[Lnc-business] Secretary''s Report

Tue Nov 12 18:43:47 EST 2019

Ms. Mattson,

I have now carefully read your response.  I do not think you will read that
in future and be proud of that nor do I think objective members will
receive it without reading a good bit of sour grapes.

It is a fact that getting any information from you during the transition
was worse than pulling teeth.  In fact, I had to ask the chair to intervene
as you simply ignored my requests, a practice which continued to the extent
that I routinely gave up on asking you.  My concern in this whole matter is
not ultimately you or me, it is our complete lack of procedures for
position transitions.  Everyone is well aware of this concern as I brought
it up as a potential policy manual amendment which was tabled to
wordsmith.  There should be zero documents that are used for party business
that are kept solely on the personal computers of one person.  As I stated
in my last email, I do not NEED you to provide anything further.  Just like
you had to admirably pick up pieces from a prior secretary that left
incomplete work product, I CAN do it even if you never sent me a single
piece of information.  It is just that I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO.  I do not
believe that any reasonable person will disagree that for secretary and
treasurer there should be an archive of records that are immediately
transferred to successors.  To claim that I can hunt and find things in
other ways is not the point. *The point is that I should not have to.*  I
think in any other situation, you would agree with the above.  I have
always taken care to respect your work product and ethic.  However, it is
patently obvious that you have done the absolute minimum to provide any
kind of mentorship.  Yes, I think that is an institutional problem.  And no
matter who is my successor, if they have not been national secretary
before, I will bend over backwards to assist them.  I will give them items
and direction before they ask, because being ignorant, they might not even
know to ask.  But rest assured, I need no scapegoat.   I will handle it and
handle it well.

All of us need to have the mindset of putting the organization first and
setting up our successors for success.  I do not wish to sully a compliment
of another LNC member in the midst of a less positive exchange, so no names
will be added but the way you handle issues, suggestions, and corrections
is in marked contrast to another well-respected and long-term LNC member
who contacts me personally, anticipates future difficulties as they have
been through them, and provides proactive mentorship.  Contrarywise, you
routinely ignore private requests made to you and are sure to make a public
spectacle out of anything you perceive to amiss.  That is your
prerogative.  And it is my prerogative to think it is unprofessional and
petty.  I have chosen to take it as a trial by fire through which gold will
emerge.  As I have always held you to be one of the best secretaries I have
ever worked with, any input you give will help, regardless of the manner it
is given or whether it was given in a spirit of amity or animus.

So with regret, since you are determined to create a scenario where I am
looking for a scapegoat (that is not my style nor my competence level), I
will give evidence as to why I have the justified position that you have
been less than helpful and still have items that need to be turned over.  I
have print-outs of these emails that I will bring to the next meeting.
  Other exchanges were made personally at meetings, and I do not walk
around with a personal voice recorder to spy on everyone.  (if this chart
comes through garbled to anyone who wants to see it, I can send a pdf
version)

DATE

FROM/TO

CONTENT

DIRECT RESPONSE

7/5/18

Harlos to Mattson

Broad request for all operational documents and forms to be transferred

None

7/6/18

Harlos to Bennedict

Thanking him for proactively providing me with forms he thought I might
need and asking him about where other records are stored

He responded that Alicia would have anything else I need

7/13/18

Harlos to Mattson

Reminder on things needed including latest affiliate bylaws

None

7/15/18

Harlos to Mattson

Request for the bylaws archive required under the national bylaws

None

7/22/18

Harlos to Mattson

Followup on 7/15/18 email requesting bylaws archive

None

7/24/18

Harlos to Mattson

7/28 from Harlos with list of items as follows:

1.     Archive of current bylaws for all affiliates

2.     Master party deadlines and diaries/ticklers

3.     Master forms (for instance, ballots, tokens…)

4.     Word copies of all manuals (for instance the delegation chair manual)

5.     Any other documents, research, and standard forms that should be
transferred from Secretary to Secretary

None

7/28/18

Mattson to Harlos

Forwarding conflicts of interest list

Restating request for items in 7/24 email

8/5/18

Harlos to Mattson

Following up on 7/28 email

None

8/23/18

Harlos to Mattson

Following up on 7/24, 7/28, 8/5 emails and stating “I understand you are
very busy with convention minutes.  Can you please just acknowledge and
give me a loose time frame?”

None

8/25/18

Sarwark to Mattson

Please answer the secretary’s requests

8/26 email from Mattson to Sarwark  - handling things with deadlines first

9/4/18

Mattson to Harlos

Attaching delegate motion form, region formation notice, presidential
ticket certificate of nomination, and sample election tally sheet

9/22/18

Mattson to Harlos

Extensive email responding to many requests and stating that she needed to
reorganize her file of affiliate bylaws to make sense to someone else.  She
declines to give the word file for the delegation chair manual but does not
address the other manual – the delegation allocation and region formation
manual nor the open-ended general request for her entire institutional
archive.

9/22/18 reply from Harlos interacting with response and objecting to
Mattson producing the delegation chair manual as follows:

“Please get with me so that conflicting or confusing items are not sent out
as I do intend on being pretty hands-on working with the affiliates on that
and will produce a manual to pass on to my successor.  I will just start
from scratch then.”

9/24/18

Harlos to Mattson

Request for updated affiliate petition form

None

11/18/18

Harlos to Mattson

Following on prior requests for bylaws archives

None

11/24/18

Harlos to Mattson

Following up on prior requests for bylaws archives

Reply by Mattson 11/27 questioning my need for them

11/27/18

Harlos to Mattson

Asking if she has the records or not and stating that I do not have to
justify my request for records from my predecessor to the extent they exist

None

As you can see, requests still remain unanswered and most of my requests
did not even receive an acknowledgment even when requested.  In
frustration, I started making my requests on this list since the courtesy
of private emails was not working. Those too were mostly ignored so I had
to resort to putting it in my report which finally got a response.

Now Ms. Mattson claims she did not withhold certain information from me
because I had it in my report.  I had it in my report because I went and
hunted it down myself.  I never claimed it did not exist.  I am asserting
that I have it despite Ms. Mattson.  With that being said however, Ms.
Mattson missed my point.  It is obvious she previously calculated the
committee appointments and had this data prepared and available.  That
should have been turned over immediately.  I should not have had to
re-create that information.  I did.  And I will.  But I should not have had
to.

Now on the issue of the delegation chair manual – Ms. Mattson proactively
assumes many things about my intentions and then points to her assumptions
as proof.  A copy of the 2018 delegation chair manual is attached.  It was
sent to the chairs under colour of her position as secretary.  It credits a
prior secretary with the original version (and to answer Ms. Mattson’s
insinuation, that is what I will do, credit her and Mr. Sullentrup) so is
not Ms. Mattson’s original brainchild, and is obviously something started
by a secretary prior to her.   There is absolutely nothing in it that would
indicate that this was something done as a “private” non-LNC member and
everything that marks it as an official work product.  That is definitely
how it was received by many state chairs. Ms. Mattson may intend to
continue that project.  I cannot stop her from being tacky.  But as part of
my secretarial duties, I will be producing something similar and will pass
it along to my successor.

However, Ms. Mattson keeps ignoring that the delegation chair manual is NOT
THE ONLY MANUAL I requested or that exists.  Attached is the Delegate
Allocation and Region formation manual.  I still have not received the word
version of that and renew my request for that document.

Ms. Mattson alleges some malfeasance about a prior form provided – I do not
know if that is the only one that exists and have seen other versions, thus
my inquiry.  With the way she has produced things piecemeal and obviously
still has items not turned over, I have no idea if there are others yet to
be produced.  As for her claim that I obviously know I have everything,
attached is an additional form that was used that she has not given me.
What else is there?  That is a very reasonable request.

Ms. Mattson references spreadsheets used in the At-large audit that were
provided to the entire LNC.  Again, I do not know if these are the same
tools she uses at convention and since she has never given me a single
excel spreadsheet identified as the convention tools, I am once again
guessing.

You see, this is just me, but let me tell you how I intend to handle the
transition to my successor.  I will give over every single record produced
in relation to my duties.  At critical times, I will contact them privately
to give them a heads up such as – hey we are X months out from convention,
I would really suggest you get together a team to assist you.  What I did
was [insert narrative].  I have verbally requested Ms. Mattson’s input on
this issue.  It has been ignored.  Thus, I am reaching out to other people
in the party to assist who frankly are pretty shocked that Ms. Mattson has
not offered to do this.  Any disinterested observer should be.  This is not
the way the third largest political party should operate.  I have seen
local sewing clubs with more functional records transitions.

No Ms. Mattson is NOT REQUIRED to be proactively helpful.  But she SHOULD
be.  And our rules should be changed so that future officers know that it
is part of their duties to ensure smooth transitions, not because their
successors cannot recreate the wheel, but because they should not have to.

My report is my report.  Putting such items in my report is the only way I
have found to inspire Ms. Mattson to actually respond to my requests as I
had to do to finally get the requested bylaws archives.  If Ms. Mattson
wishes to censor my view from preservation on the record, she can move to
do so.  If she wishes to include a response that does not engage in the
unworthy snipes made above, I will include it in my report.  I do not wish
to silence anyone.

I could write a lot more.  But I doubt many people have read this far.  Ms.
Mattson can try to find one nit to pick about a form provided but that does
not negate the entire history and thrust of her making things purposefully
difficult and refusing to give the courtesy of acknowledgments of
receipts.  Most of you had no idea this was going on behind the scenes.
Why?  I was hoping to work it out with Ms. Mattson privately.  I do not
take every public opportunity to berate or correct her as she does with
me.  I took the private route until it was proven absolutely fruitless.

If Ms. Mattson wishes to address this further at the meeting, I would
welcome it more than I can say. It more than time that this frustrating
stonewalling sees the light of day and we create institutional procedures
to avoid this in the future.

*In Liberty,*

* Personal Note:  I have what is commonly known as Asperger's Syndrome
(part of the autism spectrum).  This can affect inter-personal
communication skills in both personal and electronic arenas.  If anyone
found anything offensive or overly off-putting (or some other social faux
pas), please contact me privately and let me know. *

On Tue, Nov 12, 2019 at 5:09 AM Caryn Ann Harlos <caryn.ann.harlos at lp.org>
wrote:

> Thank you for providing these comments early.  I will respond prior to
> issuing V2.  Here you have made some incorrect statements.  I will not
> however uncharitably insinuate that it was with ill intent or an attempt to
> smear.  It is unfortunate that you did not choose the same route, but that
> is your prerogative.
>
> I want to make one thing abundantly clear here, and will again.
>
>
>
>
> *==Ms. Harlos seems determined to give people the false impression that I
> havesomehow crippled her ability to prepare for convention, and if I don’t
> callthat out, some people might be fooled into believing it.  I do not
> enjoythese arguments, but I will not agree to be her silent scape goat.===*
>
> *If my husband doesn't understand what I am thinking Ms. Mattson, you
> certainly do not have the requisite knowledge or familiarity to make such a
> diagnosis. So hear me clearly- I am not in any crippled to prepare.  If
> that were so, I would be asking for a motion.  I will be fully prepared no
> matter what information is given or not.  However, there is an easier way
> to prepare and a harder one.  It would be fair to say that I am stating you
> have made it more difficult and time-consuming and I blame that on our
> institutional failure to have central records repositories and requirements
> for continuity binders not you.  I do not need you or any else to be a
> "scapegoat" - in the spirit of charity I will ignore what  I could read
> into that statement.  As I changed up multiple things in the way
> secretarial things are done in between conventions (numbering ballots,
> having master vote tallies and live vote tallies, and the one note system
> to name a few), I have already planned what I believe to be several
> improvements to convention processes (which is what each successor in any
> position should do or we stagnate).  I am not dependent on you providing
> anything.   Frankly none of us are that important.  Not me, not you, and
> not anyone.  It would be helpful - and it is a demonstration of our deficit
> in the area of succession.*
>
> *That point is important enough to state here and repeat.  This isn't
> about you.  This is about not having systems in place to make sure that
> transitions are smooth and in the best interest of the organization - not
> subject to the vagaries of individual preference and debate. *
>
> *I do wish you hadn't indulged the temptation to make an attack on me
> about events during the audit.  I chose to be there and cancel other
> obligations.  I certainly was not paying attention to social media and not
> the process.  And if any time I had to take a text or email, you do not
> know what it was about.  My work contacts me regularly and I am attentive
> to that, and with multiple pets being left with others, I was regularly
> checking to be sure there was no message about them.  One of my pets was 21
> years old at the time, and I worried whenever I was away.  That was indeed
> a smear Ms. Mattson, and it was unworthy of you.*
>
>
>
> *In Liberty,*
>
> * Personal Note:  I have what is commonly known as Asperger's Syndrome
> (part of the autism spectrum).  This can affect inter-personal
> communication skills in both personal and electronic arenas.  If anyone
> found anything offensive or overly off-putting (or some other social faux
> pas), please contact me privately and let me know. *
>
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 12, 2019 at 4:30 AM Caryn Ann Harlos <caryn.ann.harlos at lp.org>
> wrote:
>
>> Ms. Mattson, please see below.  I had intended upon posting V2 this
>> morning, but I would like your thoughts on the below first (and any
>> additional commentary you may have).
>>
>> On one item, I do disagree, and that is Mr. Phillips vote on ballot
>> 190906-1.  In the last sentence of his commentary, he stated "
>> As a pragmatist, I know the importance of not letting the perfect get in
>> the way of the good. But in my opinion, the status quo is preferable to this bill passing.
>> "
>>
>> I interpreted that as a no (and that could be coloured by my private
>> discussions with Mr. Phillips in which he told me he was voting no), and
>> Mr. Phillips did not challenge that when the results were posted.  If Mr.
>> Phillips wishes to challenge, I can issue amended results.
>>
>> I took a look at what the government has committed to as far as
>> publication dates, and March 31, 2021 is when the population data is to be
>> released for redistricting purposes.
>>
>> However, I disagree with your interpretation of our bylaws on that point,
>> and would like to hear your thoughts.  Specifically:
>>
>> 3. The Platform Committee shall consist of 20 members selected as
>> follows:
>>
>> *a. One member by each of the five affiliate parties having the greatest
>> per capita sustaining membership as determined for Convention delegate
>> allocations at the most recent Regular Convention. *
>>
>> The numbers used are specified to be related to the time frame for the
>> 2020 convention allocation which is this month - thus, the 2010 Census
>> numbers would be used.  It would not make sense to use BSM numbers from one
>> time period and census data from another.
>>
>> *In Liberty,*
>>
>> * Personal Note:  I have what is commonly known as Asperger's Syndrome
>> (part of the autism spectrum).  This can affect inter-personal
>> communication skills in both personal and electronic arenas.  If anyone
>> found anything offensive or overly off-putting (or some other social faux
>> pas), please contact me privately and let me know. *
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Nov 11, 2019 at 7:01 PM Caryn Ann Harlos <caryn.ann.harlos at lp.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Thank you very much.  I’ll take a look when I get home.
>>>
>>> Your close readings of everyone’s reports is most appreciated.
>>>
>>> On Mon, Nov 11, 2019 at 4:58 PM Alicia Mattson via Lnc-business <
>>> lnc-business at hq.lp.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Below are some additional corrections needed for the Secretary’s report:
>>>>
>>>> In the section titled, “Status of Minutes Since Last Report”, the date
>>>> of
>>>> the July minutes was July 27-28, rather than July 28-29.
>>>>
>>>> In that same section, the July 27-28 minutes were approved by email
>>>> ballot
>>>> number 190922-01, rather than 190922-11.
>>>>
>>>> There is a section titled, “LNC Membership Changes Since August Meeting”
>>>> but the meeting was in July rather than August.  That section lists that
>>>> Pat Ford was elected as the new Region 8 alternate, but it should also
>>>> mention that the vacancy existed because Jeff Lyons resigned by email to
>>>> the LNC on 08/06/19.  This resignation was also after the July meeting,
>>>> thus hasn’t been documented in other minutes.
>>>>
>>>> The census-related URL at the bottom of page 2 is not a valid webpage.
>>>> It
>>>> leads to an error message landing page.
>>>>
>>>> In the section titled “Delegate Allocations” it indicates your intent to
>>>> calculate and notify the states that will have earned committee seats
>>>> for
>>>> the 2022 convention.  Please note that there will be a new census before
>>>> the 2022 convention, leading to new denominators for the per-capita
>>>> calculations and we don’t know those numbers yet.  I don’t recall how
>>>> long
>>>> it typically takes the U.S. Census Bureau to publish the results of a
>>>> new
>>>> census, but presuming that data is available well before committee
>>>> appointment deadlines, the new data should be used for the 2022
>>>> calculations, rather than the 2010 data.
>>>>
>>>> Under the heading “Email Ballots” the first sentence also needs the
>>>> dates
>>>> corrected for the July meeting.
>>>>
>>>> Email ballot number 190804-01 is missing from the listing of email
>>>> ballots
>>>> since the last regular meeting.
>>>>
>>>> Email ballot number 190830-1 ended on 09/06/19, rather than 09/07/19.
>>>>
>>>> On email ballot number 190906-01 a “no” vote is reported for John
>>>> Phillips,
>>>> but I did not find that he voted.  The closest I saw was a comment from
>>>> him
>>>> that if something is true, then he would not support the motion, but
>>>> that’s
>>>> not a clear vote.
>>>>
>>>> On email ballot number 190922-01, it lists the co-sponsors as “Harlos,
>>>> Longstreth, Merced, Phillips” but I saw no co-sponsorship from Mr.
>>>> Merced.
>>>> I saw that you inquired whether Mr. Merced would, but I saw no response
>>>> from him.  I did instead see co-sponsorship from Hagan and Smith who are
>>>> not listed there.
>>>>
>>>> On email ballot 190922-01, the vote total reports 11 “aye” votes, but
>>>> the
>>>> roll call listing only shows 10 names in the list.  It is missing an
>>>> affirmative vote from Tim Hagan, which can be seen on the email list
>>>> here:
>>>> http://hq.lp.org/pipermail/lnc-business/2019/055042.html
>>>>
>>>> -Alicia
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Sun, Nov 10, 2019 at 7:10 PM Caryn Ann Harlos via Lnc-business <
>>>> lnc-business at hq.lp.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> > Attached
>>>> >
>>>> > *  In Liberty,*
>>>> > * Personal Note:  I have what is commonly known as Asperger's Syndrome
>>>> > (part of the autism spectrum).  This can affect inter-personal
>>>> > communication skills in both personal and electronic arenas.  If
>>>> anyone
>>>> > found anything offensive or overly off-putting (or some other social
>>>> faux
>>>> > pas) in an actual email, please contact me privately and let me
>>>> know.  *
>>>> >
>>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> *In Liberty,*
>>>
>>> * Personal Note:  I have what is commonly known as Asperger's Syndrome
>>> (part of the autism spectrum).  This can affect inter-personal
>>> communication skills in both personal and electronic arenas.  If anyone
>>> found anything offensive or overly off-putting (or some other social faux
>>> pas), please contact me privately and let me know. *
>>>
>>>
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