WHAT A MESS. I AM AGHAST!

Most of you probably have heard by now that the Executive Committee of the APTA has requested the resignation of Marjorie Hodson, the Executive Director for the past three years. The Executive Committee consists of President Mark Fischl, Vice Presidents, Tim McAvoy and Scott Bondurant, Treasurer Sally Cottingham and Secretary Taylor Bowen. It seems clear that this action was taken without consultation with the other ten members of the Board. A telephone conference call had to be made with all the Board members some time after the decision to advise them of what had been done.

No replacement has been selected and the location of the office, which is now housed in Marjorie Hodson's residence, also has not been determined. It seems that she has been asked to continue for a couple of months in a stand-by role and then "train" her replacement. What a way to conduct personnel policy.

Unfortunately, this is not new to the APTA. It follows a very similar pattern to that which was employed when Marjorie's predecessor, Carolyn Tierney, was "retired". It is unbelievable to me that the successful business people who comprise the Board of Directors of the Association have such meager personnel skills. More than that, they even lack human decency credentials. "This is the way it is done today" seems to be the message.

Well I guess I am from the old school. You used to be informed of any shortcomings and given an opportunity to improve. You were entitled to voice your opinion on matters under discussion so long as you did the required work when the final determination was made, even if you had a different view. Now there is no warning and, if you don't follow the prescribed direction, even if it has moral or legal questions, it's "my way or the highway".

I want you to know that I speak from some experience in this matter. I was selected to be the APTA President in 1988 shortly after my predecessor dismissed the Executive Director. I started from scratch but was extremely fortunate that one of the applicants for the position was Ginna Ohlmuller. This is not a job that you do for the monetary compensation. You take it because you love the sport and enjoy the challenges put to you by the membership. Ginna was the embodiment of that philosophy. I do not know Marjorie as well as I knew Ginna but, from the testimony of most of the membership and my own experience, she worked long and hard and did not deserve this fate.

I am not sure that the damage that has been done can be repaired. I certainly would hope that Marjorie can be retained and the leadership of the association changed. Right now it is a mess and our sport does not need this kind of mismanagement. A change at the top is needed.

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