Dear Members of Tango Synergy,
A Special Resolution Meeting is happening this Sunday 19/08/18. A vote will be conducted on proposed amendments to the constitution of the Tango Synergy Association.
I am against 7 of the 7 proposed amendments that have been published.
I have detailed my reasons below. The summary of proposed changes is published here.
Proposed Amendments to the Constitution
- Section 2: To add a mission statement.
- Section 3: To change the number of committee members from 7 to 5.
- Section 3: To include the maximum number of terms of office for any office bearers.
- Section 3: To limit the time for serving consecutive terms on the committee.
- Section 3: Change conditions offered to principal teachers of Argentine Tango schools.
- Section 4: To revise the application form to include a reference to the Code of Conduct.
- Section 5: To include a Code of Conduct to which all members must abide.
Amendment 1: Against
The proposal is to add a Mission Statement: “Tango Synergy, passionately connecting our community.”
Would a mission statement help steer the organisation toward greater achievements? Maybe it would… but it all depends on what we mean when by “connecting” and who we refer to as “our community”.
If the addition of a mission statement doesn’t meaningfully impact the operation of the Association, maybe it doesn’t need to be included.
Amendment 2: Against
Amendment 2 seeks to change the minimum number of Committee members needed to constitute a committee as defined in the model constitution. The current number is 7 and the proposal is to make this number 5. It also forces the number of committee members to only be odd.
Please vote NO to this amendment. It is not well specified, doesn’t provide fair justification, and it is redundant.
Did You Know: The constitution says that the committee can consist of as few as 3 people and still fill all the official roles and satisfy quorum requirements. So why does the committee need to reduce the nominal committee size from 7 to 5?
The Association regularly struggles to fill 7 existing committee positions and it currently retains 5 of 7 committee members with 2 casual vacancies. These roles could be filled at any time, if the committee found members willing to work in the committee, but so far it hasn’t.
Part1. Synergy needs to have more people on committee, not fewer. Ideas coming out of the committee should stand up to scrutiny, even if it feels like that scrutiny results in heated argument. Bigger committees may result in more debate, but it also acts as a check on bad ideas.
Part2. This amendment includes a provision to increase the committee size, but only if the committee is odd-in-number. The mechanism for adding committee members is not explained. Is it ad-hoc, member vote or committee vote? It’s… ambiguous.
The proposal limits the committee to an odd-number so it can avoid a deadlocked vote. This part worries me the most because it means nobody has checked the existing provisions. Under Section 34.2 of the Model Constitution, the chairperson of the meeting may vote a second time to break a tied vote.
Amendments 3 and 4: Against
Amendments 3 and 4 seek to limit the number of terms a person may serve on the committee. To remind everyone, a term is 1 year and each year, a vote may unseat a committee member or officer.
This is nothing like a US Presidential election scenario. In any given year, a member can contest a position on the committee and a general vote will determine the result.
Limiting the number of terms for a committee member is detrimental to the institutional memory of the Association. It also reduces the pool of viable committee candidates when the Association and concentrates power to those . As noted above, the Association is struggling to fill existing committee positions.
Here is the nightmare scenario: If amendment 2 AND 3 AND 4 are voted into the constitution, how many years before the pool of committee candidates reaches zero. This is a really reckless combination of policies that work against one another and should never have been proposed at the same time.
Amendment 5: Against
Change conditions offered to principal teachers of Argentine Tango schools.
The proposed change clarifies what benefit that Synergy can bestow on teachers, but avoids addressing the bigger matters in proper detail.
The constitution bestows certain benefits to teachers, but also bars them from serving on the committee. Many of Tango Synergy’s members have advanced their work in the community by teaching in a professional capacity. The constitution wasn’t designed with this eventuality in mind.
This amendment should be redrafted to properly define the relationship between the organisation and the teachers in the community; how a teacher is defined; procedures for determining their status; enumerate the benefits that are offered to teachers; enumerate the other benefits not permitted to teachers such as serving on the committee, voting rights; clarify whether teachers can be regular members; define the term honorary member; define the benefits of honorary membership; the terms and period of validity for an honorary membership; by what mechanism may honorary memberships may be granted… etc.
Amendment 6 and 7: Against
These amendments propose to add a reference to a Code of Conduct document to application forms and also add this document as an appendix to the constitution that can be modified without the need of a Special Resolution Meeting.
Tango Synergy’s constitution already provides advice about the roles and responsibilities of committee in regards to member behaviour, specifically dispute resolution.
I questions whether the committee should be drafting an additional document defining how members must conduct their behaviour when there are problems writing constitutional amendments that are sound and well justified.
Other questions about the Code of Conduct
- Tango has already, a significant number of codes that nobody adheres to! Can anyone be expected to follow an additional set of rules?
- Will the addition of a Code of Conduct expose the Association to acts of litigation?
- Are committee members charged with enforcing the proposed codes?
- Does the committee have the capacity to police the conduct of members?
- Is there training involved to deal with conflict resolution?
- Will conflict resolution be a core activity of the Association?
Afterthoughts
- I previously held the office of secretary for the Association and it was a role that was mostly rewarding, and not as thankless as I thought it might have been.
- Synergy should update the constitution to clarify the status, benefits, and the instruments for deciding how entities such as ‘teacher’ and ‘honorary member’ are determined. Time limits, review schedules, and mechanisms for reversing these determinations should be clarified.
- I think Tango Synergy Association is in an unique position help promote the dance of tango in Sydney. Synergy has demonstrated that it can host regular events for established dancers, but it should probably pay more attention to making information about tango more accessible to the public and promoting tango to first-time dancers.