Editorial: GVR resignation surprises, disappoints us

Joe Roth has decided to resign from Green Valley Recreation’s board of directors, a decision that’s as disappointing as surprising.

Resignations from the GVR board are not shocking in general. Three people stepped down within a month late last year, citing acrimony on the board.

Roth’s decision is disappointing because his election with three other candidates in March offered the prospect of change and unity. The resignation is surprising since he’s only been in office for three months.

In a letter to GVR directors and the Green Valley News, explaining his decision, Roth painted himself as impatient with the board’s willingness to implement new ideas. After working for more than a year with GVR’s Planning & Evaluation and Bylaws Committee, he should have known GVR is a deliberate, cautious body by nature.

“After sitting on the P&E Committee for a year, I knew I had the knowledge and desire to bring about much needed change in the way GVR does business,” Roth said. “After sitting on the board these past few months, I am even more convinced I could have helped. But the clash between my modus operandi and the board and staff was too great.”

We recommended Roth for the board, based on his 40 years of experience in the business world. He no doubt has seen good ideas come and go. He has seen friction and cohesion. He did not become successful, we’re guessing, by surrounding himself with people who always agreed with him.

So how could Roth expect to walk into the GVR board and turn the culture around overnight? Other board members were more experienced and realistic. His expectations, apparently, were too high.

“I am of the “git-’er-done” school of business,” he wrote. “The board and staff are much more deliberative in nature and take more time than I feel is warranted to reach consensus. So much so that many things may fall by the wayside. This conflict of styles proved too potentially damaging to Board unanimity. It is best I step aside before real damage is done.”

Roth knows what’s best for him personally. Perhaps the personality clashes were too strong to overcome. But it seems Roth would have known that before standing for election.

GVR, which serves more than 12,000 households and nearly 24,000 individuals in Green Valley, serves the leisure and social needs of its members. GVR owns and operates properties worth in excess of $18 million. It’s important for members to elect board members to take the responsibility seriously.

Roth apparently took the job seriously, but he said he was distressed about a lack of long-term financial planning and about the direction of the new board.

“So many bad habits are being followed today that it will take guts and determination to break them,” Roth said. “It will take well-seasoned staff leadership and consistent board actions and oversight to bring about much-needed change.”

If Roth wanted to help, he should have stuck it out. His call for members to attend meetings and committee meetings with might fall on deaf ears because he stepped down.

“Take an active part in holding board and staff to the responsibilities they were elected to or are paid for,” he wrote. “Hope is cheap. Walking the talk is the tough part.”

It was apparently much tougher than Roth expected before the election. For that, we’re disappointed.

Unsigned editorials represent the view of this newspaper. Respond with a Letter to the Editor by e-mailing letters@gvnews.com. Comment online at www.gvnews.com.