Greetings,

The past month or so have generated an excellent discussion on the
proposal to relocate the AAO office.  I am certainly pleased that a number
of you have been very candid with your concerns, and have contributed to,
what I feel, has been a very meaningful discourse on the directions of
this Association.

To contribute further, I would like to clear up some misconceptions that
seemed to have arisen in the past few weeks in both the listserv
discussions and in e-mails sent personally to me.  First and foremost, the
Board has no intention of reducing the salary of the Executive Director if
the office moves out of Toronto.  On the contrary, the Executive Director
has been working at a reduced salary when compared to her predecessor, and
the Board has proposed the move in part to ensure the Executive Director
is able to earn a liveable wage.  In lieu of actual funds to accomplish
this goal, moving the office to a less expensive location would both free
additional funds and reduce the cost of living (assuming the Executive
Director also moves to that city or town).

Someone had indicated in an earlier posting to the listserv that they fear
the pool of trained individuals from whom the AAO could hire additional
office support, especially in the summer, would be compromised by moving
out of Toronto.  The Board has looked into this, and it would appear that
the case is quite the opposite.  Taking the example of a move to McKellar,
the Parry Sound employment office has clearly indicated that, as a prime
summer destination for cottagers, there is an enormous influx of students
to the area annually.  Many of these students actively seek work while
vacationing with their families, and tend to spend the entire summer in
the area.  This would serve the AAO far greater than remaining in Toronto,
where we have had enormous difficulty in recruitment.  The benefits would
come as a result of being located in an area where competition for skilled
employees is considerably lower.

TAAG has indicated in their motion that they would like to see "a long
term business plan and strategic vision" in place in advance of any such
move.  At this moment, the AAO is in its third year of a five-year
strategic plan.  The Board has, in fact, proposed this move in order to
continue to meet our goals on "Administration & Governance" in our current
strategic plan (this states that the AAO will "(e)nsure that the AAO
manages its programmes, resources, and activities in a manner that is
effective, and accountable to its members.").  Discussions on strategic
planning in 2008 may need to include a further discussion on the location
and purpose of the office.

To answer the more specific concerns that were brought up at the recent
TAAG AGM, I have written a response to each below:

The maintenance of accessible office space (accessible is meant to
understand a space that can be accessed by regional transit by the
majority of the AAO membership)
*This certainly was the original purpose for maintaining an office in
Toronto.  It would be fiscally irresponsible, however, to maintain an
office in a location simply for the potential of the majority of members
to visit.  The reality is, not one member outside of the Board and one or
two committees ever visit the office.

The view that a professional organization maintains corporate office space
and isn’t home based
*In the modern age of communication, it is no longer uncommon to find many
offices run from a home.  In fact, the AAO currently employs three
individuals, two of whom maintain a home office in locations other than
Toronto.  The central office is only central in that it is the hub of the
AAO's communications.

The view that our professional image is tied to the region in which our
office is based (most other provincial associations are headquartered in
the provinces capital city)
*Indeed most, although not all, provincial associations are based in the
capital cities of their respective provinces.  However, they also have the
luxury of enjoying rental rates and costs of living that are far lower
than our capital city.  Furthermore, most other provincial associations do
not maintain a head office, but rather a post office box (which the AAO
had done prior to 2000).

The concern that the way in which this proposal was presented and
explained to the membership was not transparent
*The minutes for all Board meetings are made available in the OTR, and are
available from the office upon request.  At no time did the Board partake
in secret discussions on this issue, and the minutes in the Winter 2006
OTR cover the discussions that had taken place.  Unfortunately, the
minutes from the 16 September 2005 did not make it to print, as they had
not been passed in advance of OTR press time.  All Chapter presidents (as
well as any AAO member) had also been invited to attend each of the four
Board meetings held this past year.

A desire for assurance that the AAO Board is actively investigating many
options with respect to an office move (i.e. a commercial lease,
partnership with other organizations)
*The Board has been actively engaged in conducting a cost-benefit analysis
of all other options that would either keep the office in Toronto or move
it to another town or city.  The Ontario Heritage Foundation rents space
in two buildings in Toronto, and their rates are very reasonable, since
they rent almost exclusively to not-for-profit organizations. 
Unfortunately, the space available is less than half the size of what we
currently have, and would be inadequate for our needs.  Additional space
is also available in another building, although the cost savings would be
negligible, since we would need to rent more than one room to accommodate
AAO staff and office equipment.

Conducting a search on commercial office space in any number of
municipalities reveals how much less we would need to spend were the AAO
not required to maintain its head office in Toronto.  By searching within
any municipality on the Government of Ontario's Commercial Real Estate
website (http://www.2ontario.com/orea/home.asp) - Property Type:
Commercial, Transaction type: Lease only/Offices, and set the maximum
total area to 1000 square feet), there are numerous locations that would
be suitable.

The recollection that the reason the AAO was formed was to give a more
professional structure to the organization
*A significant portion of the professional structure of the organization
involves fiscal responsibility.  The Board views a move outside of Toronto
as part of a strategy to ensure the financial viability of the Association
(a strategy and action to ensure financial viability is required to obtain
an Operating Grant).  The strategy also includes additional cost-cutting
measures and fundraising, which is still in its infancy, but should start
to reap dividends within the next year.

Without a positive change in both income and cost-savings, the AAO will
face great difficulty in maintaining its current level of services.  Key
services such as the Archives Advisor, Preservation Consultant,
Professional Development and ARCHEION will continue to be funded through
CCA grants for some time to come.  However, the AAO office supports those
key services by managing their accounting, reimbursements and budgets.  As
well, it publicizes each programme and provides a central point of
contact.  Prior to the creation of the AAO office, this was handled mostly
by volunteers, which proved to be an incredible burden as the workloads
related to each programme increased.  Decisive and immediate action is
required, while inaction will place the future of the AAO office in
jeopardy.

A concern that there have been too many moves in a short time (costs to
update letterhead)
*The moves the AAO have had to make over the past few years have been a
direct result of competition from other renters.  The Executive Director
had great difficulty securing an office before finding much smaller space
at Adelaide Street.  However, once the office had moved in, we were forced
to move within a year's time to accommodate a renter who offered a higher
price to the owner of our space.  The same situation exists with regards
to our current office space, located elsewhere in the same building.  Our
current situation is extremely tenuous and we may well have to move anyway
if the current landlord finds a renter who will pay more. The Board
anticipates that a move out of Toronto would actually stabilize our
address.

Concerns regarding the availability of resources in centres outside the
GTA (high speed internet access)
*In 2006, even rural Ontario is no longer a backwater when it comes to
communication technology.  Wherever the office moves in Ontario, it would
continue to have telephone, fax, high-speed Internet, and postal service.

Perception that the constitution is being changed to meet the needs of one
individual
*This move has been proposed to meet the needs of the members.  The AAO
office and office staff have become a vital part of the Association, and
have significantly improved the services available to the membership. 
Moving the office would safeguard the AAO's services.  The Board has been
weighing all options only in terms of their benefit to the Association,
but we will not shy away from any one option simply because it might help
an individual staff member at the same time, especially if that option
happens to make the best business case.

That the organization could potentially be too closely tied to an employee
*The Board had discussed this concern at length and agrees that, without
the appropriate legal mechanisms in place (such as a contract or
memorandum of understanding), there would be the potential for future
difficulties.  For this reason, if the office were to move to a space
within the residence of an employee of the AAO, the Board would ensure
that any legal and logistical conditions have been met before moving.

As always, I am pleased to answer any questions you may have (although I
apologise in advance if I am unable to respond immediately, as this has
proven to be, and continues to be, a very busy month).

With regards,

Jeremy Heil
---------------------
President
Archives Association of Ontario

http://aao.fis.utoronto.ca/
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