Re: RAB Bylaws

[dmiller@pm0.bu.edu]

From: dmiller@pm0.bu.edu (Dick and Jill Miller)

Hi, CareerPro readers:
Surprise! It appears that Citizen RAB Charters are not required!
I apologize for this late follow-up. On March 12th, I told you about 
our SSCOM RAB in Natick, Massachusetts, and about the exceptionally 
brief wording of our draft Citizen Charter.
Well, at our March 14th meeting, we again pushed for the Army to accept 
our charter wording. But instead, the Army opted NOT TO SIGN ANY 
CHARTER! It "Agreed to disagree," cited our mutual trust as sufficient, 
and quoted my own earlier comment that a preliminary definition of the 
on-ground study limits is unneeded because "The data will tell us where 
to go." Several times during the meeting, the Army and, eventually, 
State and EPA members confirmed that a charter is NOT a requirement for 
such boards.
This is quite a surprise to me. Our earlier impression was that a 
Citizen Charter IS a RAB requirement. Since our first meeting in August 
1995, we've received more than a little Army pressure to get a charter 
signed "so we could proceed to other important matters." Are we the 
only RAB which is surprised that we didn't need a charter after all? 
Are we the only one which was told that it did?
And, now that the Army won't be signing, do you see advantages in our 
encouraging the other RAB members to sign our draft charter anyway? We 
moved to present it at the next RAB meeting, complete with places for 
all to sign, and to collect signatures as people wish. We're weighing 
the benefit of our own clear statement against the questionable wisdom 
of signing any "contract" which lacks the other party -- although we 
expect all parties to be represented EXCEPT the Army.
We also intend to add Citizen RAB by-laws, separate from the charter, to 
regulate such internal matters as the reelection/replacement of Citizen 
RAB members. One issue is the desirability of losing continuity of 
citizen members, when there is no such designed-in rotation of the other 
members.
We invite your suggestions and comments.
Cheers from
--Dick Miller, Citizen Member, SSCOM RAB (at U.S. Army Natick Laboratories, 
 Natick, Mass.)
--
A. Richard & Jill A. Miller | MILLER MICROCOMPUTER SERVICES |
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