Dear Editor,
We, the undersigned, are members of VFW Post 5872 in Fairfield and we regularly attend the Post meetings. As such, we want to express our support for our current Post Commander, Roger Brooke. We support his constant efforts to lead us in serving the veteran population of Freestone County as well as Post activities in support of the general community of Freestone County. The fact that we unanimously reelected him as Post Commander for the past four years is testimony to his success in these endeavors.
Also we expressly support his efforts in the sale of the Post Building. In March 2016, a letter was sent to all Post members to notify of a proposal to sell the building. Extensive discussion was held before the vote. Twenty three members attended and nineteen votes were cast in favor of the sale and there were three abstentions with the Commander as a non-voting attendee. This vote represented 84 % of the votes cast. This far exceeds the 66% vote required to pass the motion to sell the building. (The District Commander, Bobby Jones and the District Senior Vice Commander, Ray Marsh, were also present at this meeting and monitoring the entire procedure.)
We note that recently one or two of our Comrades say they received no letter of notice of sale. Only one notice is required by regulations and that requirement was met in March 2016. The Post adjutant mailed a letter to all members at the addresses on file. Also the rules require only that a letter be sent to the address of record. If the letter is delivered to that address, that requirement is met, even if someone other than the member received the letter. Also, each Post member is responsible for updating Post records with his current address. Those who move and fail to report it, may not actually receive a notice due to an incorrect address but the requirement to send a notice will have been met. (Note that the proposed sale was also announced in several Post meetings before March 2016.).
Also, one or two of our Comrades (perhaps the same one or two above) claimed that a second notice should have been sent to all members to meet again and agree to the sale price. No regulation requires such a notice. Any member could have attended a meeting between March and December 2016 and made such a proposal. And after discussion if the majority voted in the affirmative, another notice would have been required. That didn’t happen. So no second notice was required.
In summary, we fully support Roger Brooke, our Post Commander and we appreciate his diligence in carrying out his duties both in the past four years and in the matter of the Post building sale. All required notices were sent out. All members had a fair opportunity to speak for or against the sale. Between March 2016 and November 2016, no Post member formally objected to the sale and no one raised the issue of non- receipt of the sale notice, So the few of our fellow Comrades who are objecting to the sale at this late date and are just now raising notice issues 9 months after the meeting, are out of order and are just plain misguided. The majority of votes were cast in favor of sale. The will of the majority should go forth.
Arne Henderson
– Sr. Vice Commander
Charles Morgan
– Jr. Vice Commander
Robbie Robertson
– Adjutant/Quartermaster
Morris Keeton – Chaplain
Lawyer Jones – Trustee
Donald Parks – Trustee
Willie Cooper – Trustee
Gilbert Lawson – Trustee
E. E. West – Life Member
Henry Kitchens – Life Member
Jim Keally – Post Member
(Signatures on file)
