Letters to the editor

To the Editor:

Tax time has come and gone and here are the results for St. Frances Animal Rescue’s operation for the 2011 tax year.

St. Frances Animal Rescue raised $16,578.18 while expenditures totaled $16,511.36. Without your ongoing support and help we would not have been able to continue the work that we do at the animal rescue.

Total rescues that came through St. Frances for 2011 were as follows: 44 cats and 45 dogs, 32 of which we assisted in finding homes in other Southeast Alaska communities through their local animal rescue programs.

St. Frances Animal Rescue wants to thank those who support the program by monetary donations and by helping out fundraises through donations of rummage sale items, bake sale goodies, and silent auction items, as well as those who purchase at these fundraisers, and those who also help by donating food and litter to the program.

A great big thank you to the staff at Skookum Vets for all your caring support during the surgeries or when the animals are sick and needing help.

This is our fourth summer since the animal rescue program started.

Please spay and neuter your pet. Thank you for adopting your pet from St. Frances.

M. Delores Klinke

St. Frances Animal Rescue

To the Editor:

From Wikipedia: “Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within groups of people. It is the mode of thinking that happens when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives. Group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation of alternative ideas or viewpoints.”

The reason I am bringing this up is because I believe this dangerous phenomenon has infected and permeated the WMC Board. Groupthink goes far beyond the value of loyalty defined in the WMC Board of Directors’ Bylaws, which speaks to the respect the members should have for each other as they work cooperatively as members of a cohesive team. In no way does this suggest that the team needs to be of one mind or even that consensus is desirable. Rather, the very fact that cohesion is mentioned indicates that the members should act as individuals united by a common goal.

This is not the picture I see when I hear the board president refer to the board as “his” team. The people of Wrangell did not elect our WMC board to serve the president as “his” team. The best interest of the people can only be served when the open and free flow of ideas is encouraged and every single board member feels a loyalty to people who elected them.

The community needs the critical evaluation of ideas, not the warm and fuzzy avoid-conflict-at-any-cost mentality that we see on today’s Board. We need active functioning brain cells on our board, not rubber stamps. We need a board with appropriate boundaries, not one with the dysfunctional dynamics of groupthink.

This board not only does not encourage the free flow of ideas, it tries to destroy free expression. I am referring to the mean-spirited personal attack that Lynn Campbell leveled at board member Dorothy Sweat in her Let Me Explain article in the April 12 issue of the Sentinel. Dorothy’s major offense was that she dared to express an independent opinion. This dysfunctional board has “closed ranks” to ostracize the non-conformist. Sure looks like bullying behavior to me. God bless Dorothy for her nerve and her commitment to what she believes is right. She deserves our appreciation for her courageous behavior just as much as the other board members deserve our censure for the sick groupthink they practice. No wonder they are facing recall.

Just for kicks, go look up the board meeting minutes for the last two years, and tell me how many votes there have been that are not unanimous. None? Gee, I rest my case.

Judy Kay Allen