The ARI is Doing
the Right Thing
By Mike Safley
The October 2004 MAPACA Newsletter ran an article that
was reprinted from Llama Life II entitled: 'Registry Creators Condemn
ARI Board Action'. The article relies, in large part, on the point
of view of Eric Hoffman and is critical of the role played by the
2003 ARI board, led by Libby Forstner, in canceling the ILR contract.
Eric Hoffman's persistent criticism of the leaders and direction
of the American alpaca community is nothing new. Earlier this year
he penned an article for the British magazine, Alpaca World,
which is entitled, 'Ship of Fools', where he was critical of the
ARI membership decision to close the Registry. For an in-depth look
at Hoffman's claims about Registry closure and his misgivings about
our industry's leaders you can read my article, 'The
American Alpaca Market: A Ship of Fools? I Don't Think So!'
at www.Alpacas.com.
Eric's criticism of Libby Forstner's leadership as ARI President
has been particularly sharp, especially on the pages of Llama
Life II where he said, "Forstner's term was marked with controversy
and much change. She is well known for airing her beliefs and "vigorously
challenging" her opponents on the Internet Alpaca Chatline." Hoffman
goes on to dismiss the reasons Libby sited for changing the ARI's
service provider, the ILR, saying that Jan Wassnik had "rebutted"
the ARI Board of Directors' position. I disagree with his assertions
and I particularly disagree with his harsh criticism of Libby, who
in my experience is a hardworking, well-liked member of our community.
I have reviewed the correspondence between the ILR attorney and
the ARI attorney, various emails between the parties, Jan Wassink's
article and Hoffman's articles. I would like the readers of MAPACA's
newsletter to consider the following before they form their final
opinions about Libby Forstner's tenure as ARI President, and whether,
or not, it was a good idea to remove the Registry's management from
the ILR's control.
The ARI/ILR Dispute
In 2003, the ARI Board of Directors decided that it was in the
best interest of the alpaca community to retain a new contractor
to process alpaca registrations. They put the ILR on notice that
they intended to sever the relationship when their contract expired.
This separation became messy and, in my opinion, the ILR began to
act in an unprofessional manner. The ARI Board found that the database,
which the ILR managed on their behalf, was not in the best of shape.
The ILR's attitude through this process is reflected in a 2004,
Llama Life II article authored by Jan Wassink, the ILR
Registrar, and that attitude contributed to a tumultuous turnover
which impacted the ARI's ability to process alpaca registrations
and ultimately their immediate relationship with the alpaca community.
Here is some of what Wassink had to say:
"As most of you may know, the International Lama Registry staff
has been providing registration services for the Alpaca Registry
Inc. (ARI) since 1997. Last year, ARI decided to move to a new
provider back east. And, we wish them the best. However, in doing
so, the ARI has chosen to make statements blaming the ILR for
delays in the transition process and also made other statements
about the quality and level of service provided by the ILR."
The article was, basically, a rebuttal to the ARI position that
the ILR had mismanaged the ARI database, had been unresponsive to
requests for more efficient services, and had behaved unprofessionally
after their contract was terminated. The ARI responded to the ILR
charges with a July 1, 2004 letter from their attorney to ILR attorney,
Timothy Goddard, setting the record straight. One of the major issues
for the ARI was the quality of the information in the ARI database
that was being managed by the ILR, as pointed out in the following
excerpt from the letter.
"…, In some cases, the DNA information, which had already been
sent by UCD to ILR for inclusion in ARI's database, was missing.
In some cases, information other than DNA information was apparently
missing, preventing Maxxam from finding the appropriate record.
ARI has now confirmed that in some cases, multiple records existed
for a single animal and Maxxam couldn't find the DNA information
because it existed only in the third or fourth or fifth record
created for the same animal…,"
The ARI letter also pointed out that the ILR unilaterally changed
their billing practices once the ARI determined that it was in their
best interest to change service providers and they began padding
their bills with additional overhead charges. This billing dispute
created considerable additional problems for the ARI as evidenced
in an email from Jan Wassink dated January 4, 2004 when he said:
"I can not send you any more data updates until ILR bills are
paid in full – including future Maxxam processing bills."
This was at the exact time that the ARI needed a complete database
to allow them to continue processing their members' registrations.
The ARI attorney had this to say about the ILR's payment dispute:
"ILR had just issued a huge invoice to ARI on or about that day,
which the ARI Board had had no opportunity to review (which, in
fact, had not even been forwarded to the ARI Administrator's office
for review or payment.) Mr. Wassink apparently wanted ARI to pay
the bill immediately, without reviewing it, as he stated in the
e-mail: "The current ILR processing bill is relatively easy to
resolve – just have the ARI treasurer authorize payment." Mr.
Wassink had also indicated to ARI's Treasurer on or about this
same day that ILR would not be releasing ARI's final data until
ILR's final invoice was paid…,"
The ARI lawyer's letter to the ILR totaled nineteen pages and effectively
dealt with the thirteen allegations made by the ILR against the
ARI. It is clear from a thorough reading of the letter and related
documents that the ARI was not well served by their long-term contract
with the ILR. Furthermore, the ILR's conduct, after they were notified
that the ARI would not extend the contract, complicated the separation
and worked a hardship on the ARI members and the registration process.
The ARI has a long history of problems associated with the ILR's
management of the Alpaca Registry. For a complete review of this
history please read my article, 'The
Alpaca Registry and the International Llama Registry: A History'
in the library at www.Alpacas.com.
Libby Forstner
I would like to offer my view of Libby Forstner's contribution
as ARI board member and President. It is in sharp contrast to the
picture painted of her by Eric Hoffman in Llama Life II
and the recent article published in the MAPACA newsletter. Eric
is also a past President of the ARI, and the past policy positions
that he has taken put him at odds with Forstner's record of achievement
and this may, in part, explain his harsh criticism of her.
Libby Forstner was President of ARI when the membership passed
an amendment to the ARI Bylaws creating a requirement that any action
to reopen the Registry be put to a vote of the ARI membership. Hoffman
was the leading proponent of an open registry. Libby also led the
effort to foster communication and a positive relationship between
the ARI and AOBA by advocating and implementing the initiative to
publish the new industry newsletter, One Voice. Hoffman
has criticized the One Voice publication.
The issue of closing the Registry creates a particularly sharp
contrast of views between Libby and Eric. Libby campaigned on behalf
of closing the Registry and was critical of Eric's use of Registry
funds to oppose the initiative, which had broad support from the
ARI membership.
After Forstner became ARI President, she consolidated the membership's
instruction to the Board to close the Registry by proposing and
passing, by a membership vote, several Bylaw amendments, which made
it impossible to reopen the Registry without a democratic vote of
the ARI members. Libby also proposed and put to a vote, Bylaw amendments,
which made reciprocity (a form of opening the Registry) with other
alpaca registries subject to a vote of the membership. And, consistent
with her philosophy of making major Registry policies subject to
a membership vote, she proposed and put to a vote, the Bylaw provisions
that made artificial insemination, embryo transfer and cloning prohibited
methods of reproduction for Registry purposes.
Libby Forstner's term was marked by additional significant accomplishments
of which I list only a few:
- In 2002, the ARI balanced the budget for the first time in many
years.
- In a major democratic initiative, the ARI increased the Board
of Directors from 5 to 7 thereby increasing membership representation.
- Instituted the ARI move to online registration.
- Increased communication between the ARI/AOBA boards with initiatives
such as the Government and Industry Relations Committee.
In my opinion, Libby Forstner was one of the most positive and
productive presidents in ARI history. I think we need to thank Libby
for her tireless effort to make the ARI more democratic and more
responsive to the members' wishes. She deserves praise for her efforts
and the petty criticism of her term in office by Eric Hoffman should
be put in context of her overall outstanding contribution to the
alpaca community.
The ARI has weathered the rough seas of their final separation
from the ILR. Upon separating from the ILR, they retained Association
Management Group Inc., of McLean, Virginia as their management services
provider and Geneseek, of Lincoln, Nebraska, to provide DNA testing
services. The choice of Geneseek, proved to be a wise decision.
The decision to retain Association Management Group did not.
The 2004-2005, ARI Board of Directors, Floyd Romanik, Vice President,
Jack Armstrong, Treasurer, Curt Gedney, Secretary, and Shauna R.
Brummet, Ph.D., David Friedman, Jodi Wever, led by President Bill
Coleman, labored day and night to get the Registry operating smoothly
and correct the mess created by the ILR. In September of 2004, they
set up offices in Lincoln, Nebraska and hired the well-regarded
ex-AOBA President Gordon Anderson to be the executive director.
The Registry has completed the design of an improved registration
software program and they have stabilized their operations. The
years it took to free themselves of the ILR took their toll but
the Registry is once again operating smoothly. And it's free, free
at last.
Reproduced with permission from:
Alpaca
Breeding Farm: Northwest Alpacas: raising suri and
huacaya alpacas for sale, alpaca investment, and alpaca business
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