[WSBAPT] Fw: Open Communication to all WSBA Members on the BOG elections ...

Mon Apr 16 15:28:52 PDT 2018

Jackie,
Thank you for forwarding Paul’s message. But there are actually 2 reform candidates in the District 7S run-off election: Jennifer Mackley and Jean Kang.
Please read their ballot statements before voting. All the BOG candidates bios are at https://www.wsba.org/about-wsba/who-we-are/board-elections/meet-the-candidates. The District 7S candidates’ statements are below:

Jennifer Ann Mackley

To make the WSBA truly RESPONSIVE to its membership, the first step is listening to its members. The Board of Governors is tackling issues that need to be resolved in accordance with our collective input, not individual agendas. District 7-South is the largest WSBA District, with almost 1/5 of the Bar membership, so our involvement is significant. With a STRONG representative like me reflecting your feedback to the Board, your VOICE will be heard.

Currently 43% of the WSBA are either solo practitioners or part of firms with fewer than five attorneys, yet SOLO AND SMALL PRACTITIONERS make up only 16% of the Board. We need to ensure the Board reflects the DIVERSITY of the Bar and, as a Solo/Small Firm Practitioner for 19 years, I will be able to advocate for fair representation of all practitioners.

The WSBA can be what we need it to be: an EFFECTIVE resource to 1) make it easier for us to practice law ethically and professionally in Washington; and 2) educate the public on how we can help them help themselves. Choosing the best person to represent you on the Board is how you can make that possible. Thank you for your support!

Jean Y. Kang

WSBA is a complicated, and diverse, organization with an important mission: to serve the public and members, ensure the integrity of the legal profession, and champion justice. Currently serving as an At-Large Governor, I have the experience and inside knowledge to hit the ground running as the Governor for District 7-South. I have developed constructive working relationships with the other governors and have been in the thick of the action. You need a governor who understands the issues that the Board is currently facing and is actively taking part in reforming the Board to better serve the members and the public.

The immediate issues facing the incoming class of Governors will be how to get back on budget, membership control, and promoting diversity in the legal profession. Since being on the Board, I have been vocal on diversity issues, including supporting various clinics and programs for underrepresented communities, and partnership with minority bar associations. I have also been vocal on protecting referendum rights, and pushing for membership control through total transparency of the governing process. The ability of members to guide their Bar is paramount. Your voice matters. Please vote for me!

From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com [mailto:wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com] On Behalf Of jacyphers at gmail.com
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2018 1:43 PM
To: Probate List Serve
Subject: [WSBAPT] Fw: Open Communication to all WSBA Members...

The below email from WSBA Governor, Paul Swegle, should be of interest to the list serve members who have not received a copy directly.
Many of us well remember the 2016 Sections Policy Workgroup debacle, and may have many other concerns.

Jackie Cyphers
Jeannette A. Cyphers, Attorney at Law
P. O. Box 908
Edmonds, WA 98020-0908
425-776-5887
fax 425-640-0814
jacyphers at gmail.com<mailto:jacyphers at gmail.com>

We do not use encrypted email so this message is not secure and may not be protected by attorney client privilege.  NOTE:  This email address is NOT monitored 24/7.  If your matter requires prompt attention please call our offices during business hours so we can discuss it with you and also discuss timing.

This e-mail is intended for the exclusive use of the person or persons to whom it is addressed. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 USC Sections 2510-2521 applies to this e-mail. Unauthorized review of distribution is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by phone or reply e-mail. Do not disseminate this e-mail and destroy the original e-mail and any copies.

-------Original Message-------

From: Paul S<mailto:pswegle at gmail.com>
Date: 4/16/2018 1:26:40 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:,<mailto:undisclosed-recipients:,>
Subject: Open Communication to all WSBA Members...

Note: If you received this email directly from me, Paul Swegle, you are on my newly created “Concerned WSBA Members” email list. If you want off this list, please let me know.

***********************************************************************************************

Hello fellow lawyers of Washington State,

I represent District 7 North (North Seattle to Edmonds) on the Washington State Bar Association Board of Governors.

***Please share this with fellow WSBA members***

These are my personal views and they do not reflect the views of the WSBA.

Let’s Get the WSBA Back on Track!

I and others are working hard on governance and leadership reforms from inside the WSBA under very challenging circumstances. We need your support and assistance to turn things around.

Calls to Action

To become part of these reform efforts, please do the following four things:

1.       Email me at pswegle at gmail.com<mailto:pswegle at gmail.com> to get on my “Concerned WSBA Members” email list if you received this from someone else so I reach you when your input/feedback is needed. I can no longer communicate with the members of District 7N via WSBA channels.

2.       Please join the District 7N Meetup Group so we can meet and talk in person around the District -  https://www.meetup.com/Lawyers-of-District-7-North/  Meetups are schedule in Lake City on April 24 and downtown Seattle on May 8.

These alternative communication channels are now critical for anyone who wants to hear anything other than the WSBA senior leadership’s messaging.

The WSBA President and the WSBA Executive Director have effectively banned WSBA governors from communicating with WSBA members via WSBA email systems unless those communications are reviewed and approved by the President and Executive Director.

I have stopped trying to get my messages through these censors.

And yes, this censorship does seem to violate the Bylaws, in case you’re wondering.

WSBA Bylaw section IV.A.2.(d) (underlining added):

“Each Governor is expected to engage with members about BOG actions and issues, and to convey member viewpoints to the Board. In representing a Congressional District, a Governor will at a minimum: (1) bring to the BOG the perspective, values and circumstances of her or his district to be applied in the best interests of all members, the public and the Bar; and (2) bring information to the members in the district that promotes appreciation of actions and issues affecting the membership as a whole, the public and the organization.”

3.       Help “reform” candidates win the current elections for BOG positions in Districts 1, 5, and 7 South.

Vote for reform candidates and and encourage our fellow colleagues to do the same.

Voting ends April 20. Here are three strong reform candidates:
·

·         District 1 – Michael Cherry
·
·

·         District 5 – Rea Culwell
·
·

·         District 7S – Jean Kang

The District 5 (Spokane) race looks troubling from a reform perspective. The leading candidate said in a campaign email last week – “…we cannot engage in destructive “reform” that will only serve to de-unify the organization that currently exists….”

4.       Attend the May 17/18 Board of Governors meetings at WSBA headquarters.

Reform-oriented governors have several important matters on the agenda for May 17 and 18. The WSBA leadership will pack the house with supporters to oppose governor reform proposals, as they did at the April 6 special meeting.

We need your voices of support. Step up and get your opinion into the public record, because that’s what the opponents will do. To do so, show up on time and sign up to speak; or participate via webcast and submit your messages of support through the webcasting platform.

These first few reform proposals include: (i) rolling back the recent WSBA Bylaw amendments that added three more non-member-elected positions to the Board of Governors and also (ii) certain internal governance reforms to allow governors to participate in setting the agenda on matters of importance to the members, WSBA staff, and the public.

Why are Reforms Needed?

The sense of disenfranchisement many members feel is no illusion. Members and even governors are surprisingly powerless.

One only need listen to former President Anthony Gipe speak dismissively of the role of member representation at the April 6 special meeting to appreciate some of the root causes of member disenfranchisement -  (See "Watch the April 6 Special Meeting Public Session<https://www.wsba.org/about-wsba/who-we-are/board-of-governors>" and go to Video Part 2, 0:31:21).

***Listen for it... "It is not the majority that elects us here, so why do we act like it?!"  -Anthony Gipe

Disenfranchisement fueled by those types of dismissive attitudes has led to alienation for many members, as they have accurately perceived more and more things being done to them and fewer things being done for them. And this, despite the members being the sole source of the WSBA's $22 million budget.

The WSBA refuses to poll its members to gauge member satisfaction despite my repeated requests, but the results of such a survey would likely mirror the WSBA’s employee satisfaction numbers at www.glassdoor.com<http://www.glassdoor.com/>, where it has a 2.3 rating, with only 21% of respondents saying they would recommend the WSBA to a friend and only 31% of respondents saying they approve of the CEO/ED.

By comparison on Glassdoor: Walmart = 3.2; Trump International Hotels = 4.2; Washington Department of Licensing = 3.1; and Amazon = 3.8.

Can you find a company or organization with a score lower than 2.3?....

In my view, the WSBA's Executive Director of roughly 14 years and her evolving inner circles have held relatively free reign over all of the levers of WSBA power, control and communication in recent years, passing member-unfriendly changes with little difficulty.

For example, despite substantial member opposition to the extensive 2016 Bylaw amendments, the only “win” opponents of the amendments achieved was that the word “Association” was not removed from the organization’s name.

Other unhealthy manifestations of the concentration of power in senior WSBA leadership, in my opinion, include the following:

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·         The killing of a dues referendum (a referendum I didn’t support but felt should be permitted);

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·         Ongoing efforts to curtail member referendum rights;

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·         Heavy-handed restrictions on governor communications;

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·         Efforts by senior WSBA leadership to intimidate and coerce governors from expressing views contrary to those of the leadership, including a recent 4 hour sparsely attended “communal wisdom” session that I boycotted, at which an effort was briefly considered to remove me from the Board of Governors;

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·         The use of Orwellian language to suppress dissent, including:

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·         calling contrary views “inflammatory rhetoric;”

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·         Policies mandating that governors and others “always assume good intent” about anything WSBA leadership says or does; and

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·         The President’s recent edict that all governor communications be reviewed and filtered through what he calls “the communal wisdom.”

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·         The inability of governors to request and easily receive information from the WSBA staff;

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·         Retaliation against governors who ask for too much information, including the recent removal of a governor from the Personnel Committee following his apparently too-diligent efforts to obtain salary information;

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·         Intimidating and coercive phone calls by WSBA senior leadership to individual governors;

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·         Frequent suggestions that any questioning of WSBA staff actions is inappropriate and disrespectful, including frequent and troubling suggestions that such questions or challenges constitute sexual discrimination;

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·         Violations of the Bylaws to undermine governors’ efforts to call and effectively hold special meetings;

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·         Efforts in late 2015 to make it impossible for the Board of Governors to remove the Executive Director without the approval of the Washington Supreme Court;

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·         The 2016 Sections Policy Workgroup debacle;

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·         The 2016 attempt to stop the Indian Law Section from engaging in cultural practices;

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·         Toleration of conflicts of interests, or at least the appearance of conflicts of interest, such as the long-standing relationship of the WSBA Executive Director and the Chair of the LLLT Board who frequently appears before the Board of Governors and the Washington Supreme Court to lobby for expansion of the LLLT program; and

  *
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·         Efforts by the WSBA leadership to influence elections (when I ran on a reform platform, numerous sitting governors and status-quo-leaning past Presidents endorsed one of my opponents with no prior WSBA experience or involvement).

In reading third party materials concerning similar issues faced by other organizations, I encountered an interesting CompassPoint study from 2006 which found that nearly 30% of departing executive directors were either fired or forced out. In some cases this was done, no doubt, to restore healthy governance checks and balances. It was encouraging to see that our challenges are not unique and that other highly controlled boards have stepped up to take bold but necessary restorative actions.

Fellow WSBA members, I urge you to watch WSBA governance very closely in the coming weeks and months as some of us on the board of governors push for reforms aimed at restoring balanced governance and leadership.

If you also want to see change at the WSBA, now is the time to get involved and make your voice heard.

Sincerely,

Paul Swegle, Governor, District 7N

Immediate Past Chair, Corporate Counsel Section

Washington State Bar Association

__________________________

Paul Swegle

General Counsel

(206) 300-7165

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