Jschlich

I suggest that everyone take a deep breath and a step back. I've been in court for 6 of the 7 days of this trial and will be there for #8 as well as whatever follows. I have detailed notes on the various statements by witnesses as well as the comments by the Judge and various lawyers. Both sides are well prepared and have sober and convincing arguments for their points of view. Neither party is doing this "on a lark" and it is certainly nice to see civil interchange and humor being shared between all parties. There is some very important case law being established during this

The saga goes on. Shortly before the opening of th 96th year at Owasippe the new President of the Chicago Area Council released an "Open Letter" to the local community around Owasippe. The letter asks for comment from the community. Getting an update fom the community is always welcome and certainly strikes a conciliatory tone. At the same time the Chicago Council is rabidly pressing forth with long and intense legal depositions of the Township Officials. I guess that is also is a way to collect comments from the local community but, it is a rather distasteful method to use

nidscout: I learned some time ago that the apologists for the BSA Program and the BSA Professionals have a knee jerk reaction in response to most criticism of the BSA. Patch placements, uniform requirements and the sanctity of Eagle Scout requirements come to mind as serious and deep discussion that is allowed by the BSA apologist. Any discussion beyond that concerning the function of the BSA, according to the apologists, is nothing more than child abuse. The apologists for the BSA Professionals refuse to accept the fact that it takes the work of the BSA professionals combined with

With less than 48 hours until the election there seems to be a scramble by the BSA National Council (which is currently operating the Chicago Area Council) to salvage another train wreck. It's so sad that the guy at the top of this BSA Management is paid close to a not-for-profit $1-million a year. And at the top of the Chicago BSA Management the compensation is approaching $1/4-million a year. Of course in this day of $100-million awards to Executives creating loosing business efforts the BSA Management isn't bad....I guess. READ ON! For the many of you who have contact

Thank you for your message local 1400! I had the opportunity to visit Franconia and spend some time on that trip touring through the White Mountains NF. It was awesome! There are some exciting experiences available there and I hope the folks from the East Coast take advantage of them. Mount Washington in the winter would be a true challenge to anyone from the Rocky Mountain States. Back to the topic! The Michigan residents in the Owasippe community have contested the efforts by the Chicago Council every step of the way. The result of the September, 2006 National/Chicago Council a

Jkhny writes: "And about Chicago? Seems like BSA will do ANYTHING to keep volunteers from having any real say over what happens in Scouting." ********* The above observation is very true. Here are some of the current up-to-date facts about the Chicago Area Council as operated by the National Council of the BSA. 1) Since June the Board appointed by National to operate Chicago has had an obligation to have an election of Directors and all. There was no specific date given except for the election to be no later than by the end of January,2007. There was no effort made by the

Watch who takes charge of those endowment dollars! The dividend dollars that are generated is the yield that should be spent on the purpose of the fund, PERIOD! The experience in the Chicago Council is that there is a disconnect from the "rank and file" and those who have the legal, accounting and BSA education degrees. The Professionals (the three types cited above) seem to take a "due diligence" and "fudiciary must make every dollar possible" approach beyond all other considerations. They are misguided and believe that the obligations of a shareholder investment company is the sam

The members of the Council have nothing to do with who is now operating the Council. Effective this past June 1 National took over the Chicago Council. The ultimatum given by National was going to be either an immediate liquidation of the Council or no resistance to an imposition of an Operating Committee selected by National. That was the no-compromise edit of the National Council. Seven people from outside the Chicago Council were selected by National to operate the Council and four other people with Council membership were selected to round out the operating committee. All P

4 months since the last post. Here is an update. The Boy Scouts of America (National) has now directly operated the Chicago Area Council since June 1, 2006. The Nationally installed Chicago Council Directors have attempted to accelerate the legal efforts to achieve a sale of the Owasippe property as quickly as possible. Critical, it appears, that the Court action be completed before there is a chance that members of the Chicago Council can vote for a Board of Directors. The Circuit Court effort blew-up on the faces of the National and Chicago Scout Executives. In c

Well, it's update time again. Is someone doing the outline for a novel yet? The rank and file Plaintiffs won against the Council in Court concerning illegal governance by the Council President and Executive Committee. Council went ahead and filed in Appeals Court. National sent representatives in an effort to "mediate" and to get the parties to make nice with each other. Rank and file Plaintiffs informed National's representatives that it wasn't likely that they would settle anything since they had already gained a decision in their favor. National was sort of "blin

Here is an update on the Owasippe property status. The Blue Lake Township Planning Commission voted to not recommend the residential rezoning proposal of Owasippe advanced by the Chicago Area Council. The issue now goes forward to the Muskegon Area Planning Commission for review and, following that, to the Township Board. There are several more months of consideration before the rezoning proposal has a final disposition with the Township Board. The Township Planning Commission based their recommendation on extensive research and public comment. More than 2,600 people expressed the

LongHaul - I accept your point as you present it. Yes, there are many actions by the Council Professionals and the CAC Board over many years that are felt to not be in the long-term interests of the rank and file of the Council. I can accept that the decisions concerning the sale of the camping properties may have been the "straw that broke the back of the volunteers." The difficulty I have in recognizing the lawsuit in Chicago as "two fronts of the same war" are several. First, I have no expectation of a new Board to be able to dismiss a sales agreement for the property by a vo

PLEASE - refer to my November posting. Owasippe and Chicago Council goverance are two entirely different matters. OldGreyEagle - sorry, splitting hairs about what is a "democracy" in the BSA is exactly what the Chicago Council SE and Board President got into trouble about. It was eleven Chicago Scouters, COR's and Board Members who went to Court to get the matter heard. The Court seems to understand "democracy" while others seem to want to protect the megalomania of BSA Professionals and Officers. Years of operating in the red and the inability of well paid Professionals to a

I have to give a bit more perspective on the Owasippe matter. The court action in Chicago is concerned about leadership of the Council at the Board level. The Council has had continuing problems for more than a decade. The fact that Learning For Life represents 70%+ of what the Council counts as "membership" is more an indication of the long-term problem in the opinion of many traditional Scouters. Are there other Councils where the traditional scouting programs represent 30% or less that what the Council reports as their membership? The Owasippe sale is a seperate matter an