Do parents vote on committee ??

[johnnylaw101]

My sons' pack has a group of dissatisfied parents. Are they allowed to come to committee meetings and vote to change things?

 

Who are voting members? Does the committee chair have "Veto" power to override a decision of the majority of members.

 

The pack is facing a takeover....

[Eagle92]

Every unit is different and runs things differently. In my old BS troop, parents were defacto members of the committee and could vote. In another unit I was a leader with, parents could attend the meeting, voice their opinions, but could note vote UNLESS registered with the committee. Still in another unit, a very large CS pack, only the committee, CM, ACM, and all DLs attend and vote, no parents.

 

The CC can veto any decisions made by the committee, and no one save the Charter Organizational Rep. (COR) and Institutional Head (IH) can overrule the CC.

 

N ow if you have alot of dissatisfied parents, then there is a major problem happening. I would talk to them and try to come up with a compromise that is acceptable to all parties AND within BSA guidelines.

[click23]

While what Eagle92 describes happens all of the time, per BSA literature only registered member of the committee have a vote, and then the committee should not be voting that often. Parent, den leaders nor the cubmaster have a vote on the committee, by the rules.

 

What are they dissatisfied about, and what about a takeover?(This message has been edited by click23)

[dg98adams]

The only non-voting members of a Pack are the CubMaster and Den leaders.

 

If you have a group of dissatisfied parents, then the committee needs to address them......Committee meeting are supposed to be open to all parents holding a committee position or not.

 

Are any of the parents trained? I would have some of the Committee membership position descriptions and applications on hand in case any that are interested want to "sign on".

 

One thing to remember the "committee" does not "own" the pack as they only "serve it", the chartering org. does. Is the Org. Rep. involved at all?

 

(This message has been edited by dg98adams)

[ghermanno]

To expand a little on what Click23 said, the standard "Committee Meeting" is the business meeting of the Pack or Troop. It is chaired by the CC. It starts with the minutes from the last meeting being read and accepted, advances into status of ongoing items like treasurers report, advancements,... then moves to "New Business". During the New Business section the CC can open the floor to interested parties (parents) to discuss something they would like done/voice complaints ect.

 

The CC may decide to assign someone to check on the item and report to the committee at a later date or they may, if proposed by a comitte member, vote on it then.

 

Parents ALLWAYS have input but unless they are on the committee, they do NOT have a vote. the CM, ACM, DL, ADL, TCL, PT, WL, and AWL all have voices but no vote.

 

The Committee is there to support the Pack in the course that is laid out during annual planning ensuring that it brings good light to the CO. Rarely do they even have the dificult task of replaceing an adult (although finding new ones is a never ending job). Mostly they see if the CM and den leaders need anything for the next month and ensure that the finances are kept up to date.

 

That's my $0.02

 

Rick

[OneHour]

... have them registered and participate as the Pack committee member, then they will have full voting rights! Den Leaders do not have a vote. CM and Committee members have a vote in our Pack, but as in other pack, our committee gets really involved at the beginning of the year and then tapper off toward the middle of the year where our Den leaders have a vote just to have enough voting members!

[Stosh]

If the unit has progressed to the point where voting is necessary to resolve issues then it's time for outside intervention. One needs to get the DE involved before the unit gets torn up. Obviously the process that is in place isn't working.

 

Stosh

[johnnylaw101]

... the local District Commish has come in... the Pack CM, and ACM, and his wife... very defensive...

 

The CM said, "This is the way we do it, and there are other Packs in the area that might be more to your liking... we wont be insulted if you leave."

[ScoutNut]

You still have not clarified what the problem is. Why are these parents dissatisfied? What do they want to change?

 

You mention the CM, ACM, and a wife of one of them - what about the CC, the COR, and the IH of the Charter Organization? The CM, ACM, and the wife are not "in charge" of the Pack, the CC, COR, & IH are.

 

From your last post is sounds like things have already been resolved by the CM, who took it upon himself to state it's his way or the highway.

 

Nowhere in the Cub Scout Leader Book does it mention voting priviledges on a Pack Committee. That is because the CC, CM, DLs, and all of the rest of the Pack leadership work together, in consensus, as a TEAM, to make sure the Cub Scouts they are responsible for get the best possible BSA program.

 

 

[Twocubdad]

Okay, let's work through this for a few.

 

Let's say we have a good-sized pack of 64 boys, two dens at each level and for the sake of argument, no brothers. With a DL and ADL at each level, cubmaster and assistant 18. Committee chair and lets say five core leaders on the committee -- treasurer, secretary, outings, membership, advancement and Blue and Gold chairman. Frankly, you've go a heck of a great unit going at this rate.

 

But how does it make sense that 3/4 for the folks doing the heavy lifting in the unit are ineligible to vote on issues affecting the pack? What do you you do it an issue come along and a number of upset parents ask to register as committee member?

 

 

[Eamonn]

Sometimes when a question is asked, there is some kind of sixth sense that kicks in and you can guess what is coming next!

When my son asks"Hey Dad do you have any cash?"

I kinda know he isn't inquiring about my financial well being, he is warming up to ask to remove some of my hard earned money.

I know when HWMBO asks what I want for dinner? That nine times out of ten she has already pulled the chicken from the freezer.Questions about who vote on Scouting committees, especially Cub Scout Pack Committees normally have to do with one of two things:

1/ Money.

2/ Removing someone.

Let's look at number two first.

As far as the BSA is concerned all adults who serve at the Unit level have been selected and approved by the CO.

They were never elected, no committee really voted them into office (A nominating committee may have voted to go ahead and ask them to serve, but the final word was with the CO.)

As they were never voted in, they can't be voted out.

A Committee Chair can request to the COR and the CO that someone can be removed.

But the committee can not remove an adult or a youth member.

 

When it comes to number one. Money.

The funds that a unit has are raised in the name of the CO and it kinda / Sorta/ might be said that they are being held by the unit for the CO (The Unit is part of the CO - If you like you might want to think of it as being the youth group of the CO.)

As a rule as long as the money is being spent for what it was intended the CO's are happy to not get too involved. The COR is supposed to be the eyes and ears of the CO. So as long as he or she is a happy little camper? Everything should be fine.

 

As to the make up of a Pack?

A Pack should have two parts.

The Leaders who work with the youth to deliver the program.

The Pack Management Committee. -Who manage the Pack and support the youth leaders.

The Cubmaster represents the youth leaders on and at the Pack Management Committee meetings. (Youth Leaders do not need to be involved with the Pack Management Committee)

All members of the Pack Management Committee do need to be approved by the CO.

 

I have sat on a lot (Way too many!!) Scouting Committees and having anything come up for a vote is very rare.

The Agenda for the meeting is made by the Pack Committee Chair. Working with the COR and the CM.

The meetings are as a rule fairly informal. With reports being given by the Secretary, the Treasurer and the Cubmaster. Other items are discussed and as a rule(again!!) a general consensus of opinion is reached.

Non Committee members who might have been asked to chair an event are often called to give a report on what is coming up or what has gone on.

 

Back when I was a CM.

The youth leaders would meet sometime in about July to plan next years events and calender, along with the monthly themes. Most times we would follow the themes set out in Scouting Magazine.

From this meeting, I'd work out a budget for the year.

I'd meet with the Pack Committee and we'd go over the budget. The COR if he was there would take down all the dates of what was happening and contact the CO to make sure that any conflicts with the church hall could be avoided and that the Pack could have the hall for extra dates like the Pine Wood Derby, B & G Banquet, Scout Sunday. If he wasn't there the Chairman took care of contacting the COR and the CO.

Once this was all in place most Committee Meetings just fell into place.

No real need for votes or long drawn out discussions.

Just taking care of the day to day management of the Pack.

It is worth mentioning that the Pack Committee does need to know what is going on as they have to be ready to run the Pack if the CM should leave, until a new CM can be appointed.

So...

The answer to the question "Do Parents vote on committee?"

Is no.

Unless they have been approved by the CO and are registered members of the BSA.

Eamonn.

[evmori]

I'm curious as to why these parents are dissatisfied. Is this Pack doing something they shouldn't be?

 

If you are going to sign this group up (which I wouldn't recommend) I would tell them they MUST attend training BEFORE they are allowed to participate in any aspect of the Pack.

[Sarge]

If the CM, ACM, DL, ADL, TCL, PT, WL, and AWL all have voices but no vote, who exactly comprises your committee?

I realize that things vary place to place, but in my pack, the CM, ACM, DL, ADL, TCL, PT, WL, and AWL *ARE* the committee...

[Eagle92]

Sarge,

Technically speaking, you should have a CC and two MC, usually treasurer and a secretary. Ideally the direct contact leaders deal strictly with program, with the CM reporting to the committee. They are not supposed to get a vote.

 

However every unit does things differently. I've seen units that do allow parents to vote. I've seen units run by the book. and I've seen units that ALL leaders are part of the committee with a vote.