Farthest North vs. GSUSA: It’s Over. For Real This Time.

On the last episode of Farthest North vs. GSUSA, the Alaskan Supreme Court ruled in favor of Farthest North.  But GSUSA filed for a rehearing of the case!  What happens next is anyone’s guess!

Well, the guessing is over.  In the words of the Court:

“IT IS ORDERED:  The Petition for Rehearing and the Motion for Reconsideration are both DENIED.”

The case has been kicked back down to appellate court for monetary matters such as who pays for what attorney fees and who owes for what, but when it comes to the matter of who has the authority on membership dues, Judge Judy said it best:

If you want to read what the Alaskan Supreme Court said in its initial ruling, I wrote a summary about it back in September, and I won’t go back over it here.  But, I will share the Q&A again with a few updates:

Didn’t the National Council vote to give the National Board authority at a previous National Council Session?

Nope.  Never happened.  Check the minutes and the records.  The Court ruled on what’s stated in the Blue Book, not what was discussed at a National Council Session or claimed in a National Council Session Workbook.

What about the Lifetime Membership amount voted on by the National Council in 2017?  Does this ruling still apply?

Yes, it still applies.  None of the language that either Farthest North or GSUSA used in their arguments was modified after the publication of the 2009 Blue Book.

Well, I think the National Board should be the one to set the amount of membership dues anyway.

That’s fine, but then do it the right way as our governance procedures dictate.  Most likely there will be some sort of proposal for the 2020 NCS that does give the NB some authority if I had to guess.

Do I get a refund of membership dues if I don’t live in Alaska?

Nope.  The Court ruling only applies to the state of Alaska, so only the two Alaskan councils can collect $12 dues.  And they’ll stay $12 until the next time they are raised by the National Council or if the National Board does get some sort of authority at the 2020 National Council Session based on a passed proposal and then raises dues.  It has to be valid according to the Blue Book.

Could this go to federal court?

No, the case was filed in Alaska, and the Supreme Court of the State of Alaska is the highest court at that level.  A separate case would have to be filed in federal court for it to be heard there.

Who cares?  $25 is still a great deal.

I said this before in one of my original blog posts.  If you don’t think this is a big deal because you’re fine with dues being $25 a year, what if in a few years from now the National Board decides to raise dues to $30?  Or $50?  Or $100?  At what amount does it become a big deal to you?

Does this mean the $35 18 month membership level is invalid too?

Correct.  The National Council never approved this level.  This past April’s special on Lifetime Membership Dues was out of order too.

So where do we go from here?

At the 1969 National Council Session, the National Board introduced a proposal which would give it the authority to modify membership levels (which establish what grades apply to the different levels).  At the time, those levels were listed in the Membership Requirements section of the Credentials.  The GSUSA Constitution stated (and still states) that the National Council is the only one with the authority to establish requirements for Credentials.  So at the NCS, the National Council deliberated and approved the proposal.  The membership level language was removed from the Requirements listing and eventually moved to a section called “Applicable Membership Standards,” and since the National Board has the authority to establish Credential standards in the GSUSA Constitution, it was then able to modify membership levels as it saw fit.

When it came to membership dues, THAT is what should have been done in 2008 rather than the National Board/GSUSA just declaring that it had the authority in the 2008 Workbook and then raising them of its own accord in 2012 and again in 2016.  We could have saved everyone a lot of grief, energy, and money if we had just done it the right way from the start.  It created a lot of distrust, anger, and confusion on many levels.

The National Board will soon be sending out the Early Alert featuring what will possibly be presented as proposals for the 2020 National Council Session this coming October.  There is no doubt membership dues will be at the forefront.  It is my sincere hope that moving forward, everyone can respect our organization’s governing documents, its governing bodies, and its process.  They are there for a reason, and when they aren’t followed, the fallout from the past ten years is a perfect example of what happens.