Dear USTA/Virginia District Member,

I am writing to you in response to the emailed letter that you received from Section President Kathy Stroop.  In this communication, I will provide background and clarification of the facts she presented.  The proposal outlined by Ms. Stroop is of great concern because it is intended to result in the dilution of our District’s voting strength.  

First, let me clarify that the letter you received addressed to “Dear USTA MAS Member” was not sent to all USTA MAS Members.  It was sent only to USTA Virginia Members.  It appears to be intentionally vague throughout, so as to gloss over the fact that in the end this proposal would take away only Virginia’s voting strength.

Ms. Stroop’s email states that changes have been proposed to the USTA National Bylaws that will cap voting strength of the Districts within the Mid-Atlantic Section to address an “imbalance of power” among the Districts.  She notes that the voting strength of members within the Section is allocated 57% to Virginia, 37% to Maryland, 5% to DC, and 1% to West Virginia. 

One of the basic facts that Ms. Stroop failed to point out is that Virginia has 57% of the vote in our Section because Virginia District’s hard work has generated 57% of the memberships in the Section.  The new proposal would punish Virginia for its success.

I want you to understand that under the current Section Bylaws, Virginia cannot unilaterally change the Section Bylaws, but does have sufficient voting strength to prevent other Districts from forcing a change in the Bylaws that is detrimental to Virginia.  This is a healthy check and balance, which we support because it mandates that the Districts work together to affect change.

What Ms. Stroop never informs you is that the changes proposed to the National USTA Bylaws were drafted and proposed by her and others in the MAS Section, who are determined through their proposal to reduce and dilute Virginia’s voting strength.

Instead of attempting to work with USTA Virginia to find a way to achieve additional checks and balances to the existing voting structure, Ms. Stroop and others secretly approached USTA National to implement unnecessary changes at the USTA National level which would ultimately force changes in local Sectional governance.  She would have you believe that the USTA National actions were taken without her proactive participation.  She has acknowledged to me and to the MAS Board of Directors that she and others deliberately went behind our backs without a Mid-Atlantic Board vote in order to surprise us and to advance their agenda without any attempt whatsoever to move for change at the Sectional level.

Ms. Stroop’s assurances that there will be no changes to the allocation of resources to the Districts in the future under a new voting structure with diminished Virginia voting strength is disingenuous because only the Board of Directors can make these decisions, and no one can guarantee how the budget will be allocated by future boards.

Ms. Stroop has breached her fiduciary duty to the USTA/Mid-Atlantic Section throughout her term as President by continually ignoring the current Bylaws.  For example, she has refused to appoint Section Legal Counsel throughout the first year of her term in another effort to operate “outside the law”.  Our Bylaws state: “The Board shall appoint Section Counsel” however, although she has been asked on numerous occasions to appoint counsel, she has refused to date to nominate counsel to comply with our Bylaws.

The actions taken by Ms. Stroop require a response by your Board of Directors to protect our voting rights and our District. I will advise you in a subsequent communication as to the status of our defense. I believe that there are opportunities to achieve a balance through additional safeguards. However, there has been no attempt to solicit any other alternatives to the potential dilution of our voting strength or the potential dissection of our geographical boundaries.

 

Respectfully,

Wayne McCoy, President, USTA/Virginia