Speakout!

The Baltimore Sun

Don't put Brown through media circus

THE ISSUE: -- The contract of Columbia Association President Maggie J. Brown expires in April. Half of the board members want "a different style of management," according to Phil Marcus, board member from Kings Contrivance. They think Brown should not be given a contract extension of more than one year. What do you think? Maggie Brown is a fine and decent person who has served our community with great distinction for many years.

The CA board has every right to do what they want with her contract. But I hope they afford this dedicated public servant the decency of not having to go through a media circus. Maggie Brown deserves that and so would anyone else in that position. I urge the CA board to afford Ms. Brown the respect she deserves and act accordingly.

Roger Caplan

Columbia

Give her another three-year term

Maggie Brown has been an excellent president. She is a well-respected ambassador to the community, she has effectively led a highly qualified staff, and she has achieved all the objectives set out for her by the CA board in all of her five years. She should be granted another three-year term.

Apparently, after meeting in a secret caucus, a "Gang of Five" CA board members pre-emptively decided - without discussion with other board members or any further public input - that it is "time for CA to move on to modern, measurements-based pro-active management in a technology-driven era."

And this is in spite of the fact that under Maggie Brown's leadership, the quality of CA's programs have improved year after year, consistent with the directives of the board of directors in office in those years and CA is in the midst of a major migration to the very latest technology for its IT system, again at the direction of the board of directors.

Three of the members of the Gang of Five have served just six months into their first term on the board. I seriously doubt that they have had time to gain any real understanding of the breadth and scope of CA's operations. They've not even gone through their first budget planning process. Certainly they should not be dictating to other board members the nature and term of Maggie Brown's contract.

What is sadly and abundantly clear is that historically it has not been the president but the board of directors that has always been the limiting factor in CA's achieving a higher level of excellence. And the time when that is most painfully apparent is when it is challenged to perform its greatest responsibility, the selection of a new president to lead the organization. One only needs to remember the fiasco of the last board-managed transition to see how bad this process can become.

Judging by how the current CA board of directors has started that process, there is no reason to believe that we are not going to have another major fiasco.

Jud Malone

Columbia

The writer is a former CA board member for Town Center

Nip coup attempt in the bud

At this holiday season it seems appropriate to speak about the "Gift of the Maggie." Those CA Board members who are calling for her ouster best stop and examine her record. Maggie stepped in to a tumultuous situation and was able to right a listing ship.

Maggie's tenure has been one that she and almost all Columbians, can point to with pride. The "almost" does not include a few Board members and a very small, but very vocal minority of residents who, for as long as most of us can remember, have adopted the most negative views possible about CA. Their "broken record" philosophy of "no; don't; can't do it negativism" is a pathetically horrid approach to the way CA should be run.

Those same folks want to micromanage almost everything. It's time for that vocalism to just plain stop! Under Maggie's direction her staff has been proactive in many areas and more than competant in many more.

The last time that faction got involved in hiring the CA leadership it was an unmitigated disaster. We should be rewarding Maggie with a long term contract instead of discussing cutting her tenure short. Others will point out the specifics of Maggie's accomplishments - which are many.

Let's hope that cooler, intelligent heads prevail and nip this attempted coup in the bud. CA needs the likes of Maggie Brown and many more in her mold. Her captaincy is of a smooth sailing ship: one not broken and there's no need to fix it.

Dave Leonard

Columbia

Fouled image of CA was polished

Maggie Brown should remain as President of C.A. for as long as she is able to perform that task.

She resurrected the fouled image of C.A. by her leadership, coupled with her love for Columbia. She is respected, admired, and appreciated by everyone that knows her. And she goes out of her way to "know" people; not just with a political handshake.

The backdoor skullduggery to besmirch Maggie will rebound on her detractors.

Bob and Cathy Berlett

Columbia

Do what's needed to keep her

Maggie Brown is a broadbander, and CA is lucky to have her. CA should do everything it can to sweet-talk her into staying as long as she wants, because she's doing the work of at least three people, and meeting every business objective that is set for her.

Maggie has the depth of experience with CA to know its ins and outs to a fare-thee-well. She has the work ethic to inspire her people to try to keep up with her. She is a friendly, personable representative to the community at large. She was brought in to calm the mess left in the wake of the Debbie McCarthy fiasco, and she had done that. All of these contributions are valuable and continuing. However, in my opinion, her best contribution to the welfare of CA lies in her mastery of the decision-making process.

Maggie Brown knows how to get a group of regular people to identify the scope of a complex problem, identify the information that is needed to make a series of decisions, and how to get them to agree on how to obtain information on different aspects of the problem from sources that are credible to all involved. The end result is a kind of "due process" that lends genuine credibility to Board decisions. Our new board members are going to discover that it is Maggie Brown that protects their contribution to CA.

I hope she writes a book.

Valerie E. Alexander

Columbia

Columbia, county have benefited

Maggie Brown and Columbia are synonymous.

She has done so much not only for Columbia but for Howard County. We have all benefited from her leadership and good will which has brought recognition to Howard County as the fourth Best Place to live in the USA. To oust her at this critical time when Columbia is going through a management transition would put us all at risk. Change for the sake of change is not a good idea.

Maggie Brown is the embodiment of the Columbia spirit and she should be given another three year contract.

Cynthia Hood

Dayton

Finding successor would take time

I believe the Columbia Association board of directors should consider two factors to determine the appropriate contract length to offer Maggie Brown; the expected time necessary to find a replacement and Maggie's performance/competence.

Should the board decide a "short" extension is appropriate they must consider the amount of time it will take to agree on a job description, hire an executive search firm, conduct a search, interview candidates, extend an offer and determine the date the new president can begin. They also need to factor in the impact of a new board in May of 2007. Knowing this timeline will determine the earliest date Maggie's extension could end.

Secondly, Maggie has an extensive record of superior performance as President of CA. She has demonstrated her ability to move the organization forward while juggling numerous responsibilities and challenges. I believe it is in the community's best interest to retain Maggie's services for a period longer than one year.

Cabell Greenwood

Columbia

The writer is a former CA board member for River Hill

One-year contract would be a mistake

My opinion is that a one-year contract is a huge mistake. My husband and I are 28 year residents of Columbia and have known Maggie Brown since she was in charge of the old Columbia Birthday Celebration where our Jaycee/Civitan groups had a booth each year that we chaired and/or worked.

During the infamous Debbie McCarty presidency, I bumped into Maggie at the now defunct Wilde Lake Giant and suggested that she run for president. I was not alone in this suggestion. Thankfully, she ran and things have gone smoothly since.

My understanding is that under Maggie's leadership, the CA staff has instituted the Sarbanes-Oxley financial controls, which are not required of Homeowners Associations (which CA is the world's largest, lest we forget). I also understand that the independent audit of the CA internal audit committee generated a glowing report.

Since I am a five-year unpaid volunteer on CA's Risk Management Committee, I have first-hand knowledge of the safeguards put in place to protect the public, like annual pool inspections, and risk avoidance issues such as facilities inspections, accident investigations and staff training. An oversight committee has been instituted for all of CA.

Maggie has a sweet personality, but that does not mean she is clueless or ineffective. The only time I've ever viewed any other persona was when there was a brief reference to a potential issue that could have the slightest implication of a possible ethical conflict. That issue was immediately dismissed, and not carried out.

There are five CA board members who are suggesting a one-year term for Maggie Brown. Of the five, three have been on the board for less than one year - certainly not enough time to understand the complexities of all the issues, least of all time to appreciate how Maggie Brown's leadership affects Columbia.

I'm sure part of this clamoring for change is due to Maggie's unpretentious and cordial demeanor. No one should be fooled; she also knows the inner workings of CA and that of Columbia and Howard County. She cares for Columbia and about Columbians more than anyone else I know. The only person who cared more was the late James Rouse.

We have been selected the fourth-best place in the U.S. to live, and I for one am grateful. Give Maggie her full contract and the thanks of the residents.

Gerrie Bischoff

Columbia

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