In addition to voting for president-elect and two councilors-at-large, members are asked to vote on a bylaw amendment entitled “The American Model: Checks and Balances.” This bylaw amendment seeks to amend Articles IV, V, and VI, addressing aspects of the roles of officers, Executive Council, and Committees of the Corporation. The amendment was approved by BOPS. Council lacked time to discuss the amendment and simply advised members to vote their conscience.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the day-to-day governance of our Association, it has historically been run by the members of the Executive Committee, which includes the officers and non-voting representatives from BOPS and Council.
Given that the dual charge of our Association includes education and membership issues, having an equal number of voting members from Council and BOPS fulfills this mission. This bylaw amendment would empower Council by placing two members of Council, elected by Council, on the Executive Committee. The amendment also restores the votes of the BOPS chair and secretary in the Council and Executive Committee. In addition, the votes of APsaA's officers would be restored in BOPS; the officers currently vote in Council.
The composition of the Executive Committee is of critical importance. This body works year-round to implement the policies of Council. Under this amendment, no further members would be added to the Executive Committee. The two members from Council and the two representatives from BOPS who already take part in the meeting would now be able to vote, restoring balance.
This proposal does not in any way change or affect the functioning of the Executive Council as our board of directors.
The proposed amendment is bad policy and unacceptable to many APsaA members for the following six reasons.
It grants additional enhanced powers to the BOPS leadership within APsaA governance. At present the BOPS chair and secretary already have the unique entitlement of automatically gaining a vote on the Council's Executive Committee simply by being elected to a voting seat on the Executive Council.
This existing special status is sufficient recognition by APsaA of the importance of education in APsaA's mission, but that status is also presently conditioned on the willingness of the BOPS officers to acknowledge that they are part of a larger organization.
The BOPS officers are elected to their positions by BOPS, not the membership of APsaA, and are elected to lead the addressing of issues of psychoanalytic education.
The Executive Council and its Executive Committee are responsible for the overall management of APsaA, not just educational matters.
Ordinarily, service on the Council's Executive Committee requires election by the Executive Council.
Therefore, the right to a voting seat on the Council's Executive Committee should be contingent on the BOPS leaders' willingness to take the minimal step of running for election to a voting Council seat.