Below is a copy of an email that was sent to the national board on behalf of SPJ DC and others.
For more on this issue, you can see this recap.
Our ad hoc group’s last letter to the SPJ national board.
SPJ President Alex Tarquinio’s blog post today (this past Wednesday, June 5) with more details about the search for a new executive director.
UPDATE: Just now on Friday evening, June 7, the top three officers of SPJ apologized for a lack of civility and insufficient notice of the recent board meeting. They rejected the call to impeach the president. See here.
— Below is today’s (June 7) email —
Dear national SPJ board of directors:
Our informal group of local SPJ leaders as well as some pro chapters collectively express our desire for the national board to conduct all elements of the process to find a new executive director in a transparent way with a democratic process. We reiterate our concerns as expressed on May 1, 2019, in an email to the board that board meetings be announced in a timely and transparent way and that as much detail as possible be made public about the search, including board meetings themselves.
We ask the national board to release any timetable regarding filling the leadership of the organization, including: What steps the national board is taking to find and hire a new executive director; provide details regarding any effort by the current national president to continue in some capacity at SPJ after her term ends; and provide publicly copies of any leadership transition or related plans. We appreciate that some of these questions have been partly answered in board communications to us so far as well as Alex’s blog post from earlier today.
We wish to express our collective sense that the June 1, 2019, board meeting did not take place in a collegial, collaborative or open way. We ask that future board meetings include as much public debate and SPJ member and national board member input as necessary about all elements of the search process. We request that the national board consider publicly and fully any motions from board members or from SPJ members as it relates to the search.
We believe that it may not be best practice, even if it may be allowed under some interpretation of the bylaws, for the elected president of the national organization to also serve as its interim staff leader. We recommend that those two positions be separated, even during this period of transition.
Lastly but significantly, we wish to collectively express our vast appreciation and acknowledgement of the professional way national/headquarters staff have run the organization day to day during this transitional time. We thank all staff members for their dedication and for performing their jobs even without a permanent, on-staff and full-time executive leader.
Signed by,
SPJ D.C. Pro Chapter,
Valley of the Sun Pro Chapter,
SPJ Florida,
Indiana Pro Chapter,
Louisiana Pro
and the Chicago Headline Club board;
Kathryn Jones, Region 8 coordinator;
Michael Drudge, president, San Antonio Pro,
Anna Walsh, president, Maryland Pro,
Frederick Melo, secretary, Minnesota,
and Ashley Stewart and Kaitlin Gillespie, Western Washington Pro board members;
and
John M. Brewer, member, Oklahoma Pro Chapter.
UPDATE: The group has added the following signers:
Elle Toussi, co-chair, SPJ International Community;
Stephanie Bluestein, president, Greater Los Angeles Pro Chapter;
Beth Konrad, president, Detroit chapter;
and Amanda Waldroupe, president, Oregon
FURTHER UPATE: The group has also added:
Adam Powell, president, SPJ Alabama
Submitted on June 5, 2019, on behalf of the above by Jonathan Make, outgoing president, SPJ DC. Reachable at press@warren-news.com, 202-872-9200 and www.twitter.com/makejdm.
CC re the last paragraph to Jenn Royer and Linda Hall. I request that they please forward just this final paragraph to staff.