Sham Elections
Prior to 2016, there were no annual meetings nor elections. Villagers had no idea that Little League rules require an annual Fall meeting with proper notice to all. Board members were unaware that the league was governed by bylaws; they had never seen a copy. Nobody knew of monthly meetings or how matters were decided. Greg White did not want anyone to know bylaws existed and refused to allow parents and coaches to inspect them. He wanted to continue to run the league as though it was his own. He even told a coach that he was not allowed to observe a monthly board meeting, which is supposed to be open to the public. What is there to hide?
Once it was discovered that RFYBS was not following Little League rules; an honorable board member, Tom Gladden, publicly resigned, admitting that he had never been elected, never seen the bylaws, further stating that he witnessed unfairness in the selection of coaches and players for tournament teams. Smartphone applications like GameChanger had proved that board member kids were clearly preferred over better players in the league which was plainly demonstrated using traditional baseball metrics like batting averages and on-base percentages. The tournament teams were often being coached by the father whose son was the least skilled on the team. This had been going on for years.
In response, Greg White sent out a mass e-mail stating that he had been "personally attacked," but did not mention the concerns about financial transparency, bylaws and elections. How did these issues become controversial? A set of bylaws finally appeared less than 48 hours before the 2016 meeting.
So White was forced to have an election, but purposely limited the number of seats of available and had "members" vote for his slate of candidates. Two of his supporters got drunk and physically threatened parents who wanted answers about how the league operated. Despite the plain language of the bylaws, proxy voting was not allowed.
After White's slate of candidates were elected, the league later allowed Michael Goldberg to join the board as a full voting member even though he was not nominated and did not run for a position. None of the people who volunteered to clean up the league were asked to join the board when vacancies became available. Later that year, Goldberg would vote against independent financial oversight. Later, he and Matt Heffner amended league bylaws to make future financial oversight discretionary.
The 2017 Annual Meeting was sham.
Again, the league failed to notify all members of the meeting and changed its location less than 24 hours beforehand. As before, White ran a slate of "approved" candidates who would support his presidency and not require any financial transparency or independent oversight. Incredibly, they allowed proxy voting at this "election" even though they disallowed it in 2016. Goldberg finally ran for a board position and won. In return for supporting White, elected board members got to coach in the league and have their kids be selected to tournament teams. Board members also got to virtue signal about what great volunteers they are to the community despite engaging in anti-social behavior behind the scenes. White was "re-elected" president of the league. It was at this meeting where RFYBS decided to make independent financial oversight discretionary.
Suggested improvements
Board members should have a copy of the bylaws and understand that they have a fiduciary duty to the league, not to Greg White. Further, the league should "e-mail blast" all of its members of the annual meeting. Currently, it only does so for player registration and fund-raising. RFYBS should also notify parents of the annual meeting by posting a prominent notice on its website, encouraging them to get involved. Further, White shouldn't be allowed to use the league e-mail list serve to campaign for himself nor his slate of "approved" candidates. Volunteers should run independently and not as factions. Little League International require the above, but RFYBS refuses to follow those rules.