By Walt Steinsiek
I can't believe that just 31 members of the Bowling Writers Association of America (BWAA) brought about a merger of BWAA with the National Women Bowling Writers Association during last month's BWAA Convention in Las Vegas. Some members voted for the first time—and at least three did not even stay to learn the outcome of this monumental decision.
The meeting on Tuesday, June 27 with approximately 50 members present was called to order. A quorum was claimed, but there was no count of the legal BWAA voting members in the room before the vote, and pieces of Las Vegas Hilton note paper were used for ballots.
Who’s to say someone didn't vote more than once? The ballots were destroyed too quickly.
What ever happened to "Robert's Rules of Order," and just when did the BWAA stop using them?
A proposal that would permit all 250-plus members of BWAA to vote on the merger had been raised from the floor by BWAA Director Jim Goodwin when, moments later, a female BWAA member called for the vote. Is that a "Robert's Rules of Order" procedure?
Why shouldn't have all BWAA members been allowed to vote for what was such an important proposal as a merger with an association whose members already had the right to join BWAA?
Why was the chair and some board members in such a hurry to merge?
BWAA was railroaded into a merger that I believe most members would not have voted for, and the 31 who did threw away our organization's proud 73-year history of dedicated journalistic service to the sport of bowling.
What a shame!
NCAUSBCA Hall of Famer Walt Steinsiek is a BWAA past president.