Hi all

First of all, thanks to all of you who have been writing so eloquently--on
both sides--of the ILCA ballot bit. I must admit that when I first received
the ballot and scanned through it, my reaction was, "ho hum." Not only have
these discussions made me realize what is or is not being voted on, but
they've also made me realize that those bylaws have a profound effect on how
ILCA is run and how it is perceived by others. Had this discussion not gone
on here, I probably would have blindly voted "yes" to everything--or worse,
not voted at all.

I know that the BOD folks have said repeatedly that removing the statement
about not supporting the formula companies from the bylaws is just because
it will be in the policy manuals and is not needed in the bylaws per se.
However, this seems to be such a cornerstone issue and representative of so
much of what ILCA is about that it deserves to be on every official document
put out by ILCA, whether it is technically "needed" or not.

The ballot can have little meaning at this point. There will be many who
have not heard any of this important discussion who will do as I nearly did,
and blindly vote yes, or just throw out the ballot and not bother at all.
There will be many who will vote no to everything simply because they've
heard all this discussion and want to make "a statement" against the way
this has been handled (regardless of what intentions there may or may not be
behind it), and there will be others who will vote yes for some and no for
others based on whatever reasons they have. To compare all these votes is a
little like the research studies that lump the baby who's had two
breastfeedings with the baby who weaned at 2 months with the baby who nursed
exclusively for 6 months and calling them all "breastfed."

Perhaps there could be a better place than Lactnet for these discussions,
but it isn't in place, and certainly doesn't help the folks who don't know
about it. And given that there have been numerous posts on both sides of
this issue from the entire range of experience with ILCA and the profession
and from around the world, I would be willing to believe that this
constitutes a representative sample of ILCA members. As such, there has
certainly been enough questions raised about the ballot for the BOD to take
note and start over.

I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that this was NOT some
underhanded plot to undermine the very structure of ILCA, and I can
appreciate the fact that to throw this ballot out could be costly in terms
of time and money. To not do so, however, could be costly in something far
more important than either of those things.

We have too much work to do in this world for in-fighting.

Melissa Vickers, IBCLC and ILCA member
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