While reading the latest PCA (May 2002), as I always do, finding things that spark my interest and things that make me think, I spotted the item titled �The Board: No Anonymity Practiced at this Club.� As I read it I found myself saying �No, No, No!� After reflecting on this topic for a day (the practice of publicizing in the club newsletter how each board member votes in almost every important decision), I see the pros and cons from my 27 years of club management�10 of that in the corporate club world and the last 17 in member-owned clubs.

Pros	Cons

Open communication	Can be manipulated to make a person
	appear to be a hero when he or she knows
	the proposal is going to pass anyway

Accountability	Shows lack of unity on a subject should
	the vote be 6-5 or something like it. Instead
	of a �unified board stand� there is
	opportunity for �19^th Hole� discussions
	on sides of issues.

Prevents an �us-versus-them� mentality	Creates �good guy/bad guy� possibilities
	on the board.

I want to state emphatically that I strongly support and agree that board meeting minutes, goings on, etc., should be known to the members, but I�m not sure how knowing the way each board member voted will build a united and strong board presence in the club.

I find the �social handcuffs� associated with getting good people to be on boards is hard enough without crippling their ability to view issues that are �best for the overall club,� and not have to be personally accountable to the friend who is opposed for some personal reason.

We have experienced horrible situations when a committee member stands for what he or she feels is right, but is not popular with the �power group.� What happens? Word gets out and he or she is confronted in parking lots, dining rooms, and on the tee boxes�to the point that no good member wants to serve because it is not worth it! Sometimes not only the member becomes a target, but his or her family as well.

I believe members vote for board members to lead and to set a tone in the club. Being united as a board on major issues is very, very, very important. A club board is not like the U. S. Congress or a state legislature, where citizens have a right to know how individual senators and representatives vote. After all, club leadership is no-pay, volunteer leadership. It is hard enough to find good leaders in the political world of clubs without subjecting their individual voting records to scrutiny by the entire membership.

It is obvious the letter above comes to us from the perspective of a manager and not as a board member.

Where does honest representation come into focus with �unity?� If individual board members cannot express their need to register their vote why bother with a board? Unity at any cost is not serving the membership.

Do not compare our government with responsibility. I could only hope that as a board member, with true and honest representation, and without lobbyists and paybacks, one could protect the dignity and investment of at least a small segment of our society. So, the �go along� and �get along� does not represent the integrity one needs to run a golf and country club.

Pay or no pay, this should always be a criteria for leadership. And, if one cannot withstand the accountability, the club would do well without that person as a board member.