Question:

How do candidates understand the relationship between the national office and local affiliates and how can the national office more effectively work with local affiliates to deal with specific issues?

 

Answer:

I would characterize the overall relationship between national and many VOTF affiliates as “detached.” In a perfect world, it should be one of mutual cooperation and support.

I’ve tried with considerable difficulty to trace the source of the disconnect, and it is far from clear how an organization that began as a spontaneous local reaction to a national tragedy could stray from its roots as some have suggested. But I suspect one contributing factor lies in the failed attempt by national to establish a National Representative Council several years ago. The council was an attempt to firm up the bond between national and the grass roots that, unfortunately, failed to live up to expectations. And by the time the experiment ended, the bond that unites many affiliates and national had worn thin. But that’s history.

In the two years since Dan Bartley, Janet Hauter, Jullie McConville and I assumed the leadership of VOTF we have directed our efforts to achieving three goals:
1. Developing and implementing a national strategy for VOTF (the Voices in Action Program).
2. Addressing a serious financial crisis brought on by the economic down-turn, and
3. Reconnecting with affiliate organizations around the country, and extending the network of affiliates throughout the United States and oversees. VOTF still has a long way to go on this one, but here are some of the “deliverables” that have begun to roll out, and where we see it all ending up in the not too distant future:

• In June of last year, affiliate leaders from around the country were contacted, and invited to participate in an Affiliate List Serve. The purpose of the list serve (now operational) is to provide affiliates with a convenient way of communicating with one another and with national on matters of mutual concern, or general interest. Alice Canpanella from the national office is the coordinator and can be reached at acampanella@votf.org.
• The officers recently established an Affiliate Core Team (now part of the strategic plan platform structure) to help shore up the connection between national and the affiliates. Alice Campanella from national and Joan Bedosky from the Long Island affiliate held a preliminary meeting with some affiliate leaders at the National Conference this past October on Long Island. The Affiliate Core team, now with a representative from the west coast, the Midwest, and Long Island, has been asked to assemble a plan to improve the back and forth communications, mutual support, and the potential for synergy between national and all of the affiliates.
• For several months now, and at the request of our Irish affiliate, national has provided on-going technical, administrative, and operational support to our Irish affiliate headed by Sean O’Conaill in its confrontation with the Irish hierarchy. So far four Irish bishops have resigned.
• National’s marketing and communications committee (MarCom) has worked closely throughout the past year with our Bridgeport affiliate to speed the release of previously sealed court documents. The effort was successful, and 12,000 pages of testimony are now being reviewed by volunteers.
• The successful October national conference on Long Island was a joint effort between national and our Long Island affiliate. Hopefully, this was the first of many jointly planned and shared undertakings between the national organization and an affiliate.

Obviously, more remains to done, not the least of which is to improve the quantity and quality of back and forth communication between national and affiliates so that mutual needs are understood, appreciated, and supported.

I urge all affiliate leaders who share the officers’ goal of strengthening the ties between national and their affiliates, and who have not yet joined the Affiliate List Serve, to do so. I also encourage all affiliate leaders to support the Affiliate Core Team’s efforts to develop and execute a successful plan.

Kevin Connors