Roth comments on resignation

Editor:

Yesterday, I resigned from the Green Valley Recreation Board of Directors and wanted to send this statement along to you in order to clarify my position.

I truly regret having to resign from the Green Valley Recreation Board of Directors.

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. 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.

I am of the “git ‘er done” school of business. 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.

At the Spring Planning Day, where the new Board gets together for a full day to shape the coming year, there was unanimous consent to move in a new direction: one that would break down the artificial walls that each new Board and its committees have historically built.

These walls would throw away the work of past Boards and start anew - doing it their way.

This created a serious lack of continuity in planning and procedures and had staff reacting as if on a yo-yo.

There is a strong desire on the part of the new Board to implement long-range planning to improve oversight of funds set aside for major projects and to implement long-range financial planning that will guide the company forward strategically. Now, there is no long-range financial planning and the other tools for planning and control need to be done in a more disciplined and timely manner.

Board and staff must work diligently to bring strong financial management and oversight back to the forefront. Policy must be well-written and it must be followed. So many bad habits are being followed today that it will take guts and determination to break them.

It will take well-seasoned staff leadership and consistent Board actions and oversight to bring about much needed change.

I hope the Board has the determination to follow through with its Spring Planning Day commitments.

I hope staff is seasoned enough and confident enough in the Board to move toward a new business model: one that looks to the future for the betterment of GVR and its members.

I hope that the members will attend Board and Committee meetings, read the agendas and minutes posted online and take an active part in holding Board and staff to the responsibilities they were elected to or are paid for.

Hope is cheap. Walking the talk is the tough part.

Joe Roth, Green Valley