CHCA delays vote on replacing Local board member

Posted 9/28/16

by Kevin Dicciani

The board of the Chestnut Hill Community Association moved to delay approval of Sue Beetle to the Local's board, as some members said that candidates with newspaper experience …

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CHCA delays vote on replacing Local board member

Posted

by Kevin Dicciani

The board of the Chestnut Hill Community Association moved to delay approval of Sue Beetle to the Local's board, as some members said that candidates with newspaper experience should be considered first before any decisions are finalized.

The seat on the Chestnut Hill Local’s board of directors became vacant after Paul Davies, a former editor of the Sunday Inquirer and a teacher at the University of Delaware, stepped down from the position to return to work at the Philadelphia Inquirer. Sue Beetle, whom the Local’s board had already brought on as a non-voting treasurer, was instead nominated to replace Davies’ open seat, an intermediate-length position with a term that expires in March 2018.

Mark Keintz, representing the Local board, told the CHCA on Sept. 22 that Beetle has “assisted many local organizations in setting up and straightening out their economic systems.” Beetle is currently the finance manager at Weavers Way Co-op and previously worked for 17 years as the finance director at Neighborhood Interfaith Movement. In addition, Beetle is on the board of Mt. Airy Learning Tree and once served on the CHCA’s Budget and Finance Committee.

Keintz said that Beetle, having been on the Budget and Finance Committee, is already familiar with the setup of the Local’s finances.

“She’s a perfect fit for this position, and I hope the board will agree,” Keintz said.

When asked if there was an urgency to fill the seat, Keintz said that under the CHCA's bylaws the Local's board must have either seven or nine members. At the moment it only has six, and to operate within the confines of the bylaws, he said, the position needs to be filled. He said there no were other applicants for the position.

There is also a need to make some decisions regarding the Local’s finances, Keintz said. Being as the newspaper’s revenue is lower than projected, he said that Beetle, with her background in finance, would be able to help the board address the Local’s current financial situation.

“I think that having people contributing to getting us back to budget and helping assess our options is becoming urgent to us,” Keintz said.

Yet there was hesitation among board members to replace Davies with Beetle. Board member Liz Bales said the CHCA carefully designed the Local’s board to feature members with strong newspaper backgrounds. At the moment the board only has six members, and out of those six only two – Dan Meyers and Bob Warner – have editorial or newspaper experience. This necessitates appointing someone with a similar background to the board to restore its balance, she said.

“The vacancy is in the editorial area, and we worked so hard at creating a balanced, total board,” Bales said. “I think finding someone to fulfill that need that Paul is leaving specifically, not necessarily in the editorial sense, but that sort of role, is the hesitancy that you’re getting from the board.”

Secretary Jean Wedgwood said her opposition has nothing to do with Beetle. Rather, Wedgwood said the Local needs board members with newspaper experience to inform its present decisions and help steer the publication towards future success. She added that the Nominating Committee chose the people it did because it wanted the Local “to thrive.”

“One of the issues informing this board is to save the Local,” Wedgwood said. “Circulation isn’t good, revenue isn’t that great, and while I think it’s important to have a person for overseeing finances, we need to have something to oversee if we don’t have revenue coming in. My idea is that we need content to make that paper salable, and that takes a newspaper person, not a financial person.”

Board member Bob Rossman said that Weaver’s Way has a newspaper, The Shuttle, and Beetle, as the organization’s finance manager, would have at some point been responsible for its financial oversight, making her not only qualified but an asset to the board.

“I thought the Local board was really lacking in the financial side and someone who really understands the nuts and bolts of what it takes to keep a publication financially viable, so I very much support her nomination,” Rossman said.

Despite Rossman’s sentiment, board member Dan Pulka said if the CHCA is recommending someone to the board, it needs to be someone who is “steeped in newspaper experience.”

“Perhaps delay this a week and ask the board to take a second look so that we feel a thorough search has been done to fill the position,” Pulka said.

A motion was then made for the Local board to search for additional candidates to fill the vacant seat. The board approved the motion with one objection.

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