Open letter to Barry Williams

Barry F. Williams

Chairman of the Board

Baltimore Area Council

April 12, 2013

Dear Mr. Williams;

Those of us at TruScouting welcome the start of the third paragraph of your letter concerning Ethan Draddy.  “The process to replace Ethan begins now.”  What sweet words! 

Perhaps it’s time to NOT find someone to continue the “good work” of our past Scout executive.  That was the line used to find the replacement for Hugh Travis and, can we be honest here, the results have not come without a great deal of pain for many people. 

It is time for the board to do a bit of governing.  You might consider taking this time to go out and listen to unit leadership about what they need from a council.  Sitting down and talking with the Key 3’s of each of the districts would be a real eye opener for you (please do this after Ethan has left to save the job of the professional member of the Key 3).  Here’s idea, why not talk to a few boys / girls and their families?

We believe that most units have grown accustomed to doing their Scouting without the benefits of Baltimore Area Council (BAC), just look at your summer camp attendance.  Our troops would opt out of more BAC provided services if they could.

Do we really need another designer of Under Armour t-shirts as our Scout executive?  This type of innovation comes at a price.  The council office has seen quite a bit of innovation and energy for the past five years.  How much of this attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is needed in the future should be a question open to discussion.

Mr. Williams, Scouting is at a crossroad.  Do something different and LISTEN to your corporate stakeholders, Boy Scout Troops, Cub Scout Packs and Venturing Crews about what they want from a Scout executive.

Yours in Scouting,

TruScouting