2006 National Convention Report
By: Benjamin J. Pappa Jr.
Florida Federation President
Every two years, the membership of NARFE meets at what is known as a Convention, this is the one time every two years that the membership comes together to present and debate issues that will mandate or guide the elected officers on the goals and conduct of this Association. And at each convention there are positive and negative sides to both the issues and conduct of the convention. This past convention conducted in Albuquerque, NM was no exception.
On the positive side, the major event was the election of Margaret Baptiste, on the first ballot, Margaret won 52.2% of the cast vote and has now become the first lady to win the title of NARFE National President. Margaret has been a driving force in NARFE for many years, working her way through the chapter, then on through the S.C. Federation, to reach the position of Reg-III NFVP and then National Vice President. Now, on her third try at the position of National President, she has accomplished this and I believe that when she takes office in November, she will get this Association back on track to its goals and set aside the differences that have been dividing the membership. There where also a number of new officers elected to the National Executive Board (NEB), Bill Austin as Vice President, Nat Brown as Secretary, Richard Ostergren and Robert Harrell were re-elected to their respective positions as National Treasurer and Region III NFVP. Several other new officers within the other nine regions were elected to the position of NFVP. The 2010 convention site came down to a runoff between Reno, NV and Grand Rapids, MI, with Grand Rapids winning the runoff. Another positive side of the convention was that what has been a declining attendance at the past conventions, has done a turnaround, and the attendance at this convention showed a positive increase.
Another major issue that was very positive, the membership made its wishes known very clearly on the subjects of mandatory chapter membership, single dues and one member-one vote that were brought before this delegation. The delegation was also very clear on any increase in compensation to the elected national officers, it felt that there was no need to adjust the compensation of any of the national elected officers. . Of the many resolution that were addressed at this convention, most were rejected, only a few were adopted, I’m sure that our national HQ will post those that were adopted in the next issue of Retirement Life and make the proper changes in the National Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws book.
Now for the negative side of this convention, conduct at a convention comes from both the leadership and delegates in attendance. I have attended all national conventions since 1994, and each of them have had problems, some major, some minor, some as a result of the leadership and some as a result of the delegates, or a combination of both. However, this past convention has been the exception to the rule, this will go down as an example of how not to run a convention. The delegates at times added to the confusion, but this was mainly a result of frustration by the delegation because of the decisions of the Presiding Officer, inconsistent decisions based more on emotion and not on parliamentarian procedures or the standing rules of the convention. Incorrect advice to the Presiding Officer by the parliamentarian added also to the discontent of the delegation. Decisions by the Presiding Officer, such as, some of the resolutions presented were permitted to be amended, and other resolutions presented were not permitted to be amended, why the difference ? Time to speak for or against an issue was regulated by the Standing Rules of the convention. Only time under the green card to speak for an issue or time under the red card to speak against an issue was to be charged to the total time allotted to speak on any given issue, this was even stated by the Presiding Officer, time spoken under the white card to bring up a point of Order, Information or Inquiry were not to be charged to the total time allotted to each issue, this was also at one point stated by the Presiding Officer. However, delegates were prohibited from speaking under the white card, reason as stated by the Presiding Officer, “time has run out“. How can the time have run out, when it was not a factor as per the Standing Rules of the Convention ? Rules of debate were very clear in the Standing Rules of the Convention, however, when a decision of the Presiding Officer was challenged, the parliamentarian gave advice to the Presiding Officer based on reference to Robert’s Rules of Order, 10th Edition, that opened the debate to the full assembly, having done this, the meeting had to be placed into recess to give them time to correct their mistake. This should not have been addressed under Robert’s on this issue, an understanding of this can be found on page 35 of the National Bylaws, Article VIII, Parliamentary Authority. The Standing Rules of the Convention as approved by the delegation override any rules of order by Roberts and were very clear on the rules of debate, the Presiding Officer may speak twice, the Delegate challenging may speak once, and then the issue must go to a vote of the delegates. The attempted ejection of a delegate from the convention floor by the Presiding Officer, because the delegate wanted a better understanding of the facts presented, and challenged the Chair, was responded to by the delegation in a very negative manor. A majority of the delegates by standing and verbally responding, felt the Presiding Office was making a bad decision.
On resolutions where a voice vote was called upon to decide the outcome of a resolution, it was very apparent what the wishes of the delegation was, however, the Presiding Officer ruled contrary to the wishes of the delegation, this also brought discontent from the delegation.
There were several delegates in attendance with parliamentarian expertise that tried to correct what was going on, but were unable to move the convention agenda back on course.
One needs to understand, NARFE’s National convention that is held only once every other year, is the only time the membership comes together to bring their in-put into the association, and expects to be presided over by an unbiased leadership without a personal agenda.
It was heartbreaking to hear delegates come to the microphone and state that they were a first time delegate, but may very well be a last time delegate
As President of the Florida Federation, it is my duty to make a report to the member chapters on the 2006 National Convention. Please understand, I have no personal ax to grind, my report to you, the member chapters here in Florida, is based only on what took place at the 2006 NARFE National convention.
As I stated earlier, this 2006 National Convention will become a model for years to come on how not to run a convention.