brooktrout

Here's some additional infomation concerning our attempts to change councils...

Our troop was in the Westmoreland Fayette Council - where we would like to be - a number of years ago. At that time, due to redistricting, we were tranferred into what has now evolved into the Greater Pittsburgh Council. GPC is an uban-oriented council, unlike WFC, which is a smaller and more rural council. Objections to the reassignment were raised at the time, but were evidently ignored or dismissed by the decision makers in charge. Our troop is located at the fringe of the GPC/WFC border.

In a meeting with our DE, the troop committee reviewed several concerns with GPC. We pointed out that with respect to council coverage, "bigger is not always better". The reply of "understood" was positive, but the message delivered that night was that the council switch would not be permitted. The NE Region and GPC will not approve it. (By the way, we're still waiting for the February promised return call from the GPC Scout Executive. Trustworthy? Helpful?)

Did we voice some concerns about GPC and its operation during our meeting with our DE? Yes. And as we told him, our purpose was not to cause trouble or stir up discontent among other troops, but simply to arrive at an amicable solution to our goal. We still maintain that our troop would be a much better 'fit' with WFC than GPC. (Note here also that another local troop has indicated that if/when we go, they are going to make the switch also.)

Our efforts in the matter have been conducted in a positive and constructive manner. We chose not to air a detailed list of our council concerns in a forum such as this, but rather to go though channels within GPC. So the matter appears to be at rest for the time being. We stay where we are, but not by our own choosing. There is one thing for certain: our troop will continue to provide a good, sound program for the scouts just as it always has done. Thanks to all for your suggestions to our initial inquiry.

Here's an overdue update on our request to change councils...

Our DE met with the CO, and then with the troop committee. He was quite understanding of our concerns and agreed in principle to our request. (Note here that our Council Scout Executive, to date, has not responded to our letters and calls as he promised he would. Nor have we heard directly from the National Office.) Our DE explained that due to geographical boundaries, the council's Director of Field Services has effectivly nixed our request. The Northeast Region Deputy Regional Director(Michael C. Childers) informed us, via letter, that "We at the Northeast Region have carefully reviewed your request and also the recommendation of the Greater Pittsburgh Council, BSA to grant your request. However, I regret to inform you that national BSA policy preempts the recommendations and yuor request is denied." (Note here that GPC was evidently willing to grant our request.) The letter goes on to point out that "Council affiliations are determined strictly by geography", and that our troop "resides within the council boundary lines of the Greater Pittsburgh Council".

So we have renewed our charter for another year and the scouts have recently returned from summer camp at the council's Heritage Reservation, which is located within the 'council boundary lines' of our neighboring council. Interesting, indeed.

After numerous discussions and correspondence between the National, NE Region and Council offices, none of which helped us to reach our objective, we will probably let our charter expire and then charter as a new unit in our neighboring council. We do have an organization within our target council that is most willing to be our chartering organization.

Have any troops ever asked their councils for a 'release' to join a neighboring council? If so, what sort of reply did you receive from your home council? We've been involved in such an action since last December, and have not had the matter resolved to our satisfaction.