Concerns should go to board, not public

The purpose of this letter is not to express my opinion about the Panida issue, but rather to express my concern about how e-mails that were internal to Panida board members were shared by Michael Boge and then used by Bob Gunter and Erik Daarstad to make their point

I am active on two boards and both boards have an ethics section in their bylaws that spells out in detail how to deal with complaints about board members. Both insist that problems are addressed personally first and if that is not successful to bring the issue to a board ethics committee to resolve it or come up with a plan of action before it goes public. In either case the defendant has the right to express their perspective first in front of the ethics committee and if necessary in front of the whole board.

I find this kind of public bad mouthing of a board member without due process offensive and am disappointed that better communication skills aren't available among the Panida board members. Perhaps an inclusion of an ethics section in the by-laws, if it is not yet present, and some training in conflict resolution and meeting communication skills will just do the trick in resolving the current Panida conflict. It seems like there are good points on both sides that can be used to reach a consensus.

GABRIELLE DUEBENDORFER

Sandpoint