Fort Ord RAB Lives On

[meuser@mapcruzin.com]

Hi - Just a quick note to followup on my note a few months ago
about the Fort ord RAB. At that time I was dismayed to find that
the RAB was suspended and facing permanent removal.

Since that dismal day things have completely turned around. I
attended tonight's RAB meeting. The community co-chair had
resigned and tonight they elected a new co-chair, Scott Allen.
It was also time to "renew" some of the members whose two year
term had expired. This time around there was no bickering over
whether someone had reapplied 29 or 31 days before their
expiration date. Everyone who expressed the desire to continue,
seemingly, would be allowed to do so. Another pleasant surprise
was the absence of what I can only call a "facilitation circus."
Gone were the 1/2 dozen or so folks with tape recorders,
microphones, video machines, and Robert's Rules of Order.

On the down side, the Army still, after 4+ years cannot find a
permanent home for the RAB. Also, they still have not arrived at
a simple solution for recording and maintaining the minutes of
each meeting. For awhile they had a court recorder. That didn't
last too long - I believe the reason was that it was too
expensive. The court recorder was replaced with the "facilitator
circus" - one of the 1/2 dozen folks was in charge of tape
recording the RAB meetings. The Army disclosed that this one
person alone cost the Army $700 per session. I'm just guessing,
but I'll bet that is a lot more than a court recorder costs.

I'm sure that some of the Fort Ord RAB members are CareerPro
readers. I'll bet that other RABs have figured out how to record
and maintain minutes in a form that is accurate and accessible.
Maybe you could drop a line here suggesting how you do it.
Shouldn't be that tough.

best,

Mike Meuser