Scoutmaster Committe Chair Same Family

[eisely]

I have consistently advocated that SM, CC, Treasurer and Advancement Coordinator should all come from different households. Your situation may work fine, but in the long term it is not healthy for the unit and likely not healthy for the marriage as well. If the subject is to be raised it should be done in the spirit of spreading the work load.

 

The worst downside is the potential for misappropriation of funds, and possible cheating on advancement. Separating these responsibilities among households does not guarantee an effective program or against problems, but it makes it much more difficult for anyone with too much power to go astray.

[kari_cardi]

I think in an ideal world there would be plenty of competent volunteers stepping up for all four key positions. In the real world, you do what you can. Given a choice, I'd rather that the SM/CM be related than the advancement chair or the treasurer.

[hendrickms24]

Well my troop has checks and balances when it comes to the treasurer. The Scoutmaster get the bank account statements and looks over them so if there is any abuse it will be seen right away. In the perfect world every scouter job would be filled by competent leaders but when you have parents that just drop off their child each week to the Baby Sitters of America its not a perfect world. Is CC and Scoutmaster position not healthy for my marriage? If it is, then my marrage is not very strong in the first place! My marriage has gone through more tough times then what CC and Scoutmaster position can cause. I run the job of Scoutmaster as open as I can and always go to other scouters in the troop and out for advice. I also asked the committee for the okay about anything from buying new equipment to adding events to the schedule. Oh, and if you know someone that is qualified and wants to take over as the Scoutmaster then I'm willing to step down.

[CCbytrickery]

Our CM and upcoming Advancement Chair are married. I'm the new CC, married to the current Tiger/upcoming Wolf den leader.

 

Sometimes you cannot avoid things like this, due to lack of volunteers.

 

We have a system of checks and balances; the CC, CM and treasurer are all on the financials, with statements available to any committee member (DL/ADL) who requests. Any big purchases go through the committee. Same with the Advancement Chair, she has to work with either the treasurer or the CC to take care of what she needs.

[BadenP]

 

 

"You know sometimes you can't avoid things like this due to a lack of volunteers."

 

CC's post got me to thinking that part of the blame for this also lies with the council, overzealous DE's who slaps together a pack, troop, or crew with little to no planning, putting any name on every position then ride off into the sunset never to be seen again, until FOS time, leaving the brand new unit to struggle through on its own.

 

So many problems in so many units could have been avoided if at the offset more care was taken to make sure the unit had a solid starting foundation, instead of arm twisting parents who really could care less to take a position they really don't want in the first place. Then we wonder why so many units fail in their first year. Now there will always be problems with adults in any unit but with the proper care and planning at the beginning these problems will be minor ones and all the "power" will not rest with just a chosen few.

[John-in-KC]

I'm with eisely. Program principal (CM, SM, Coach, Advisor), CC, Advancement person, and Treasurer should generally be from different families. From my experience, there are fewer perceptions of "Billy is your son and you are favoring him." It's bad enough for one Scouter parent of one child, it's worse for two.

 

There are times and families, though, that can do it and do it well. My hat's off to them.

[fred8033]

I'm the pack committee chair and in my 20th year of marriage to the current Tiger Den leader. It does cause marital stress especially during committee meetings when I ask her to save her comments for later in the agenda or for the next meeting because the agenda item is closed or because she's exceeded her speaking time. .... Hey. It's been 20 years. Gotta look for excitement where you can find it.(This message has been edited by fred8033)

[WestCoastScouter]

From my personal experience I think that it is generally a VERY BAD IDEA to have the CC and CM/SM to be a husband and wife team.

 

I was in a pack where the CC and ASM were husband and wife, and the CM and Outdoor Activity Chair were also husband and wife. These two couples became dictators and refused to listen to anyone else. They referred to the unit as "their pack" and even met on their own in what they self described as a "Executive Committee" that was above the Pack Committee. Unfortuneately, since there was no oversight what so ever from the Charter, who seemed to not even know that they chartered a unit... (a small local church who never came to anything)...

 

It got to the point that this "Executive Committee" on their own "removed" two Den Leaders who questioned some of their actions, and expenditures of pack money. When these "removed" DL's demanded a meeting with the church pastor and the Council Executive, this "executive committee" just asked the two DL's to quietly depart, which they did, along with 13 other families to a different Pack.

 

So, long and short.... my advice... too much authority in two few hands, is not a good idea, and the more involvement from different minds will keep such totalitarian regimes from coming into power.

[Scoutfish]

I've seen one thing a bit worse: DL/ ADL being a Husband and wife team.

 

Now, normally, I'd expect this to be a grteat ifdea since they should already be a harmonius couple. Plus, they don't have to call each other at different times or try to set aside a meeting time outside the den meeting to colabborate on what is going on.

 

The problem I saw was the the DL (husband) was doing a pretty good job giving the program to the boys, but the ADL (wife) thought things should be done differently.

 

But being married, she felt she had more right to nag...ahem..... I mean question the validity of what the DL was doing.

 

And of course, every time the DL said something to the boys, teh ADL would say" Don't you mean this" or "wouldn't this be a better idea" or "Shouldn't we do this instead".

 

Somewhere, somehow it became personal. If the DL said the sun was hot, the ADL would say it was probably cold.

 

At pack meetings, when the DL would be up front with his den handing out awards and talking about what the boys did, the ADL ( sitting in the crowd) would stand up and just interrupt without pause.

 

FInally, the CM ( me) had to take them aside and say : "Look, I do not know, nor do I care what the issue is with the two of you, but it ends RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW! You may not realize it, but the one upman ship[ is causing the scouts to not like being here and you are about to loose half your den!"

 

The next week, the wife decided that her schedule was just too busy to be an ADL.

 

No, she didn't work, but I really didn't care. The difference was noticable almost immediately.

 

Anyways, the problem had nothing to do with scouting or the way the DL was delivering the program.

The problem had to do with the casualness and intimacy between the couple. No, not bedroom intimacy, but the familiar comfortable nes that we take for granted with out close friends and spouses.

 

I'm just glad they weren't a CC / CM couple.

[jtswestark]

Many reasons listed here reflect why it is a bad idea. If you haven't seen it go bad, then you haven't been around long enough.

Those that are doing it may think it's going fine, and maybe in most areas it actually is. But I'd wager my Good Turn Coin there's areas that could be done more effectively with seperate families. There's someone in that unit that can take one of those two roles, I guarantee it. Here's a thought - they don't have to be a current parent! Training new adults is a must for unit sustainability. A perfect potential problem is a family that takes a job relocation, or a fall out with another adult in the unit or CO. There goes both of your top people in the unit in one fell swoop. Life happens (but of course it would *never* happen to you!). Baby Sitters of America is a popular cop out for those that can't or won't recruit, and are the martyrs that thump their chest with "I'll gladly step aside!"

This isn't about ego, it's about what's best for the unit.