March 2004

The Value of an Organization

The value of any organization is directly proportional to the interest and contribution of its members.

by David Savage, WSBA President

Each spring, three or four elective seats become available on the Board of Governors, and a president-elect is selected by the Board.

Although it is not yet a "trend," fewer and fewer nominations are received for the congressional-district elective seats. Unfortunately, when the 7th-East Congressional District seat was ripe for election in 2002, no nominations were submitted. As a result, the Board solicited applications from which to select a governor. Ironically, 27 applications were received. The fact that there was significant interest in the position by application, rather than election, suggests there may be one or more aspects of the elective process that chill interest in considering service as a governor. Happily, the relative wealth of applications suggests there is no lack of interest in the work of the Board.

Similarly, there have been significant numbers of applications for the at-large positions. The at-large positions and the Young Lawyers Division (YLD) seat (this governor is selected by the Board from nominations made by the YLD Board of Trustees) were added in 2001. Indeed, the WSBA has had a virtual embarrassment of riches in the number and quality of the applicants for these appointed seats. This again suggests that the process of getting to the Board may have more to do with attracting capable volunteers than with the assessment that the Board's work is irrelevant to the membership.

Article III.M of the WSBA bylaws, which provides for the two at-large seats, is designed to bring governors  to the Board who: "have the experience and knowledge of the needs of those lawyers whose membership is or may be historically under-represented in governance, or who represent some of the diverse elements of the public of the State of Washington, to the end that the Board of Governors will be a more diverse and representative body than the results of the election of Governors based solely on Congressional Districts may allow. Under-representation and diversity may be based upon the discretionary determination of the Board of Governors at the time of the election of any at-large Governor to include, but not be limited to, age, race, sex, geography, areas and types of practice, and years of membership, provided that no single factor shall be determinative."

I, together with Governor Hinojos-Fall, got to the Board via bylaw M. We both had reservations about this avenue of access. Frankly, had there not been two positions, I would not have applied, because while geographic (read small-town/rural) balance is important, I believe it is relatively less so than bringing diversity in age, race, and sex to the Board. (One need only look at the composition of the Board for the last 25 years to appreciate the accuracy of this remark.) I know Governor Hinojos-Fall, like many other persons of color, was concerned that the creation of an at-large position would institutionalize tokenism rather than bring real diversity to the Board. Happily (and I speak with Governor Hinojos-Fall's permission), we both have found our apprehensions allayed by this Board's commitment to diversity.

Because achieving diversity requires a "maximum investment," I believe that a relatively simple modification in the elective process can remove the barriers that have stood in the way of the election of lawyers from small towns. The Fourth Congressional District, for instance, which encompasses Yakima and Wenatchee, utilizes an informal gentlepersons' agreement whereby one locality defers to the other so that there is a balance in elective opportunity. The Second District also utilizes this system — by custom it rotates its Board seat among Snohomish, Whatcom, and Skagit Counties. I understand that this is also the case in the Third District, with rotation between the Olympia area and the Vancouver area.

A companion governance issue is the method by which we identify and select our president. In June of each year, the Board selects a president-elect from among applicants for the position. The person selected serves one year as president-elect and then takes office as president following the annual meeting in September. 

Increasingly, there are relatively few applicants for president-elect. Indeed, in some years there has been only one. Although this is not necessarily related, presidents are being drawn more often from the ranks of active Board members. This is a recent phenomenon. Historically, WSBA presidents, though often persons with prior Board experience, were not elected by the Boards with whom they served. Some of the criticisms of this change are that electing from the Board creates a partial-term governor, yields a president with less than a full three years of Board experience, and creates the appearance of an "insider" advantage. While these criticisms can be answered (a WSBA president must first serve a year as president-elect, selection by the Board from among its own may enhance collegiality and effectiveness, and governor vacancies create additional service opportunities), it is unlikely there is a single correct solution/answer. Ideally, the Board should have several well-qualified candidates from whom to choose a president-elect.

These issues and concerns motivated me to constitute the President and Governor Selection Review Task Force. This task force is chaired by James Macpherson of Bainbridge Island. He is joined by Lucy Isaki, a past governor, of Seattle; Michael Pontarolo of Spokane, in his first year with the Board of Governors; Zulema Hinojos-Fall, a third-year governor-at-large, from Seattle; and Stephen DeForest of Seattle, a past WSBA president. The task force's charge is to review and suggest, as necessary, modifications to the method by which we identify and select our presidents and governors, including, at minimum, consideration of whether there should be: (1) criteria for presidential applicants; (2) a process for recruiting presidential applicants, at-large governors, and replacement governors; and (3) an institutionalized geographic rotation within congressional districts dominated by one or more metropolitan centers, so that small-town and rural practitioners are able to be viable governor candidates. The task force expects to report back to the Board of Governors before the 2004 annual meeting in September. Any suggested changes will require Board approval and will not be implemented before 2005.

Jim Macpherson and I invite your input. You may contact Jim at jim@koptamacpherson.com, and my e-mail is savage2@imsblaw.com. I hope this will serve in some small way to motivate some among you to consider service with the Board of Governors. The job is time-consuming, some of it is mundane, and it is purely volunteer work, but I guarantee you will find few if any presidents or governors who regret their service, and none will deny that it enhanced their lives personally and professionally.

______________________

Dave Savage may be reached at savage2@imsblaw.com or 509-332-3502.

Back to table of contents >>