Dear Fellow Patrollers,

By now many of you have received emails or heard about a petition you are being asked to "sign" by logging on to the Eastern Division website or responding to a message in your email box. I would like to explain to you briefly what you are being asked to sign and how we as an organization got to this point.

As you may recall from the last Patrol Belt, the Board of the Eastern Division was given the opportunity to present your views to the National Board at the June meeting in Denver (you can view the material presented in Denver at www.nspeast.org, under "NSP issues"). Some of the issues raised by the Eastern and at least two other Divisions revolved around the feeling that our National Board was not accountable enough to its members, that the Board was too "insular" as a result of the voting process for electing themselves, and that as an organization we have lost our identity. It was our hope that our National Board would hear the concerns that many of you have expressed.

Following the National Board Meeting the Eastern Division Board of Directors held a conference call with Rick Hamlin, our Division Director, who attended the meeting in Denver and represented us during the 15 minutes we were allotted to speak. After hearing Rick’s report and reading the minutes of the meeting it was the feeling of Eastern Division and other Division Boards that our concerns are not being heard or addressed, and at best only being paid lip service. The National Board went as far as to accuse some of the presenting Division Directors of misrepresenting the concerns of the membership and demanding names & contact info of specific members who are unhappy with the current status of NSP.

Our organization is at a cross roads and it is up to YOU to decide where we will go from here. If you "sign" this petition, you are stating that you are unhappy with the direction NSP has gone and/or is pursuing. If you don't "sign" or simply fail to respond you’re saying that you are happy with NSP in its current form. The Board of the Eastern Division feels this is a real litmus test of our members. If 10% of you respond to this petition then the next step will be a vote on a national basis to amend the bylaws, which will require 25% of the membership to vote in favor of amending. If 10% of you don’t respond, then you are telling the Region Directors and the National Board that no changes need to be made and we will continue on our current path.

I would ask each and every one of you to give this matter serious consideration. Each of us is an important member of our organization, and as such it is my opinion that everyone should have a voice in the direction of NSP. Therefore it is now up to you. No more complaining that you’re not being heard, no more saying "they should", etc. You are "they", and "they" need to decide how our organization should best be governed.

While I will do my best to attend as many refreshers as I can to explain this issue in person, the petition must be completed in the next few weeks. Please feel free to email me at rd@nspnj.org, call 850 258 8140, or attend the next Region Meeting (date TBA for Sept) with any questions or concerns.

Respectfully,

Chris Brodersen
NJ Region Director