The Pirates of the PPA Board

The Code is more what you'd call guidelines than actual rules

I made two New Year’s Resolutions this year: the first was to only buy what I truly need and then, only from repurposed items. The second resolution was to minimize my rants.
The latter resolution lasted TWO DAYS, because it is January 3rd, and baby, I’m already a’ranting. I really should have known better than to even make that a resolution. Alas, I’m a dreamer.

But before the rant, I’d like to begin with an apology.

Yes, I will gladly admit when I’m wrong. Sometimes I even hope that I’m wrong. And what I was wrong about was my insistence to “reinstate Allison Watkins and Pete Rezac” as incoming President and Vice President of PPA.

And I was wrong not because they aren’t the rightful President and Vice President.

No, I was wrong because they ARE the rightful President and Vice President, which makes my plea to “reinstate” rather nonsensical.

See, the October 2024 Board Elections which saw both Allison and Pete voted in are legit. They are valid. The election results stand. All the shenanigans that followed are irrelevant. And as such, there is NOTHING to “reinstate.”

The board minutes show the elections were held just like every other year. The process was valid and exactly the same as the elections of 2023. And 2022. And so on and so on.
End of story. Full stop.

What wasn’t the same, however, was the acceptance of the election results.

And that starts and stops with the PPA Chairman of the Board.

Before we go further, it’s important that you know that according to PPA Bylaws, The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedures (Sturgis) is the association Bible. It is a manual widely used for conducting and managing meetings in organizations. It focuses on rules, fairness, guidelines, decision making, voting, debates, maintaining order, ethics, etc…

Sadly, we watched while the 2024 October PPA Board Election results, which adhered to The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedures, were twisted and wrung into a farce afterwards. We watched the rules being bent, massaged, ignored and repeated until those carrying out the shenanigans achieved their desired results. And from what I can tell, all because the people in power don’t like the incoming President. You know, ‘cause they STILL haven’t given a reason.

And I have looked and looked in The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedures for the chapter on “How to Kick Out Someone for Petty Reasons and/or because You Don’t Like Them.” Failing to find it, I looked for the chapter on “How to Re-enact “Mean Girls” in Your Non-Profit Organization.”
I found nothing. And there’s a reason.

It’s ‘cause that’s not how this is supposed to work, kids. It’s the opposite of integrity and ethics. Alice Sturgis worked hard on her code and she’s no doubt rolling in her grave over this.
The rules exist to promote fairness, ethics and integrity in an organization.

You don’t get to change the rules because you don’t like the outcome.

But, luckily, members and former members were paying attention. Because they’ve watched this unfold and they know this isn't really about Allison and Pete…it’s much bigger than two people. If it can happen to them, it can happen to anyone. And it has.

And as a result of this underhandedness, a petition to recall the board was circulated amongst the PPA Council. (Again, for those who were absent on the day we discussed this, the awesome Council is sort of like the Congress. They are the governing body of the Professional Photographers of America Association. The Council selects the board and the board selects its officers. But the PPA Board is held accountable by the PPA Council. And the Council consists of members from almost every state. Kind of cool, right?)

The Chairman of the Board is an important role. According to that pesky Parliamentary Procedure, as the presiding officer, the Chair “is required to be impartial on the issues while still processing procedural ruling and any subsequent appeals.”

In simple speak: the Chair is the referee. They are to make sure the playing field is level and fair and all is above board; that everything is done by the book; everything is accurate; everyone has a voice and is heard; and everything is done correctly. They don’t work to get things done THEIR way, but the right way. Now, if their way IS the right way, no problem. But if their way is the wrong way, well, you’ve got problems.

Now the Chairman of the Board of the Professional Photographers of America is the only officer position that isn’t voted in. Once you serve as President, you automatically ascend to Chair when your term as President is completed. Every President serves a year and then moves into the Chairman position for the following year.

Well, until this year. THIS year, the Chair and the President get to serve a SECOND term because who needs parliamentary procedure, right? It’s for suckers.

Okay, got all that? Good. Now, on to the rant portion of the article. My heartfelt apologies to my New Year’s resolutions.

The signatures for a board recall were gathered by the Council. And then that packet was delivered to Council and submitted to the Chair, who sets the agenda for the Council Meeting held at Imaging next month.

Now, when the PPA Chairman of the Board receives something like a petition to recall the board, the Chair has a couple options in front of her.

Door #1:
She can say to herself, “Okay. The Council has received feedback from members and they are very concerned about this so I am going to make sure the recall and other items of concern in the packet are taken very seriously. I am going to be that impartial referee. Regardless of my personal feelings, I will not get involved. It wouldn’t be right. I will simply include it in the Council agenda and stay out of it completely. I am nothing if not unbiased."

Door #2:
Or she can say, “A board recall? We’ll see about that. Let me fire up my PERSONAL EMAIL and contact everyone who signed. I will say the purpose of my personal email is “simply to verify their name was intentionally included on the petition,” ‘cause that sounds like I’m being dutiful, but I’ll also add that I am “verifying it accurately reflects their position.” This way, I can let them know that I am watching them and, at the same time, cast doubt on the integrity of the Council, implying their names were included without their knowledge.”

If PPA was a game show (and at this point, it sort of feels like one) this would be the part where I would ask the contestants to pick which door holds what really happened. And then ask for the answer to be revealed.

If you picked Door #2, you would be correct.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a prize for being right. You don’t win anything. In fact, you lose. We all do.

I mean, think about this: the same person who should be actively promoting and enforcing the use of official PPA channels for communication to assure all communication is accountable and above board is the same person sending out emails from her personal email.
You can’t make this stuff up.

I tell you, people, the “List of Shady” just keeps growing.

Now, the Chair is a human being and human beings are flawed. I am. You are. They are. Parliamentary Procedure understands this, and as such, states that if a Chair speaks to an issue and shows partiality and/or bias, they should step down from the position of Chair and have an impartial Chair preside until the issue is resolved. Simple speak: if the Chair oversteps her “referee” position and ‘takes a side'“ on an issue, she should step down while that issue is being worked through.

So, yes, of course the moment the PPA Chair was unable to stay impartial, she stepped aside. NOT.

No, instead, the PPA Chairman of the Board confronted those who signed the petition via a personal email. The act itself is seen by many as intimidation. Manipulation, even. We’ve got a ton of red flags on the field over this one.

The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedures is shaking its head at this. Rules are being broken ALL OVER THE PLACE. It makes one think the Board of PPA would make EXCELLENT pirates.

So, there you have it. My first Rant of 2025. And make no mistake, I rant because I love. I want PPA to be an organization we can trust rather than a vehicle driven on long Power Trips to the bank with members’ dues. Because an organization is not a board…it is its members. And I happen to think the hard working men and women who make their livings with their cameras deserve an industry that works for them, not for themselves.

And to all the lovely PPA Council members out there…THANK YOU. Thank you for giving voice to members’ concerns; thank you for fighting for integrity; thank you for demanding accountability. I’m excited to attend the Council Meeting and thank you in person. I’ll be there with a big coffee, a box of donuts and a Buc-ee’s bag full of snacks. Hit me up if you’re hungry.

Oh, and one more thing—could you all request the location of the Council meeting at Imaging be moved? A lot of members are interested in attending.

To echo Chief Brody from the movie “Jaws:”