Budget OptionTwo should Preserve our Membership in the Conservative Movement, Guest Writer, Unedited

BUDGET OPTION TWO SHOULD PRESERVE OUR MEMBERSHIP IN THE CONSERVATIVE
MOVEMENT

By: David Kasdan

By now you--the membership--should have received the formal proxy materials for next year's budget. Before I present some thoughts, it is never my intention to detract from the efforts made by the current Board and Executive Committee or to question the sincerity of those efforts. To the contrary, if each of us only gave back a portion of the effort provided by our current leadership, we would all be truly blessed. However, I do feel strongly that FHC should never have permitted its membership in the Conservative Movement to have lapsed and I believe that the manner in which the fallout from that decision is being handled is off the mark. I hope to explain below that at this juncture a vote for budget option 2 should preserve funding for our USCJ membership while avoiding many of the possible knotty issues that are on the horizon as we vote on three different budget proposals.

The budget contains for your evaluation a three-headed proposal. The first option presents a dues structure that attempts to eliminate funding for payment of FHC's
membership dues with United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism ("USCJ"); the second or middle option provides funding for an estimated cost of current USCJ dues without providing enough funding for the current one year USCJ dues arrearage; the third option includes estimated funding to cover payment of current and past USCJ membership dues.

The need to decide between three budget options may be moot. I have in the role of FHC liaison with USCJ determined that the actual annual cost of USCJ dues on a going forward basis will probably be less than $10,000 (closer to $9000) and the current one year arrearage can probably be paid in five (5) equal annual installments. Moreover, I have fundraising commitments to date of $2500 (more than enough to cover the first annual arrearage payment). Accordingly, I urge you to consider the following: if the membership votes for option 2, FHC will have more than enough money
budgeted to ensure that we can be members in good standing with USCJ if the Board then approves a tentative arrangement being floated between FHC and USCJ:(a) one year of arrears payable over 5 years and (b)USCJ dues costing less than $10,000 annually and possibly as little as $9000, calculated as followed: $60 for every FHC member paying dues over $500; $30 for every FHC member paying dues in the $200-$500 range; $0 for every FHC member paying under $200 in dues. If you are comfortable at this point with a vote for option 2, the rest of this may not matter. However,if you are still on the fence, some more thoughts.

We should question the notion that by voting on three budget options we will actually be deciding the fundamental issue of whether FHC is a Conservative Synagogue
and a member of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

The fundamental issue of our affiliation with the Conservative Movement should
not be determined by a budget vote. Both our current and proposed revised By-laws state: "the Congregation intends to maintain its membership with United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism". A matter of great spiritual significance such as our affiliation with the Conservative Movement should only be brought to the membership on a "stand alone basis" and should not be determined via a "coercive budget" that reduces this fundamental question to a possible reduction in a dues raise. And,we should also continue to question the notion that different dues structures can be created by including or not including in the budget the funding of USCJ dues. USCJ dues are about one percent of the almost $1 million FHC budget and there are many other "expenses" that could have been segregated from the FHC budget and selected for such "special treatment".

All of this raises a number of interesting questions. The By-Laws require that dues "be established by a majority vote of the members of the congregation in good standing". What happens if no "majority" chooses any of the three options? What happens if a combined vote for options two and three (endorsing funding for USCJ dues) creates a majority but option one (no funding for USCJ dues) gets the most
votes? If budget option one is approved by a majority is it then appropriate to assume that the membership has actually voted that our synagogue should not be affiliated with the Conservative Movement?

At this point, the best way to avoid answering these hard questions and to ensure that our FHC membership includes a Synagogue that is part of the Conservative Movement is to vote (in person or by proxy) for Budget Option Number Two: the option
representing the most fiscally constrained manner for providing a framework for FHC's reinstatement as a member in good standing in the Conservative movement.

Rest assured, that as FHC liaison with USCJ, I will dedicate next year to exploring our relationship with USCJ and hopefully an even better two-way street will emerge so that we can continue our spiritual growth as members of the Conservative
Movement.