AGA BOARD OUSTS PRESIDENT IN SURPRISE MOVE
In a surprise move, a narrow majority of the AGA Board of Directors voted last night to oust President Chris Kirschner. Although no reason was given for the action, the Board earlier this year had appointed a committee to conduct a search for future leadership. That committee was expected to report last night on potential candidates who would "understudy" President Kirschner through the end of his term in 2004, thus providing a smooth leadership transition.
"We were jumped," says former Board Chairman David Weimer. "There was no advance warning" of the motion to replace Kirschner. Swiftly approved in a 4-3 vote with virtually no discussion or debate, the motion replaced Kirschner with Denver-based Deedee Eckles. Voting in favor were John Stephenson, Robert O'Malley, David Dinhoffer and Chen-Dao Lin; voting against were David Weimer, Harold Lloyd and Jon Boley. After the vote, Weimer resigned as Chair (retaining his seat on the Board) and was replaced by O'Malley.
While conceding that the plan to replace Kirschner was not circulated to all Board members, O'Malley told the E-Journal that the showdown over Kirschner's leadership style had been brewing for some time. "Chris's efforts have been superb but his decisions have been at odds with the majority of the Board for quite a while." O'Malley says that the Search Committee had given the Board a list of candidates in early September, continued the selection process and decided on a final candidate. "We were on two different tracks," O'Malley says, "the minority was looking at a late 2004 or possibly 2005 replacement but the majority was prepared to act sooner."
"This was not an appropriate process," says Weimer. "It was poor judgment by the majority to base a major decision on a vote of a lame-duck member." Stephenson lost his bid for re-election to the Board in August and will be replaced by Allan Abramson in January. Weimer also noted that Search Committee Chair John Stephenson "made public statements to the AGA National Assembly last August that there was no intention of immediately removing the President." Responds O'Malley, "Yes, it's a lame-duck Board but lame-duck or not, the Board needs to make the decisions they think are correct."
Kirschner, appointed President by the Board at the 2001 Go Congress, has presided over the longest and largest membership growth in the AGA's history, and had just returned from a successful trip to Korea on behalf of the AGA. "I'm very disappointed," Kirschner told the E-Journal today. "There was no debate, no warning to anyone. Frankly, this is an embarrassment to the AGA in the eyes of the world go community, making it appear that we don't have proper ways of managing our organization." Kirschner, however, urged supporters to "think in terms of the long-term interests of the AGA."
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