I don’t often write letters to the editor, but I am compelled to respond to the article on Art Goodtimes’ resignation as the voting delegate from San Miguel County on the Club 20 board of directors.

With his departure, Frank Bell, an alternate board member, elected by the San Miguel County Club 20 membership, will assume the role as the voting delegate on the board. So it remains: Club 20.

The fact that Art sent his resignation letter to the media makes me wonder if his resignation wasn’t more about a publicity stunt than a legitimate concern about the organization. A similar resignation by him from the BLM Resource Advisory Council a couple of years ago, after losing an election to chair that group, sure adds to my speculation.

While Art is a friend and colleague of mine (I am the Delta County Club 20 voting delegate), I have to take exception with his characterization that he received a “vote of no confidence” from the board. As Paul Harvey says, your readers need to hear “the REST of the story.”

Art was elected as Club 20’s secretary two years ago, and was selected by the nominating committee to be re-elected this year. But instead of simply accepting that nomination, Art chose to challenge the nominating committee’s recommendation for chairperson elect, and his attempt to take over that position failed. Immediately afterward (and, I suspect, in response to Art’s attempt to unseat the chair-elect nominee), someone else chose to challenge the committee’s nomination of Art to continue as secretary, and he wound up losing that vote, too.

I think Art would still be Club 20’s secretary if he hadn’t challenged the nomination of chair-elect in the first place. It was not a vote of “no confidence,” as Art characterized it. Rather, it was simply a vote in response to Art’s own insurgent challenge.

Art has been a great contribution to Club 20’s dialogue in the past. I wish he would have chosen to stay at the table in the leadership role that he already had. He has always added well-spoken, thought-provoking words to Club 20’s committee and board discussions. I wish him well with his future endeavors, including his beautiful weaving and poetry.

KATHY WELT
Hotchkiss

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 at 9:56 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.