The purpose of any association is to represent the interests of its members, and that is the foundation of the charge of a board of directors, which is also hopefully made up of a representative cross-section of its members.

ACRA is very fortunate to have yet another strong board this year of volunteers from across the profession who are dedicating valuable “spare” time to Association matters, and I want to recognize and thank my fellow board members for their efforts so far this year. We have had plenty to keep us busy.

For those of you who weren’t at the midyear seminar or the business luncheon held that day, you missed out on something that doesn’t occur very often, but reminds us of how the democratic process works. Let me explain that and start from the beginning.

If you read the last issue of Boardlines, you will have read about the membership application approved by the Board of a firm owner who wanted to become a related professions member of our Association who is known to have a strong affiliation with the voicewriting community. After consulting the bylaws and discussing the history of the issue, the Board felt unanimously that since the firm owner also utilized stenographers in their business, was not a voice writer personally, and taking into consideration that voice writers can now be certified by the Supreme Court just like stenographers, that the membership application could and should be approved.

At the business meeting with membership in attendance the following day, a motion from the floor was made regarding this particular membership application and a lively discussion of the issue ensued. As a result, a vote was taken and the membership approved a motion to rescind the Board’s decision to accept the application and table it (put it in a pending status) until bylaws changes are proposed and put to a vote of membership on the issue of whether to expand ACRA’s membership to include voice writers.

The word “voice writer” conjures up all sorts of feelings; some good, some bad, some indifferent. The lines may have become a little blurred as to the issue to be addressed that day, which was not to decide whether to let voice writers into the Association, but to discuss a specific individual’s membership application.

Here is where that whole democracy thing comes in, though. The Board members are still comfortable that the right determination was made in the Board’s initial decision, but the concerns of membership obviously take precedence. Reasonable people can agree to disagree, and there is nothing wrong with that. We have opened up the doors of communication, and debate and education will follow.

A new bylaws committee has been established, and one of the tasks they will be engaged in is determining appropriate language to propose regarding allowing voice writers to join ACRA. Voice writers can be certified by the Supreme Court there are currently three who are certified and three took the RPR in May. Their success in the marketplace in Arizona is a question in most people’s minds, including mine, but they are court reporters just like we are and are working in numerous areas of the country successfully. If we choose to embrace them as their numbers in Arizona increase, we can forge bonds that will make the Association stronger, and we could be a united front against the proponents of electronic recording only as an alternative to court reporters.

The Board is supportive of the idea of opening membership up to voice writers, and we believe that it is in the best interests of our profession looking forward. It will ultimately be the members’ decision to make, and ACRA will endeavor to provide more education and different viewpoints to consider as we approach the annual convention.

If you would like to write an opinion piece for publication in the ArizoNotes on this or any topic, please make your submission to our ArizoNotes Editor Rabin’ Monroe.

The Board looks forward to hearing from you and having membership participate in this important decision-making process.

Michele Balmer