President's Perspective
Well, the election is over, and I received more votes than my "opponent," so I guess that means you have me for another term. I always hesitate to say that there is a "winner" in an AMA election, as the person with the most votes is the one who has to do the job after the election! Rich Hanson, my opponent, is the District X Vice President and does a great job of representing the members in his district. I am sure he will continue to be a huge asset to the Executive Council.
As in most years, I am disturbed by the fact that so few AMA members actually voted. Only about 12% of the membership voted this year, which is typical of turnout in an AMA election.
One of the big differences between a nonprofit association and a for‑profit business posing as an association is that the members can control the nonprofit association through the ballot box. Don't like any of the candidates? You run!
Like a lot of the people who have served on the Executive Council over the years, I ran for office because I was unhappy with what I saw as a "lack of leadership" in the association. I must admit that the view is a little different once you are on the other side of the fence, yet you can make a difference — but only if you are willing to step up to the plate.
AMA is your organization; you determine the direction your organization takes, but only if you take part in the process. The short version is: "If you don't vote, don't bitch," and if you do vote and don't like the outcome, bitch constructively!
Club fraud and scams
A disturbing phenomenon has emerged lately, and I am finding that it happens far more often than I would ever have imagined. It amazes me to learn how often clubs are finding themselves victims of some form of scam.
It seems to vary from a treasurer "running off to Tahiti" with the club funds, to a contest director who takes items purchased by the club for prizes and uses them personally. I even heard of one instance in which the same individual managed to get elected as treasurer and ran off with the treasury of three separate clubs in less than one year.
The threat is real, and if you think it couldn't happen to your club, think again. This has happened in situations where the person who ran off with the assets was an old friend of many club members.
"We should have seen through this scam" isn't nearly as common a reaction to the discovery as "I can't believe this; I've known so‑and‑so for 20 years. There must be another explanation." Unfortunately, that other explanation doesn't appear very often.
How do you protect yourself? It's not easy, as this can happen very fast.
How to protect your club
- Consider having your club treasurer, and anyone else who has access to the treasury, bonded. This can be fairly expensive, but is worth the expense if your treasury is measured in thousands of dollars.
- Require at least two signatures on checks.
- Separate duties: have one person responsible for collecting money (mostly dues) and another person do the accounting and write the checks. It's not perfect, but it provides checks and balances.
- Establish an audit committee to review records periodically. While an audit may not detect a problem quickly enough to prevent losses, it can create a fear of detection and act as a deterrent.
- Be cautious when a new treasurer takes over; fraud seems to occur more often in those situations than when the same treasurer has served many years.
I heard one story in which someone got up at a club meeting and pointed out that the treasurer had been in office too long and that it was a security risk. The treasurer willingly stepped down, the club elected a new treasurer, and guess what happened? It's a tough world out there; be careful.
Till next month.
Dave Brown AMA President dbrown@dbproducts.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
