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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Although I respect Steve’s position on the continued employment of Paula Littlewood, it strikes me as incredibly intellectually dishonest to defend the actions of Paula and Justice
Madsen denying a vote on a legitimate and qualified referendum by the members on a dues increase to then suggest that a referendum is appropriate on what is clearly not a “policy” matter for which the bylaws authorize a referendum but is rather a personnel
matter that is solely within the province of the Board of Governors.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">My position on the continued employment of Paula Littlewood is irrelevant to the discussion above. Having served on the Board of Governors and as a Treasurer, and having and continuing
to serve as general counsel to many corporations (profit and not for profit), my view is that the selection of the manager of the company is solely within the province of the governing Board. If the shareholders (i.e., the members) disagree with the decisions
of the Board, then elect a new Board. Ironically, this is exactly what has happened in the last few years. The members were dissatisfied and did elect a restructured Board (now referred to as a reform board).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">This boils down in reality to the efforts of a group of members who want to continue the prior direction of WSBA and a group that does not; the latters’ position that wants to put
the members’ interests in the forefront along with regulation of the practice, protection of the public, and other core goals. Having attended (personally or electronically) most of the recent meetings, the direction of the Board to change leadership was
by more than a 2/3 majority (9-4 in most cases). The WSBA will not rise or fall on whether the current Executive Director is retained. It will rise and fall on the dedication of the members to the organization itself; the thousands of volunteers that have
contributed their time, efforts and expertise to advancing the rule of law. The actions of the management (not the BOG necessarily) have alienated a huge percentage of the members.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">While we all recognize that ultimately the Supreme Court has plenary authority over the practice of law, they have for decades delegated this to the Board of Governors. They have
largely been absent landlords from the regular and ongoing activities of the Board of Governors except in rare circumstances. The SC has insufficient time, experience or commitment administer the WSBA on an ongoing basis. There will be some form of organization
that will need to be created or WSBA maintained to do so.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Sign a referendum if you will but it is hardly what we need at this point. It is clear from the discussions at the legislative level that many legislators have heard from attorney
constituents about the actions taken to deny the members vote on a dues increase and its patent disregard for WSBA’s own bylaws. Retaining the current Executive Director is only going to exacerbate the issues connected with ESHB 1788 (advancing changes to
the underlying State Bar Act) which is coming to a vote in the Senate Committee next week as I understand it. Signing the petition will only further entrench the already polarized positions. What is needed now is an active and meaningful discussion in the
SC-created “work group” to determine the future of WSBA and the future governance on the practice of law.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">With respect to my friends and colleagues, Steve Poole and Ken Masters, this referendum is ill conceived and not appropriate.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Geoff Gibbs<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">G. Geoffrey Gibbs | Anderson Hunter Law Firm</span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">
<br>
<span style="color:black">2707 Colby Avenue, Ste. 1001 Everett, WA 98201<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">PO Box 5397, Everett, WA 98206-5397
<br>
<span style="color:black">Phone: (425) 252-5161 | Fax: (425) 258-3345</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">
<br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><a href="mailto:ggibbs@andersonhunterlaw.com"><span style="color:#0563C1">ggibbs@andersonhunterlaw.com</span></a> /
<a href="http://www.andersonhunterlaw.com/">www.andersonhunterlaw.com</a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#1F497D"><img border="0" width="114" height="36" style="width:1.1875in;height:.375in" id="_x0000_i1026" src="cid:image002.jpg@01D4E239.0570F890" alt="Description: Description: AH Color Large-no-tag"></span><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">This email message may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized use is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please
contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> Steven G.Toole <steve@sgtoolelaw.com> <br>
<b>Sent:</b> Sunday, March 24, 2019 10:57 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Diversity Stakeholders <diversity-stakeholders@list.wsba.org><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [diversity-stakeholders] BAR referendum Petition<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I don’t know if this is a proper use of this list serve. If it isn’t, then I will apologize in advance. However, this concerns matters that are imperative for the health of the Diversity Stakeholders in the State of Washington. I know
all of you are aware of the chaos regarding the WSBA and its Board of Governors, as well as the BOG’s decision to terminate the services of Paula Littlewood as Executive Director, effective April 1.
<b>If not, then I suggest you read the two attached letters.</b> One was penned by Justice Madsen and the other is a letter from Ken Masters, resigning as President of the Washington State Bar Foundation, in protest of the actions of this Board of Governors.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Although I certainly don’t claim to speak for many, if any of you, I strongly suspect that the vast majority of those receiving this email who are WSBA members, do not support the radical change of direction being taken by our current BOG
and, to the contrary, do not want to see Paula fired as Executive Director. <b>
It is not too late to take action that can prevent this from occurring, but you all must act NOW. If anyone is telling you it’s too late to prevent Paula’s termination, they are wrong.<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The most immediate action is a very simple one: <b>click on the below link and vote in favor of the Petition for Referendum of the decision of the WSBA Board of Governors to fire Executive Director Paula Littlewood.</b> As president of
the WSBA in 2010-2011, I worked closely with Paula and know first-hand how incredible an executive director she has been and still is. I know first-hand of how revered she is by the leadership of bar associations throughout this country. However, if for
no other reasons than those set forth by Justice Madsen in her attached letter, please sign the Petition. We need about 1,700 signatures and since Paula’s last day on the job is March 31<sup>st</sup>, we would like to be able to file the Petition before she
is officially terminated. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The other thing I would encourage you to do, is to forward this email and the attachments to any WSBA lawyers you may have contact with on an email list and urge them to also sign the Petition.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow">LINK FOR SIGNING PETITION FOR REFERENDUM:
</span><span style="font-family:HelveticaNeue;color:#333333"><a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gopetition.com%2Fpetitions%2Fwsba-referendum-re-executive-director-termination.html&data=02%7C01%7Cggibbs%40andersonhunterlaw.com%7C9deb9d768acb49cb72e808d6b0822f32%7Ccfd348433b124bd6850ebd6b59fd6f90%7C0%7C0%7C636890470544821420&sdata=4Gpuf%2BuWQqdAXhpPFg5u8iaiG1EeKj1dgz2BvA47bu4%3D&reserved=0">https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/wsba-referendum-re-executive-director-termination.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">YOU WILL NOTE THAT BY SIGNING THE PETITION, IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE BOG CAN’T TERMINATE PAULA AS WSBA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BUT THEY WILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH PROPER DUE PROCESS AND PRESUMABLY WILL GET FEEDBACK FROM OTHER GROUPS, ENTITIES,
BOARDS AND MEMBERSHIP BEFORE DOING SO.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thank you. STEVE TOOLE, WSBA President, 2010-2011<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:navy">Steve Toole<br>
<b><i>Steven G. Toole Mediation Service</i></b><br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">PO Box 50008</span><span style="color:navy"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Bellevue, WA 98015-0008</span><span style="color:navy"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">p: (425) 455-1570 | f: (425) 455-1954<br>
<a href="mailto:steve@sgtoolelaw.com" title="blocked::mailto:steve@sgtoolelaw.com
mailto:steve@sgtoolelaw.com"><span style="color:#0563C1">steve@sgtoolelaw.com</span></a>
</span><span style="color:navy"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:navy"><a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sgtoolelaw.com%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cggibbs%40andersonhunterlaw.com%7C9deb9d768acb49cb72e808d6b0822f32%7Ccfd348433b124bd6850ebd6b59fd6f90%7C0%7C0%7C636890470544821420&sdata=AEtKnv2i92efnCVU6dSaL5kmN0EYHKcf6VEBFmo4reU%3D&reserved=0"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#0563C1">www.sgtoolelaw.com</span></a>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span><a href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.avvo.com%2Fattorneys%2F98015-wa-steven-toole-6334.html&data=02%7C01%7Cggibbs%40andersonhunterlaw.com%7C9deb9d768acb49cb72e808d6b0822f32%7Ccfd348433b124bd6850ebd6b59fd6f90%7C0%7C0%7C636890470544831428&sdata=lxSjAv%2BaViQJ4e7BTzeV63rUOR06lDh3yPwE9KVGylM%3D&reserved=0"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="42" height="22" style="width:.4375in;height:.2291in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image003.jpg@01D4E239.0570F890" alt="cid:image001.gif@01D10A53.83918350"></span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p>---<o:p></o:p></p>
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