The Annual Charter Agreement

[ScoutNut]

Your COR has been trying, unsuccessfully, to get a meeting with your DE for 9 months.

 

How many District Committee meetings have there been in that time? As a member of the District Committee your COR could have attended, and talked to the DE, informally, there. The COR could also have asked for his issue to be put on the committee agenda. Then it could be handled formally.

 

If the "incident" with the District volunteer was serious enough, your COR should have gone to the SE after being blown off by the DE once.

[Eagle732]

The COR likes to deal one on one and is not comfortable speaking in front of a group. He is almost 80 years old and has over 40 years in Scouting in our District.

 

The incident was serious. I'm concerned that if I get too involved the SE will put me in the Ineligibility file.

[BadenP]

 

When I was a DE twenty years ago we were required to meet with each COR or IH in our district at least once every year, I guess the times have changed. For me it was a great pleasure to meet with these people to answer their questions and encourage them to be involved with their units. It also helped in dealing with any major problems that might come up in a unit.

[Eagle732]

Funny how I got a letter from the DE the other day informing me of a new policy that the unit needed to appoint a designated FOS representative, notify him who it will be and make sure the designated FOS rep holds at least one fundraiser.

Oh that's gonna happen!!!!

[SeattlePioneer]

Hello Eagle,

 

 

I must say I am getting mighty tired of the council imposing new tasks on me.

[fred johnson]

Eagle732 wrote: "I'm concerned that if I get too involved the SE will put me in the Ineligibility file."

 

Ummm..... I'm not saying you did anything. But you have bigger fish to fry than worry about an FOS policy.

 

(This message has been edited by fred johnson)

[Beavah]

Yah, hmmm....

 

Yep, da meeting with da IH or COR is one of those things that yeh rarely see DEs actually do. Unless they're very new and conscientious, which probably means they won't be around long. . Yeh get da behaviors that yeh reward, eh? There's no recognition for customer service in da BSA.

 

Eagle732, I'd offer three thoughts.

 

Da first is that often your better recourse is through the folks you elect, eh? Da district chairman and the council officers (council president, etc.). They will meet with your COR or be da subject of a very public "no" vote at da next annual meeting.

 

Da second is that DEs don't have da best experience or training. If yeh have a serious issue, yeh are best to skip da DE and go to one of the more senior folks like the Field Director or Program Director, or just to the SE. I wouldn't hesitate to do that in the least; that's what those folks are there for.

 

Third, it sounds to me like this is a "known issue" by the response of the council staff. In other words, they've heard it from someone in your troop before, or from someone else, and have already reached a decision that they aren't willing to revisit. Unprofessional and a bit cowardly on their part, IMHO, but at da same time understandable. Once yeh make a decision yeh don't want to keep revisiting it. Only you can decide if this is somethin' that yeh should just accept as a decision that didn't go your way and just get on with things, and how far to pursue it. Was it really so bad that da CO is willing to shut down its scouting program over? Or are egos gettin' in the way a bit?

 

I reckon somethin' worth ending a program lock, stock, and barrel is also worth doin' so publicly. So a good test in your mind might be "Are we ready and willing to take this to the media (or the police)?". If not, then perhaps yeh might get folks to take a step or two back. Your COR is responsible for your programs, but is only one voice in da council, and sometimes the other voices disagree.

 

As to an SE tryin' to throw you out, I think that's silly. Those decisions are reviewed by others and not taken lightly, and while there have been a few cases of whistleblowers being targeted by vindictive SEs there tended to at least be some other behavioral issues tied up in such things.

 

Beavah

[Eagle92]

A few comments.

 

1) Yes DEs visiting is rare, and some execs discourage it, saying "You have more important things to do."

 

I admit I was one of those that was conscientious and visited, or attempted to visit, a few of my IHs, but never visited all of them. In fact I stopped after a few months when I was told the above.

 

Not only is it customer service, but it gives you a "pulse" on your units and how they are doing as I remember form training. I know I learned a lot when I visited, or attempted to visit, the IHs. And I think if it was done yearly as it should, it can prevent problems.

 

Me personally, I think in addition to before rechartering, it should be done when you fist become a DE

 

2)As for going up the food chain, YES!

 

3)If there is no DE, then the Field Director or some other mid-level responsible for the area, or higher exec needs to do it.

 

4) I know a thing or two about vindictive SEs. If you have cause for concern about becoming an ineligible volunteer over the matter, you may be right. Unfortunately I saw part of that in action when I was a DE.

 

5) If the safety of kids is involved, go with your instinct and do what you must, letting the other consequences be damned!

 

Good luck.

[Eagle732]

No danger to the Scouts.

 

 

 

[Basementdweller]

Basically it comes down to who the council is going to side with.....

 

 

A district level volunteer or a SM.

 

 

Guess who wins?????

 

He and his son should have been thrown out for what he did....especially with all of the documentation.(This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

[OldGreyEagle]

What happened anyway? A District Volunteer and his son did what?

 

[SeattlePioneer]

>

 

 

The one with the evidence to support their case, I would hope.

[Eagle732]

I'd rather not discuss the particulars of what happened other than to say the troop had a crime against property, the police investigated and someone was charged and convicted.

[BadenP]

Beav

 

I think you paint way too broad a stroke in your assessment. After being on both sides of the of this scenario I can tell you from personal experience that many FD's or DD's or ASE's really could care less about individual leader or unit problems themselves, they all have their own little niches of responsibility and the typical unit/leader problems are always delegated to the DE to solve, since they usually will not get involved. I have seen five SE's tell complaining volunteers to take it up with their DE. So unless the problem deeply affects the councils FOS/money income, is a serious YPT issue, or something that directly impacts the council most of these middle managers give little more than lip service to volunteers with complaints, as I am sure many here can attest to. That is why in our crew when I started it 10+ years ago we made sure we were independent and self sufficent as a unit, so now the council comes to us to help out and we always seem to work it out as a quid pro quo arrangement.

 

PR in professional scouting at any level from council to National is extremely rare these days.

[Eagle732]

The COR doesn't want anything, he makes no demands other than to meet with the DE. He wants them to know what happened. The perp went to the DE when he found out he was under investigation telling him who knows what but it probably wasn't the truth. The perp gets a seat with the DE but the COR of the unit that was victimized doesn't. I think that's what ticking off the COR.