Problem With LEC Members

[LodgeChief]

I am having a very difficult time getting people to attend the Lodge Executive Committee (LEC) meetings. We have tried different attendance policies and they are either not followed or they are taken advantage of. Does anyone have any thoughts as to what I should do to get people there. I am starting to get some pressure from the Lodge Adviser to get them there and I dont know what to do. I am going to discuss it with the LEC members as to what they think but I would like some input from people outside of the Lodge. Thanks.

[scoutldr]

Are the expectations made clear when people run for office, i.e., that they now have an additional monthly meeting to attend? If so, and they are not fulfilling that part of their "cheerful service", then I would let the Chapter Advisors know, so perhaps a little "advising" can take place.

 

In my experience, the OA needs to be revamped and revitalized. We generally have less than 20% of members who are truly "active" in the OA. Most complete the Ordeal, sew on the flap, and you never see them again. So when it comes time for chapter elections, the same 10-20 scouts are in the candidate pool, because they are the ones who bother to show up.

[John-in-KC]

LC,

 

The Troop I serve as advancement coordinator encountered the same problem with youth leaders... including the SPL... in part because they, and their parents, did not understand the commitment to the position.

 

One way to deal with this is to work with both your Adviser and your Professional Staff Adviser. Come up with some way of getting commitment from an Arrowman before they can be certified to candidacy for election. If the Arrowman is not yet of driving age, definitely include parental commitment. If the Arrowman is about to go to (or is at) college, include commitment to return to Council offices for LEC meetings.

 

You need to discuss this with your Adviser, because you need the Chapter Advisers to do the same thing... since the Chapter Chiefs sit your LEC.

 

The other part of this is to make LEC meetings a combination of work and fun. At most, an Arrowman holding office is 20 and months. Fun should be part of the mix. Have you thought of "dinner and a movie", bowling, or an Iron Chef competition at the Scout Camp kitchen? Is there a NA pow-wow in the area you can visit as part of an LEC day?

 

Understand, though, that school comes first. If an LEC member has to take his ACT test, and the test day is LEC day, guess which trumps which? It should not be LEC trumping academic performance.

 

Keep us informed, success stories help all!

[mdutch]

My Lodge is also currently facing the same problem. While we have not been overly successful in solving it, here are some things that we considered:

Location of meeting- How centralized to your council is the meeting place? My council takes about 5 hours to drive end to end, so obviously it is going to be a big time commitment to drive their for atleast some of the people. By moving our meetings farther north, we were able to attract some more people.

Time of the meeting- we found that holding the meeting on the weekend (Sundays) was much more successful than on a weeknight evening.

Incentives to attend- As part of our Lodges "Quality Chapter" program (with requirements based partial on the Quality Lodge requirements), we added that the Chapter Chief or his designee must be present at, and make a report at, atleast 85% of LECMs.

 

Hope this helps!