Leaderboard

I am not sure that agreement can be presumed. I am a lawyer, 40 years in practice and our council executive, pompously affecting "CEO" is paid twice what I earn. And so, fine. BUT, the CEO manages half a dozen "professionals" who do menial tasks. (Actually, the tasks I've done as a volunteer-and much better than the "professionals.") And, if I make a legal mistake, I can lose my net worth-easily so. If the council CEO makes a mistake-frankly-who will ever know? I have no pension. Scout professionals have a superb pension. So, why does my scout CEO get paid over $300,

Once upon a time, DEs were trained in program. Before my time, it was held at Schiff Scout reservation. When I was a DE, we had 3 months to complete Scoutmaster Fundamentals, Exploring Basic Leader Training, and Cub Scout Basic Leader Training in order to go to PDL-1. Also there was a 1 day mock "campout" where we went ot a camp and did some stuff there. Planning events was also part of the process. But when I talked to a DE about training, it is mostly online now, I have no idea what it covered, but I know it is inadequate.

It was commonplace in a lot of councils. I heard stories from other pros about folks going to graveyards and using phone books to get names. I know one district had 1/3 of the members and units that were fake. The DE tried his best to clean up the mess, and the SE and DFS were ticked off and forced the DE out of the profession. While I agree it is insane to keep paper units and Scouts, there are some pros who would do anything to get the numbers so they can meet goals and get raises. Same DE was at a staff conference, and thought his SE was telling folks how to spot fake units to fix the pro

There's a difference between competently managing an organization to maintain a healthy balance sheet while still effectively delivering your product, and propping up institutionalized dysfunction when you can't deliver your product. Our product isn't fundraising. If the results of fundraising in a nonprofit aren't being applied mostly to the product -- the unit level program -- then something is wrong.

Scouting is on it's way out. Not anytime soon but the trends point to the end. National will die before most LC's due to huge debt and little cash on hand. There will be many council mergers and more camps sold in the next few years. The best way to continue scouting is to eliminate National and have LC's vote on standards and rules. No National needed. Sell Summit and National offices.

There are other factors. For example, it gives a sheltered person something to do besides sit on their cot all day. Adds a little bit of their normal routine back to their life and gives them the opportunity to practice the human-animal bond. The animals get to see and interact with their owners, reducing stress. Most of the people running these facilities are far too busy to be engaging in routine pet care. The intake, examinations, sanitation, and other operations take up enough time.

As yknot said, it's a liability thing, both on the side of the volunteer and the owner. As a person operating a facility, I wouldn't want to take responsibility if Fluffy slips her collar and runs off while I'm walking her. As a pet owner, I wouldn't want to be responsible if Fluffy bites some volunteer. It's safer for everyone if Disaster Response volunteers stick to disaster response operations and let the owners take care of their pets. These aren't rescue shelters for unowned or lost animals. They are places for people to house their animals while they are living in a shelter.

Hard to grow when I'm the only one doing anything. I don't expect every parent to be as dedicated as I am, but I expect them to at least participate when we have a pack meeting. How hard is it to cheer for a Scout when they receive an award? The only reason we have den leaders is because I told the parents that there will be no den unless they do it. Another den got ADLs because the DL failed to put in any advancement for two months. Their kids were getting no awards and they got fed up.