summary of prior entries' commentary (with the heading "This Blog's Focus on Regents' Presidential Search") is Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search XIII -- Last Week," December 11, 2006.
My early proposed solution to the conflict is provided in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search VII: The Answer," November 26, 2006.
Searching: the fullest collection of basic documents related to the search is contained in Nicholas Johnson, "UI President Search - Dec. 21-25," December 21, 2006 (and updated thereafter), at the bottom of that blog entry under "References." A Blog Index of entries on all subjects since June 2006 is also available. And note that if you know (or can guess at) a word to search on, the "Blogger" bar near the top of your browser has a blank, followed by "SEARCH THIS BLOG," that enables you to search all entries in this Blog since June 2006.]
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Technorati tags: football, athletics, academics, high school, college, University of Iowa, education, K-12, leadership, university president, Michael Gartner, Iowa Board of Regents, UI president search, Nicholas Johnson, FromDC2Iowa
_______________
Nicholas Johnson's Main Web Site http://www.nicholasjohnson.org/
Nicholas Johnson's Iowa Rain Forest ("Earthpark") Web Site
Nicholas Johnson's Blog, FromDC2Iowa
Nicholas Johnson's Blog Index
_______________
