Now, now

Hit a nerve, did I? You've hurt poor Stella's feelings and they are sooooo deep. Why soooooo defensive when I asked a fair question- isn't this a conflict of interest????!!!! Obviously it is but Chrisy is suckering you all in. I point this out for the betterment of the HONENA and out of the goodness of my huuuuge, loving heart.
By the way, whether you want to believe it or not I am NOT Stevie Boy.
Have you seen him 'cause ole Stella would love a rondevous with him. Come up and see me sometime!

By Stella!

Addendums

In my previous note, instead of ''... I'm aware that he has discussed with anyone who has asked him about it directly'', I meant to state ''... I'm aware that he has discussed it with some people who have asked him about it directly.''

Also, I realized that I did not answer the question about the candidate forums. At the most recent Board meeting, we tried to refine who would be invited and the format given time constraints. Nothing is established for Sept. yet but invitations will be issued this week for School Board primary candidates for our district to appear at the August meeting.

Finally, I decided to add a brief description of my own perspective on the primary issue raised. A charge that a person uses their Association position for personal gain to the detriment of the Association is a serious matter and the responsible act would be to discuss it responsibly. Unfortunately, this forum has proven to be an inadequate medium for such discussions in the past and that's why I think the best recourse is for anyone with a concern to bring it up with the Board and/or with the person in question.

With respect to Chris' roles as HONNA President and his public office candidacy, I reflected on the duality quite a bit, applied some ''acid tests,'' and have not seen any reason why his public office candidacy is detrimental to the Association's business.

If anyone wants to discuss the matter with me as a Board member, I personally would be happy to listen and discuss -- but I won't use this forum for that dialogue.

Finally (again): When I joined the Board, I did some research on the subject of conflict of interest for volunteer boards and found this site. It provides useful guidelines:

http://www.boardsource.org/intel/qaf27.htm



By Joe

To Joe

Joe, you seem to be an honorabe and reasonable fellow and for that the neighborhood residents should be grateful that you are volunteering to serve your community. Thank you.

As for the volunteer / polical office discussion, it is one that merely repeats itself again and again. Northshore (oops- Old NE Neighborhood Association) has a long history of activists using it as a platform. (Ford, Burns, et al) Certainly there is room for discussion on the pros and cons. It is also a question of which comes first- the desire to help the immediate community followed by a larger need to serve; or, deliberately
using the association to get one's name known with the full intent of
seeking ''higher'' office. I would think that each situation should be scrutinized on its own merit by the board and membership. In the case where conflict becomes a problem or short changes the association, then it is the duty of the board to graciously ask for the resignation of the offending party. However, this takes astute, diligent observation on the part of the board and a willingness for the board to put aside
personal feelings for the good of the whole.

By Anna Coleman

Perception

Good referral to that web site. the applicable part is ''public perception'' and that may be the board's biggest challenge. Good to see thought given to the matter.

By Henry