My last blog was about getting kicked out of an MBA meeting and how they didn't care about having open meetings back in the '80s. Skip ahead 25 years and I see the same thing happening. They won't actually kick people out, but they haven't had anyone really challenge them either.
I spent the last four years writing for the MBA webpage www.mnbaseball.org and have attended almost all of the meetings over that time period. What I saw distressed me. More and more the board just wants to operate in their little world. They are super sensitive to any criticism, yet make jokes and seem to have no regard for members that have put in time and effort to support their points of view.
I used to summarize the more important points of the board meetings each month. By my last year of writing, I was ordered not to do that anymore. Now the only time anyone hears what happens at the meetings are from the minutes--which last month didn't even get posted until three weeks after the meeting. The board members seem to think that everyone knows what is going on with Minnesota baseball and the ever changing scenes, but it is my contention that very few people know what is really going on.
What should be changed? Number one, the board should publicize their meetings and stick to it. Right now the meeting list is on the MBA board page, but it is hardly ever accurate. I can't tell you how many meetings I went to that were supposed to start at 11 am or 1 pm and I got there 15 minutes early only to find out that the meeting started at 10 am or noon.
Number two, the board has been coming in a night ahead of the meeting day and meeting casually that night. There have been many decisions made at these unofficial meetings (or work sessions as some of the board members call them--of course they say that they are not meetings so they don't have to publicize them or have them open) and the next day a board member makes a motion and it passes with no explanation or reason. With the cash crunch that the board keeps whining about, they should limit their overnights. Also, business needs to be done in the open, not in secret.
Number three, there is no agenda for interested parties to see before the meetings. Many times when some big decision has been made the parties find out about it after the meeting. Then the big meeting is the next one. Many teams have been moved from one class to another in one meeting and moved back at the next one. How much more efficient if people knew to attend a meeting before-hand rather than after. Is there any other state-wide governing body that meets every month that does not have an agenda?
Number four, they should start believing their members. When Andy Johnson came before them with a poll that he conducted of Class C teams (about adding more teams into the C state tournament based on attendance) the board poo-pooed the idea because he only had 67 responses out of 250 possibles. Seems to me that is about 60 more responses than they had before they made the decision.
In another example, Juice Johnson told the board about his workings with the Class B teams. Many times he had 25-28 responses from the 34 teams possible. And he had contacted the other teams repeatedly for their opinions. The board belittled the B effort with the retort that they thought he and the other people that helped Juice were just being self-serving. It was Johnson's effort that made the B tournament so successful in 2011.
Finally, number five, the board really does need to work. They need to have work sessions where they actually get up and move around exploring ideas and other things to make Minnesota Baseball better. Take a day and actually work on some maps and new ideas on what makes a B and C player and town. Is there any way we can get the A people back into our fold? How can we get more people into attending the state tournament? Is it people we want or money? How can we lower our expenses? Do we need a few all day meetings. How can we get more people aware that the board actually meets every month and makes decisions that affects every team in the state?
One of the old-timers that has been involved in baseball a long time said to me as he was leaving a meeting, "It was better in the old days when the board met in private and whoever paid them the most got the votes." I don't agree.
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