Situation Reaching An Impasse?
In a release to
the National Association of Flight Instructors members on Friday,
the NAFI Board of Directors outlined its intention to address the
concerns of a number of members "centered on the NAFI By-laws in
general and member involvement in the governance in
particular."
Recognizing the growth of the organization since the current
By-laws were written in 1995 when NAFI affiliated with EAA, the
NAFI Board "agrees that change is appropriate" and announced that
"a thorough revision of its corporate bylaws has begun," promising
"all NAFI members that your comments, requests and suggestions will
receive full and due consideration in this revision process."
"The Chair of the Governance Committee has been working on
proposed revisions to the By-Laws by examining procedures and
requirements that were drafted at the time of the affiliation but
may no longer be relevant or applicable.
"The proposed revisions will be presented to the entire NAFI
Board of Directors when they are finalized," the release said,
maintaining the process "is not a simple task" and "likely will
take some time to complete."
The statement concluded, "It is the goal that before our next
Board meeting we will have a complete revised set of By-Laws to
submit to the Directors for their review so that we can discuss
them at that meeting and vote on them at that time or shortly
thereafter. All of us, including EAA, want this project completed
as quickly as possible but also as professionally as possible."
Take Back Our NAFI found the NAFI Board's proposed plan of
action unacceptable, calling it "unresponsive" and rejected it, for
several reasons. A response to the latest NAFI statement was sent
to the Board by Master CFI Rich Stowell (shown below), on behalf of
the TBO Committee:
"'By the next Board meeting' is an
unacceptable timeline. Furthermore, the lack of inclusion of the
entire TBO NAFI Governance Subcommittee (ten members, plus three
advisors) in the rewrite process is unacceptable and further
demonstrates NAFI's lack of transparency.
"It is unconvincing that NAFI can
or will respond effectively and timely. In contrast, TBO NAFI's
Interim Governance Subcommittee can produce working drafts of core
governance documents quickly and efficiently.
"The rewrite of the By-Laws must
include provisions for the entire Board of Directors to be elected
expeditiously by the membership. Anything less is
unacceptable.
"The entire existing Board must
tender its resignation upon enacting new By-Laws. Anything else is
unacceptable."
As ANN previously reported, the showdown
between the NAFI Board of Directors and the CFI community was
precipitated last month by what many perceived as an attempt to
oust two much-favored members of the NAFI hierarchy and potentially
affect the future of the Master Flight Instructor program -- which
some NAFI Board members reportedly feel to be "elitist."
The NAFI community is getting vocal about what they perceive to
be a threat to the Master Instructor program and to those who
support it. The NAFI Board is internally appointed and not elected
from the rank and file, so a sense of powerlessness is starting to
infect a number of CFIs who feel that they need to be heard (and
are unlikely to, under the status quo).
As ANN understands the matter, two primary NAFI Board members
who have devoted considerable time and attention to concepts like
the Master Instructor program, were to be asked for their
resignation or voted out if they did not agree to step down.
An alert email sent to members of the NAFI community last month
alleged that, "I have been advised that an attempt will be made
during the upcoming NAFI board meeting to remove Sandy & JoAnn
Hill from the Association's board of directors while also taking
the Master Instructor program from them and relocating it in
Oshkosh. In addition, an attempt will be made to remove them from
the administration of the General Aviation Awards program."
The Board vote at the October 24 meeting on whether to remove
the Hills was deferred. "The Board instead postponed the vote;
however, the Chairman retains the authority to call for a vote at
any time with a simple phone call to other Board members," TBO NAFI
states.
The first informal meeting of TBO Committee members and others
who wish to participate is scheduled for Friday, November 7, at
1:00 PM in the entrance lobby of the AOPA Expo in San Jose, CA.