Nominated and seconded by:
Bob Neff; Dan Sloan

I’d like to make one thing clear right from the start: I think my opponent has done a lot of important and good work during the various years he has served as 2nd vice president. He worked out a scheme to convert contract employees to regular employees and led an updating of the work rules, among other things. Without double-checking old Board meeting minutes, I believe I supported most of these initiatives when they came to a vote at the Board of Directors and at general membership meetings. Of course, he has more HR experience than me. Nonetheless, I’m throwing my hat into the ring for 2nd vice president, hoping my track record on the Board and as president will speak for itself and convince fellow members I will take a methodical, no-drama approach to getting things done.

OK, I admit I’ve touched off my share of drama. But there is a lot to be done this year on Human Resources, and the less drama the better. In recent years we have had an HR Committee that has wobbled between two extremes, either being too active – trying to make personnel decisions properly left to the General Manager (and delegated to the GM by contract) – or not being active enough. I intend to aim for something in between. Decisions regarding hiring, firing and disciplining individual employees should be made by the General Manager; but the General Manager must act within the context of Japanese labor law, club agreements with the union and employees, and the traditions of the Club. This last bit -- acting within the traditions of the Club – is particularly tricky. But this is where an HR Committee should come in. We have associate members with expertise in human resources, and many of our regular members have experience and interest in this area. A good HR committee should draw these people together to help set broad policies and provide overall guidance and oversight to keep the GM’s HR decisions within legal, contractual and traditional boundaries. An HR Committee should also be a resource for the GM and the Club to turn to for advice on staff training needs and programs.

So my first priority will be to assemble an HR Committee with such respect and expertise that core members will continue to serve from year to year, the way the core of our Finance Committee continues to serve year after year. I also intend to include one or more staff members on the committee for their input and to open new lines of communication between the staff and management.

Then, I think priority tasks are:
1. Finalizing the updating of the work rules and getting them translated into English.
2. Establishing a grievance procedure so staff members who feel they are being treated unfairly will have somewhere to turn.
3. Setting up a procedure so that all agreements affecting staff are available in both English and Japanese and in a file that can be easily referred to by all staff, the GM, board members and regular members of the Club.
I’m sure that will just be the start.

For the record, I’m the Japan correspondent for the magazine Science (and extremely happy to still have a job in journalism). I’ve been a member of the FCCJ since the early 1990s and I previously served several years on the Board and was president in 2006-2007. I had intended not to run for the Board again, but I am disturbed by the distrust and backstabbing among members, and, most of all, by what I take to be a lack of respect for our great staff. I want to do what I can to restore a civil discourse and amicably resolve outstanding disputes – with minimal drama.