It's About

I have been asked why I will not declare whether I support the showing in Championship of the LH Exotic. Believe it or not, I am more interested in the bigger issue - CFA's survival. I have no intention of aligning myself with those opposed, or for, any breed issue as a priority in this campaign. I am dedicated to saving CFA. I will not prematurely commit to a position on any issue that diminishes that commitment.

Just to make it clear one more time. I neither support nor oppose the showing of the LH Exotic in Championship at this time. If this position alone decides my election, I am willing to accept that result.

ALL CFA problems are connected and must be dealt with in developing a working business plan – A Plan of Revitalization - wherein all solutions are connected.

The LH Exotic and other breed issues must be approached with a careful, well-developed plan that encompasses all such issues with a common philosophy and unifying solution. That I will support whole heartily. CFA is not there yet, this issue will come up again, and the Board must start working this problem into the overall fabric of CFA's approach to the future – as part of CFA’s Plan of Revitalization. We must grow or go just like all other organizations and businesses. If we continue to hammer at our own issues and disregard the impact of our actions on our Fancy as a whole, we will certainly not grow.

 

I am sure there will be some changes in breeds and standards. I will work hard to build a consensus among Board members to address these issues as a major component in CFA's Plan of Revitalization – Our plan for the Next One Hundred Years.

 

This Week, I was approached by a group of exhibitors asking, “Just what is it that needs to be changed about CFA, and what money-saving ideas that are being suggested should be implemented?”              There is no short list of financial fixes that will ensure CFA’s long term survival.  Cut out the Almanac, register Household pets, open competition to a dozen AOVs, permanently cancel or keep the International,  cut or keep the NY show, help finance CFA shows, increase fees, lower fees,  “obtain” (beg?) Corporate sponsorship for CFA shows, on and on the list goes. Everyone has a favorite idea or two.                     Successful business trouble-shooters do not solve problems with a patchwork of fixes. It isn’t a contest of who will come up with the best idea. It is the adoption, by the Board, of the principles of total business analysis, plan development, and implementation.  Therefore, YOU must give additional weight to formal business education, long-term success in managing serious financial problems, and dealing with human resource issues in deciding who will serve on the Board during the next few financially critical years.                CFA is in serious financial trouble. Draconian cuts have been announced and others are being considered. CFA financial reporting, or the semblance thereof, is more indicative of a juggling act than an accounting of the flow of funds.                The members of our Executive Board are industrious with talents and experience well balanced to address the unique needs of our Association --- with one crucial missing element --- the employment of disciplined business measures common to all successful organizations.  This missing element has lead to shortfalls in accountability, a lack of comprehensive reporting, the absence of a well developed business plan, and a lack of guidelines (such as Robert’s Rules) for the disciplined conduct and efficiency of concluding business during meetings.                     This vacancy in the makeup of our Board’s human assets must be filled so that an effective plan of revitalization can be developed and implemented.                        It is no surprise that CFA has not been able to adjust to a changing environment and is facing an uncertain future. And it is no surprise that CFA is in financial crisis. No business can escape the reality of connectivity. Every aspect of the success or failure of every organization is inter-connected. All CFA’s problems are connected. All solutions must be connected.                      If the flaws listed above are not considered major problems, if we ignore the elephant in the Living Room, CFA will not survive this decade.                I  promise you that if it is approved by the Board, I will put a team together of three highly qualified Board members, or others with extensive experience in business analysis that are actively involved in CFA, to produce and present a business plan in plenty of time for consideration at the October Board Meeting.  The team must have access to all CFA records, computer programs, data, finances, contracts, etc. All the team members will sign documents insuring complete confidentiality to protect CFA and the report and presentation will be made in a professional manner. The cost to CFA will be confined to secretarial and data collecting expenses and a minimum of related expenses. Team members will receive no compensation and their expenses will be held to a minimum.                   This project will begin in June, preliminary studies will be in the hands of the Board members by mid-September, a formal presentation will be made to the Board in October, --- and if accepted --- the plan will be implemented in stages during the next few months. By the February 2008 Board meeting, the plan will have produced measurable results.                You are the members that can vote this idea IN or OUT by casting your choice for the candidates that you believe WILL embraced this program to secure CFA’s future.

 

    I was recently approached by a group of supporters asking that I name the other six candidates that I favored. I explained that I was not in favor of any particular individuals, but did hope that they would consider those that are well qualified to address CFA's deteriorating financial dilemma - candidates with a formal education and experience in significant affairs involving business planning and execution as well as experience as Directors on Boards other than CFA's. I would like to serve on a Board that is comprised of such people, as I have in the past, for the following reasons:     CFA's First priority must be to re-establish a position of financial security and growth. In the business end of an organization, whether it is a church sewing bee or a Fortune 500 company, what comes in must equal or exceed what goes out. In the sewing bee, most any member can keep track of that with ease. In larger organizations with diverse services, products, or performance requirements, financial implications of organizational decisions require sophisticated reviews. It is foolish to believe that anyone with sparse experience in sophisticated financial projects can somehow grasp and address all the financial implications of weighty CFA decisions simply because they want to and believe they can.        That is not to say that financial acumen is the only requirement of a productive CFA Board member. The Board needs to be comprised of members with a variety of experiences and education in CFA affairs.         Keep in mind, however, that the present flaw in CFA's financial fabric can and will unravel and rot if not carefully treated by those that have applied their education and talents in such financial reconstructions successfully. It does not suffice to simply brainstorm ways to bring in more revenue or cut expenses. Raising money by selling assets does not increase revenue - it may decrease revenue! Registering Household Pets may increase revenue but undermine CFA credibility as a registry of PEDIGREE cats at a cost undiscovered in a rush to find quick fixes.       This is not to diminish the need for any such action. It must be understood that all “fixes” are risky and jumping from fix to fix is to invite unknown unhappy consequences. Such approaches – and the Board is hotly pursuing just such a course at present - should be replaced by properly addressing the problems CFA is facing.        We do not need to spend big bucks on outside studies and the like. We have, running for office right now, people with the desire, education, and experience to quickly pull CFA’s floundering finances out of the quagmire, assess its health, address its afflictions, apply the medicine of sound financial planning and set CFA on a course of robust financial vigor. I know this can be done – and done within a very short time span. – Not by a group that spent the night in a Holiday Inn Express last night - but by a group that has spent years in the practice of applying their educations and talents to serious and complicated financial matters.        I hope that you support me in this effort. I trust that you can discover six others among the extensive list of candidates qualified to help in this effort as well. 

   

   I have begun to explore the issues surrounding the LH Exotic that have come forward as a result of the February Board decision. This issue, like many in CFA concerning breeds, is a matter of great importance and best addressed by a careful review of all viewpoints and the impact on all breeds involved. I do not doubt that the Board took this position. However, a carefully delineated written response explaining the Board’s vote would have gone far in assuaging the issue. Whether the Long Hair Exotic is accepted is not the major issue. The major issue is “why” it should or not be, in the Board’s opinion.

   This question, like other similar questions, leads to the discussion as to the importance of phenotype (what it looks like) and genotype (what breed its ancestors are) in the makeup of a breed in CFA. When a breed is allowed to outcross to another breed, these questions will always be present. One registering association may swing toward phenotype, while another toward genotype.

   As an example, I offer the Bombay. (I breed the Bombay and am most familiar with the issues surrounding that breed.) In CFA, a breeder may cross to either the Black American Shorthair or the Sable Burmese and show all black kittens of such pairings as Bombays and none of the kittens of any other color. In TICA, a breeder may NOT cross to the American Shorthair, but can show Sable kittens as Sable Burmese. Can a Sable kitten out of a Bombay male or female be shown as a Sable Burmese? Yes, in TICA – No, in CFA. Who is “right?”

   More importantly, why is one registering association right and the other wrong? Or, do the two registering associations have a different definition of what constitutes a “breed?”  Can both associations be right?

   The Board of CFA must not only deal with these issues. The Board must deal with the fallout of decisions on these issues. A thoughtful statement following these difficult and therefore controversial Board decisions would have a far reaching and positive impact on advocates on both sides of the issue.

    So, what is my stand on the LH Exotic issue? If it comes up to the Board again and I am on the Board, I promise that I will start the discussion with both sides and my fellow Board members well before the Board meeting and, after the decision is made, I shall insist – or do it myself – that the Board fashion a written response as to what went into the decision and why the Board decided as it did.

This is a very controversial subject with complicated implications.

First, we’ll look at a few numbers. I’ve rounded them off for the sake of brevity. There are approximately 640 CFA clubs. For simplicities sake, let’s assume that by the term “paper club” we mean clubs that have not put on a show for – let’s say two years and are not scheduled this year. It would take some time and research to verify those conditions so let’s assume that there are approximately 250 shows in CFA in all regions, including International and Japan. Accounting for clubs that skip a year, and clubs that “piggy-back” on another club’s show, and clubs that go in equally together, --- we can probably assume that the number of clubs putting on shows is about equal to the number that are not putting on shows. That would give us about 320 “paper clubs” by our definition.

 

Next, we should explore the issue of club’s voting power. For this appears to be the itchy issue with the opposition to “paper” clubs.

CFA’s Constitution places the voting power in the hands of members. But, these are not individual human members, but clubs. Each club has ONE vote. This one vote may represent one person or fifty. Some Breed clubs have a lot of members, but still only ONE vote. So, some that belong to CFA clubs may have anywhere from one full vote, if they are the only member of the club, (they may have five votes if they are the only member of five different CFA clubs), or, they may only have a small fraction of a vote if they are a member in one large club. Some people belong to more than one club. That changes the weight of their voting power as well. Many  people that show cats in CFA have NO vote because they do not belong to a club. So the gal that is benched next to you may have five votes, one vote, one/fiftieth of a vote, or no vote.

 

Next let’s address the “fairness” issue. Should each person that shows a cat in one CFA show per year have a full vote? Should we disenfranchise those that do not belong to a club? Should we disenfranchise those that belong to clubs that have not put on a show in the past year- or two years? Should CFA go to a system wherein “CFA members” refers to people not clubs? If we do this, how will we determine who gets to vote? (When is a person “eligible” and when does the person lose “eligibility?”) Will we need to create some kind of a Voter Registration system? How will CFA maintain such a list and what will be the cost and workload to account for all the changes each election in “who” is eligible to vote?

 

Finally, let’s explore some reasonable avenues we might pursue to alleviate the concern over “paper” clubs.

 

The CFA Constitution would have to be amended in order to change the present situation. The amendment would have to be voted on by the present members (clubs) under the present voting rules, (each club gets one vote.) Therefore, the "paper" clubs would probably have to be in favor of the change for it to pass.

 

Now,  it is easy to see why I started my response by pointing out that this issue is complicated as well as controversial.

 

But we do not need to focus on controversy or complicated formulas to change CFA's Constitution.

 

When an organization like ours operates in a way that encourages fair play and good sportsmanship, when it’s Officers and Board members openly provide financial reports and lay out policy considerations to their members before they adopt major changes in policy or business ventures, when YOU elect people to represent YOU and they DO, divisive issues such as the “paper club” issue lose their ability to distract us and divide us.

 

Now, you may not be entirely pleased with my response to your question about my stand on  “paper” clubs and their power. Please, however, consider all the other issues that have and will come before the CFA Board. Is it better, for your enjoyment in CFA showing, to discover – after the fact – that CFA has done something that YOU would have liked to have a say in and had none – even a fraction of a vote?

Let’s work together to make CFA more enjoyable. To do this, we must FIRST get CFA back on a firm financial footing. And it is not. And it is scary. Please use that big or bit of a vote that YOU have to elect Directors-at-Large with the proven ability to get CFA back on a firm financial foundation. If you do, those Directors-at-Large will be YOUR representatives and will encourage YOUR input after they have provided YOU with the facts and information YOU need to contribute to CFA decisions. After all is said and done, isn’t it better to have a “say” than a “vote” in making CFA better and more enjoyable?

Finances First – and then Fun!

CFA’s first Ombudsman.   Bombay Breed Council Secretary – 3 terms.   Bombay Rescue – 6 years.   Sharyn & I (Caricature Cattery) are in our 9th year of breeding and showing the Bombay and Burmese - Produced 3 NWs, 3 BWs, 12 RWs, 6 DMs, (one a male), 48 Grands and a Cat of the Year.  We promote CFA by sharing our best cats with new, and established breeders and exhibitors.  Caricature cats are in new CFA catteries in Europe, Japan, Canada, and the USA.  We have started over a dozen new exhibitors or breeders including three in Junior Showmanship.  -----    BA Labor Studies Antioch, Business & Accounting Bucknell University.  ----    Member Air Line Pilots Association Board of Directors for 6 years.   Treasurer, Secretary, and three term Chairman of ALPA New York Councils of Pan Am and Delta Airlines.   -----   Negotiator/Arbitrator for twenty years.  -----  Pan Am Emergency Select Committee - raised political support of House and Senate members, including Sen. John McCain and President George Bush (Sr) to transfer, and save, thousands of jobs of employees with the sale of Pan Am assets.   -----    Analyzed/reported on financial reports of Delta Airlines as a member of the Delta Master Executive Council of ALPA.    -----    Flew Domestic & International routes as a Captain for National Airlines, Pan Am, and Delta.    -----    Presently Eastern Chairman, Disabled Delta Pilots Assn - monitor the Trust Fund that provides benefits to disabled pilots and survivors of deceased pilots.   -----     Worked in an Accounting firm for five years. H&R Block Tax Return Auditor for two years.    -----    Century 21 Commercial and Residential Realtor for three years.   -----    US Navy eight years.   Served aboard World’s first nuclear powered submarine, (USS Nautilus) for two years, One of only five officers to ever wear both Dolphins (Submariner) and Wings (Naval Aviator).    Navy fighter pilot for three years.    Served as Squadron Administrative Officer, Personnel Officer, Summary Courts Martial Officer, and Classified Materials Control Officer.   -----    Presently employed coaching and advising corporate CEO’s.     Please help me help you by voting to support CFA’s financial integrity with your vote for Sigfrid Hauck for Director-at-Large.

The Directors-at-Large that are elected this year will make decisions that will decide the financial viability of the CFA.  We need Board Members with a formal education, a high level of professional experience in complicated financial matters, and effective accomplishments working at a Board level.   Due diligence in business ventures, Board control of major financial decisions, efficient use of human resources, and financial accountability to members - these now missing elements - are essential to CFA’s financial health and preservation as an organization.  

   With your support, we can establish fiscal responsibility, sound financial planning, and the restoration of operational profitability to the CFA.

 

   Please help me help you by voting to support CFA’s financial integrity with your vote for Sigfrid Hauck for Director-at-Large.  

Thank you for visiting. I am running for Director-at-Large. I will use this site to address issues as they come up during the campaign. If I am elected, I will use this blog site to answer questions, clarify issues for you as best I am able, and do my best to include you in the decision making processes that will come up from time to time. I want CFA to be open to all who show and breed in CFA. I want all to help me make decisions by providing you with information and viewpoints to help you understand and respond to CFA issues. You will be able to respond through messages to me and I shall answer all that time permits. Questions, etc, of a repetitive nature will result in my posting answers on this site. To make a comment or ask a question, please click on "Comments" at the end of each post or send an email to sighauck@earthlink.net