Bar Association board approves baseline criteria to review two under-75 sections

The Board of Governors of the Bar Association voted unanimously to adopt baseline evaluation criteria from the Volunteer Engagement Council to review two sections whose membership dipped below the bylaw threshold of 75 members. The board asked staff and the council to engage the affected sections and report recommendations at the July meeting in Wenatchee.

The Volunteer Engagement Council co-chair (name not stated) told the board the proposed criteria are meant as a floor, not a ceiling, and emphasized support rather than punishment for small sections. "This is not an attempt to, I guess, disparage or to, put sections who have 75 members or below in the situation where they feel like, we're picking on them," the co-chair said, adding the council would work with staff to help sections return to compliance.

The two sections identified for the current viability review were named during the presentation as the "liquor, cannabis, and psychedelics law" section and the "legal assistance to military personnel" section. The co-chair said the council and staff will begin engaging the sections once the criteria are approved and "make recommendations hopefully by July, at the July meeting," which the presenter said would be held in Wenatchee.

During discussion, Governor Tom Ahern urged a broader approach. "I like the idea of the bar looking at sections to ensure that they provide meaningful service to members, but I think we should be having a program where we're looking at all sections," Ahern said, arguing that some large sections could meet a numeric threshold without delivering member services. The presenter replied that annual reports are submitted for every section but currently lack a grading rubric, and that the proposed criteria would provide a transparent, collaborative mechanism to evaluate sections while offering support.

An attendee noted the 75-member trigger has existed for a long time and that this is the first time the board has had to conduct a viability review under that provision. Several governors and speakers urged revisiting the bylaw language and considering a scheduled rotating review so the process is not perceived as singling out particular sections.

After brief discussion, an unidentified governor (Speaker 7) moved to "adopt the proposal for review of the 2 identified sections with a request that the final report include recommendations for any changes to the process, which are informed by feedback from the participating sections." The motion was seconded by an unidentified governor (Speaker 4). The board proceeded to a roll-call vote and the presiding officer announced, "Motion passes unanimously."

Recorded affirmative responses in the roll call included Allison Whitney (Aye), Mary Rathbone (Aye), Alain Veil Nuve (Aye), Todd Bloom (Aye), Carbon Price (Aye), Matthew Dresden (Aye), Christina Larry (Aye), Chris Fang (Yes), Emily Arneson (Yes), Tom Ahern (Yes) and Kari Petrasek (Yes). The board directed staff and the Volunteer Engagement Council to return to the board with recommendations and any suggested adjustments to the process at the July meeting in Wenatchee.

The meeting then adjourned for lunch, with logistics for the Financial Center location noted.