I am replying here to both Dona and Chris. ? Dona, I was going to weigh in on the current AER difficulties, but your initial statement absolutely parallels my thoughts. I have little more to add aside from saying me too. If that were my only reason for responding, however, I probably would not bother as I often tire of reading ¡°me too.¡± Messages on many lists. ?Chris Tabb¡¯s response to you, and then yours to him, however, concerns me. ? Let me disclose ahead of what I am about to say that I consider Mark Richert to be a personal friend, and I do not know Lee Sonnenberg at all. I am nonetheless attempting to restrict my comments here to what I know objectively. My personal feelings are not relevant to these comments. ? ? I worked with Mark Richert as a member of the American Council of the Blind (ACB) Resolutions Committee during the seven years that I chaired the resolutions committee. I have also worked with him on some national legislative advocacy projects over the many years I have known him. ?Mark is probably the finest legal scholar and legal wordsmith with regard to the overall field of blindness in the Country. His work on the Macy Act truly was inspired.? Brilliant people, however, often do have an irascible ?streak, and mark is no exception. I am not going to say that I always found Mark to be easy to work with, but I always found that doing so was well worth the effort. ?I personally do not feel that AER can afford to lose Mark. Executive Directors, however, come and go. ?I frankly do not know how good of an acting director, or earlier how good of an Executive Director Mark was for AER, but he is a giant in the field of blindness, and AER can ill afford to do without his work and guidance. What Lee has done would appear to have cast disgraceful ?dispersion on Mark¡¯s career and reputation. ?That in and of itself would suggest to me that Mr. Sonnenberg is not a good fit for AER. ? I must acknowledge that I am an outsider looking in when it comes to the daily operation of AER. ?What Chris said about there being things of which Dona may be unaware probably applies tenfold to me. As a legally blind guy who has been a practitioner in the blindness field for most of the past 45 years, however, I know who the trusted blind leaders are, and should be. Mark is one such person, and AER has been lucky to have him working with and for them over many years. ?Michael Byington, Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist President of Kansas Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Inc. > Membership Coordinator for Friends In Art of the American Council of the Blind > 712 S. Kansas Avenue > Suite 414D-F > Topeka, Kansas 66603 > (785) 221-7111 > ByingtonCOMS@...?? ? ?
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From: [email protected] < [email protected]> On Behalf Of Dona Sauerburger Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2024 12:53 AM To: [email protected]Cc: Aer O&m Listserv <oandm@...> Subject: Re: [OandM] My concern for AER ? Thank you Chris, I appreciate this. ?I¡¯ve come to firmly believe there never is any objective truth, only our perspective of it. ¡ª Dona Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist for the blind
On Jun 27, 2024, at 12:51 AM, Chris Tabb <chris@...> wrote:
?Dona, From this one perspective, there are individual personalities that can be so very destructive (at times) they create much duress. There are things you may be unaware of, things that came up in previous tenure that would likely make you reconsider your present perspective. Regardless of whether Lee returns; I believe he acted with integrity in an untenable situation to do his utmost to restore collaborative spirit rather than devisiveness.? ?
On Jun 26, 2024, at 9:25?PM, Dona Sauerburger <dona@...> wrote:
? HI guys!? I had hoped to share my concern with AER members but apparently I'm not getting through to the AER listserv so I'll share it with youns (Pittsbughese for "y'all"!) - I know a lot of you are AER members.?? One of my biggest concerns in this world is the increasing division among people, an "us vs. them" approach with factions trying to energize us with fear or anger (in what Arthur Brooks calls on the national level the "outrage industrial complex") to pressure us to choose and identify with one side or the other.? It is toxic and leads to dysfunctional organizations, where people can't work together and don't trust each other.? This is what is going on with our government. I'm very concerned that our AER leadership is going down this path.? As I understand it, several months ago AER's Executive Director, Lee Sonnenberg, told the board he would resign rather than work with President-Elect Mark Richert.? After the board voted not to remove Richert, Sonnenberg reached out directly to the membership, setting in motion a campaign to support him by removing Richert.?? This is no way to run an organization. If a board member needs to be removed, that is a serious issue that should be carefully considered on its own merits.? It should be separate from any considerations of whether the board member's removal will satisfy the Executive Director's preferences. If Sonnenberg's resignation is reconsidered and he remains as Executive Director, I'm wondering what happens if the board does not agree with him on another matter, or there is someone else he can't get along with.? Will he again appeal directly to the members to take his side, further dividing us? In my opinion, an Executive Director who asks the membership to choose sides is divisive and not a good fit for an organization whose mission is to work together to find common ground and consensus to "speak with one voice." Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist ? The Board of Directors of the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) held a special meeting Tuesday evening to discuss the future leadership of the organization. The meeting resulted in a vote to remove Mark Richert as president-elect, which also means he is no longer on the Board of the organization. The Board did not make this decision lightly. Only after receiving a significant amount of input from members and other constituents of AER did we take this action. The Board will now begin to evaluate new candidates for President and President-Elect. Olaya Landa-Vialard, AER¡¯s current president, has agreed to extend her term until a new President is chosen. While change is always difficult, the Board is enthusiastic about the future of AER. We look forward to seeing many of you at our upcoming International Conference in July. |
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