LETTER: Support for Rules Changes at USTA

The following is a letter from Ellen Harvey and David Siegel. The views included in the article are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Harnesslink.

Dear Editor,

We write today (Nov. 25) as USTA members who have proposed two rule changes to improve civility and transparency in the conduct of USTA business We ask them to consider the benefit of these changes and contact their directors to seek their support.

Rule change 1 – targeted at simple civility [Bylaw article 12, section 3]. Proposed is a simple one-word change; to extend protection from harassment and abuse applicable right now only to directors and USTA staff, to also include approximately 17,000 USTA members.

The new rule simply includes members as indicated below with the underscore, “No director or officer of the association shall abuse or harass any other director, officer, member or any agent or employee of the association.” The bylaw goes on to describe harassment, including slurs, name calling, intimidation and committing or threatening physical violence.

The existing bylaw protection applies only to directors and staff but not to the 17,000 or so members who underwrite the existence of the USTA. This proposal merely extends the existing protection afforded directors and staff to the 17,000 members with the addition of a single word. There is zero cost associated with this change and should be a no-brainer for directors and officers to afford the same level of civility to members as they do to each other.

Rule change 2 – targeted at simple transparency [Bylaw article 10, section 10.05]. Proposed is a simple change to record all board votes electronically using readily available software/apps (about $150 per year, and works on all smart phones and tablets), rather than by voice or a show of hands. The purpose is to speed up meetings (voice roll call votes for 60 people are slow) and to have a record of how directors vote so the members that put them in office know how their directors have voted.

The new rule would be “Rule, Bylaw and Resolution Voting. All votes regarding rules, bylaws and/or resolutions shall be made electronically, with said results made available publically.” {Note – USTA will use properly licensed or purchased software to track such voting}. The current rule only requires a roll call vote when asked for and five board members vote in favor of the roll call vote.

This updated rule will add speed to the meetings (roll call votes are very, very slow), accuracy (voice votes or a raising of hands votes can be inaccurate), and most of all transparency – so every member can know how their directors have voted on each issue. A director should never be able to hide the way they vote from his or her constituency. Transparent voting is a pillar of representative democracy and is practiced from the halls of Congress to the local school board to Little League boards around the country.

In closing, there could be no objection to logical, no or low cost, no downside and fair proposals that ensure civility and transparency. Surprisingly, only three of six district meetings held to date voted to accept both proposals. Others have opted to reject or table the proposal and one voted against both proposals.

We were clearly wrong, thus far, in thinking these were no-brainer-to-accept proposals. In a time where we are more under the microscope for industry misdeeds (referring to recent imprisonment for a number of cheating trainers and vets), how can we not be more transparent and civil within the director’s group in setting a proper example?

We are hopeful that USTA members will let their directors know their thoughts on these proposals here by contacting them directly by clicking here, in which contact information is contained in director bios.

by Ellen Harvey, (USTA Member), and David Siegel (USTA Member/Director)