To All Members of the AAO

I have considered with due care the events of last week, have discussed them
with colleagues, and have read with interest Liz Mayville's position
regarding the potential move of the AAO head office.

I understand that any proposed move is being done with the best interests of
the association in mind.  Unfortunately, the Board has apparently adopted a
parochial position in that they know best, and refuses to listen to any
thoughts in regard to this move.  I realise that Liz has written that she
invites members to contact Board members, but based upon the actions of the
Board at last week's  meeting, I have limited faith in her proposition.

For those members who were unable to attend last week's Annual General
Meeting, the members of the Board actively hid the fact that they had
received legal advice concerning the perceived necessity to change the
constitution to permit the Head Office to move outside of Toronto.  I know
that some might be concerned with this statement and might argue that the
Board merely dealt with the issue when it came up at the AGM, but in
conversation prior to the AGM, members of the Board made a number of cryptic
references about how surprised "the other side" was going to be with what
they were going to do.  By their own admission they knew at least 24 hours
prior to the AGM that they did not require a constitutional amendment but
did not advertise this fact until the very end of the AGM, when they acted
to cut off all debate.

At the time a proposal was made that a straw poll should be taken of the
members present so that the Board could have an understanding of the
feelings of the membership.  Jeremy Heil, then president of the AAO, refused
to permit such a poll, stating that as not all the members were not present
this would not fairly represent the interests or opinions of the membership.
Let me make this clear, this was not any just any random meeting of AAO
members who happened to run into the Board in a bar, this was the Annual
General Meeting of the AAO.  After he made this startling statement I, and
others, quickly raised my hand to indicate our concerns -- one of the first
members he called upon instead called for an end to the meeting and in
accordance with Parliamentary procedure, that was the end of debate and the
AGM ended.  

Were it possible, I would call for consideration of the position of the
president in regard for his disdain for the AGM.  As he is no-longer
president this may be dropped, but let me be clear -- it is the role of the
Board to respond to the wishes of the Association, not to willfully ignore
them. The Board may decide not to follow those wishes, but they should be
considered. Prior to the AGM Jeremy had raised a number of interesting
points regarding the financial position of the AAO and the possible benefits
of moving the office from downtown Toronto.  In making these points he acted
in a thoughtful and appropriate manner.  Had he continued to act in this
manner perhaps he could have swayed a majority of the membership to his
side.  As of this date, a number of members have indicated to me that they
may not be renewing their memberships, not because of the move of the head
office, but rather because of the way that proposed move has been handled.

The AAO requires stable funding and a better fiscal footing, and yes we do
need to consider all of our financial expenditures.  Sometimes what we do
may not make financial sense (for those who did not attend the banquet,
would you believe they actually had an open bar?) and we should consider all
of these factors.  At the same time though, the real interests of the AAO as
an association of individuals, as well as institutions, should not be
overlooked.
 

Daniel German 
Sometime Past Member of the AAO Board

NB  The above comments and opinions represent those of the author and do not
represent those of his employers


-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for discussion for the Archives Assoc. of Ontario
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Liz Mayville
Sent: Tuesday, June 13, 2006 9:47 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: AAO Office Move - Update

Good Morning Everyone,

Last week at the AGM in Hamilton, the Board rescinded its motion to change
section 2.2 of the Constitution dealing with the office location. The
reasoning behind this action was that the Board received some legal
information related to the Corporations Act (and in turn our letters patent)
late last week, which made the resolution put forth unnecessary. The Board
was informed that the Association could maintain a "head office" in Toronto
in the form of an address of record (such as a law firm) while the physical
office is located at some other address (or even addresses) in Ontario. 
Because of this new information, the Board determined that the issue at hand
was not a constitutional issue, but a policy issue which will be dealt with
by the Board. Over the past few years the Board has attempted to move to a
Policy Governance Model which allows the Board to spell out policies related
to the goals and visions of the Association. Operational methods such as
services, programmes, finances and personnel are staff issues which are to
be dealt with by our Executive Director. Unfortunately, the Board has been
struggling with this new governance model and a number of issues still need
to be dealt with in the following year. Such problems relate to our
assumption of roles, communication, our financial situation, and staffing
which has related to greater responsibility being placed on one individual.
All these issues, in turn, are related to the issue of the office move. 
The issue itself has created a lot of debate about the possibility of a move
to somewhere outside of Toronto. Although this latest bit of information
allows the Board the possibility to move anywhere in Ontario, it does not
mean a move is either definite or permanent. However, the Board together
with the Executive Director needs to find an alternative to deal with some
of the Association's current financial issues and this may constitute
finding cheaper office space elsewhere in Ontario.
The Board has a lot to discuss in the following weeks and we are encouraging
members to contact Board Members with their comments and concerns regarding
the issue of moving the office outside of Toronto.
Sincerely,
Liz Mayville
President - Archives Association of Ontario