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Hi SBW committee,
I was recently removed from being a SBW Facebook editor without notice. The first thing I knew about this decision was when I discovered that four posts I had shared on my personal Facebook page were suddenly missing. Upon investigation I found out that the same posts were missing from the SBW Facebook page where they had originally been placed by me, and that I was no longer a SBW Facebook editor.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the different Facebook roles, "Facebook Editors are allowed to edit the site by adding posts about club activities or anything related to bushwalking. This includes reports and photos from walks or club events, information about upcoming events, information that needs to be disseminated from the committee, and information about the areas and environments in which we walk, such as bushfire risks, track closures and changes to walks ... Facebook Editors have the same rights as administrators, but cannot distribute or revoke admin roles themselves. This role is suitable for all those who take care of the fan site and publish regular posts and articles."
The quoted section in the previous paragraph comes directly from the Facebook Editor job description page on our old website. Unfortunately, the committee seems to have decided that the Facebook Editor job description page is not required on the new website. It might be on the site, but if it is I can't find it, so if it's there, could someone please send me a link to the page?
I emailed Annie Heppell (the SBW Facebook Administrator) on March 14th to ask why I was no longer a SBW Facebook editor, and she replied "I was asked to remove your posts and his (sic) Editor access to the Facebook page. And told to refer you to John Kabale (sic) for follow up".
I then emailed John Kubale, asking "Could you explain to me your reasons for having me removed from being a Facebook editor for the Shoalhaven Bushwalkers?"
John replied "My understanding was that when you resigned as Facebook administrator on September 16th, the assumption was made that you no longer wanted access to the site and so you were not listed on the new website. There has been some concern that your recent entry referring readers to your own website for access to the “Karens” was not appropriate, whilst putting up photos from walks obviously is. I suggest you apply to the committee for restoration of editing rights."
As you have all been informed in my reply to John which I cc'd to the rest of the committee, I took John's advice and applied to the committee for restoration of editing rights, and was told by Clare Lord that my application "will be treated as correspondence in at the next committee meeting" - which was a whole month away on April 18th, according to the SBW Program.
It would appear - and John's reply pretty much confirmed it - that it was John Kubale's decision alone to instruct Annie Heppell to remove me from the SBW Editor role. My complaint is that John Kubale has yet again gone outside of his Presidential duties as shown in the SBW constitution. The role of the President in the current club constitution is in Section 19 (1) which states "The President shall direct the general functioning of the Club and shall preside at all meetings of the Club." In my opinion, directing the general functioning of the club does not include doing the specific functions of other committee members and appointees.
On the old club website on the "Job Descriptions - President" page - this is echoed by the first duty mentioned which is to "Oversee the general running of the Club".
When Karen Davis - our longest serving President and the author of the job description - was asked what this rather general description actually meant, she replied that it basically meant that "the President should make sure that everyone on the committee and all the appointees were doing their jobs i.e. that the program was being produced by the coordinators, meetings were happening on schedule, the secretary was producing the minutes, the minutes were being added to the website, memberships were being updated and fees were being collected by the treasurer etc." This quote comes from the "Role of the President" page which I was asked to remove from the old website.
Unfortunately, the committee seems to have decided that the President's Job Description page is also not required on the new website. It might be on the site, but I can't find it, so if I'm wrong, could someone send me a link to the page?
On the old club website on the "Job Descriptions - Facebook Administrator" page, the final job described is "As required - add / delete editors". As shown, it is the Facebook Administrator's job to add and delete editors, not the President's. Annie was doing her job properly, and John should not have interfered. However, if the committee feels that a SBW Facebook editor should be fired, they can action this because the committee runs the club - not the President. There is nothing in the constitution that allows the President to make up the rules as he goes along. John should have taken his desire to remove me from being a Facebook editor to the committee and not actioned it himself.
Unfortunately, the committee seems to have decided that the Facebook Administrator Job Description page is not required on the new website as well. It might be on the site, but I can't find it, so if I'm wrong, could someone send me a link to the page?
It is my view that John exceeded his Presidential power as defined by both the constitution and the President's job description when he asked Annie Heppell to remove my posts and to remove me as a Facebook editor.
John would undoubtedly argue that the constitution says that the President "shall direct the general functioning of the club" and that he directed Annie to remove me and my posts as part of his constitutional duties. Using the same logic, he could direct any committee member to do anything, despite what job descriptions, standing resolutions and the rules of the constitution say. For example, he could direct walk coordinators to delete walks that he doesn't like, or he could direct the Secretary to ignore certain items of "Correspondence In", or he could direct the Treasurer to falsify the club's accounts.
If John does have the power to direct Annie to fire me from being a Facebook editor, then he also has the power to direct Annie to re-hire me. As he has now directed me to apply to the committee to be re-hired, he is tacitly admitting that it should have been a committee decision to fire me in the first place - as it should have been.
It is a pity that Annie Heppell was placed in the invidious position of deciding whether or not she should tell the President that he did not have the authority to direct her to fire me. It is a pity that the work of a Facebook editor in putting up four posts about club activities - all of which had already received comments from our some of our 3000+ followers - was all for nothing. It is a pity that the shared posts on my own site, which had also received comments, suddenly disappeared as well. And it is pity that if the committee decides to re-hire me, Annie Heppell will have to go through the time-consuming process of adding me as an editor, and I will have to go through the even longer process of re-adding a Shoalhaven Bushwalkers Facebook profile to my own Facebook account.
This is the kind of collateral damage that occurs when the President fails to follow the rules of the club - and are not brought to task when they don't follow those rules.
Regards,
Brett
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