Turning the pages back... May 31, 1998 (05/26/02)

Turning the pages back...

May 31, 1998

"Preparing for the next convention..." was the headline of the editorial published four years ago in this paper after the conclusion of the 34th Convention of the Ukrainian National Association. That convention's agenda included many vital issues: mergers, amendments to by-laws, decisions on the future of fraternal activities, etc. - and that was in addition to the usual program of discussion of officers' reports, electing a new General Assembly and passing resolutions for the good of the organization. Following are excerpts from our 1998 post-convention editorial, which looked ahead to 2002.

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Clearly what is needed is a different approach - a preparatory one, we would say.

How so? Well, take the by-laws changes. Had delegates been briefed in advance ... they would have had time to become familiar with the proposals and discuss them with fellow UNA'ers, in particular the members whose interests they were elected to represent. Thus, less time would have been spent at the convention ... Take the radical proposals for reorganizing the UNA and cutting back on fraternal activities. Had these been discussed beforehand in the UNA's official publications, delegates would have known what significant matters await their action and would have been prepared for difficult decisions. ...

Take the matter raised by one of our readers, who questioned why candidates for office do not announce their intentions before the convention. The principal reason is the antiquated primary elections procedure that, in effect, is a nominations process. Anyone's name can be written in as a candidate for any post - provided the person is a UNA member. This write-in procedure is also a vehicle for candidates who do not wish to declare, for one reason or another, to test the waters. Potential candidates can have their supporters write in their names for more than one position and then, sensing the sentiments of the delegates, they can choose which office to run for in the final balloting. If new procedures were instituted ... candidates could announce their intentions beforehand, tickets could be formed, and delegates could make a serious effort to become informed about the candidates' qualifications and their vision for the organization they seek to lead.

And maybe, just maybe, there would then be time at the convention for break-out sessions on specific topics, say, marketing/public relations, cooperation between the UNA's sales force and secretaries, the UNA's insurance portfolio and its fraternal benefits.

There is also the matter of financial reporting. Wouldn't it be helpful to receive a report that is easy to understand? One that clearly delineates where the UNA's expenses and revenues are to be found, one that provides delegates with the information they need to make critical decisions on the future of UNA publications, its resort, its sales operations, etc. One example: delegates were told that cutting back Soyuzivka's season to three and a half months would save money, yet no cost analysis was provided. ...

... Therefore, we urge more preparation, more openness, and more trust in the delegates' ability to make the right decision once they are given the information they require.

Source: "Preparing for the next convention..." (editorial), The Ukrainian Weekly, May 31, 1998, Vol. LXVI, No. 22.

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