Don't Be Nice?
by Dr. P-J
8/7/25
8/7/25
Over ten years ago, I was both the chair AND secretary on the board of Jobs with Justice (JwJ) in Eugene and it was hard to get and keep board members. I was also the only staff member, paid a pittance. $11K for that one year I was paid staff.
Two members who seemed crazy to me kept saying they wanted off the board and I encouraged them to stay. I was really nice . . . very supportive. This was such a mistake.
Since joining as a volunteer, then a board member, then paid staff, I had corrected six years of non-payment and/or lack of documentation to the IRS, Workman's Compensation, the State of Oregon, and assorted creditors, which would have certainly caused the dissolution of the organization and which took me about a year to resolve.
And the board knew it. And they were oh so grateful until they saw that I had turned my attention to fund raising . . .
That is when my decision to encourage those two mentally challenged board members to stay on really blew up in my face, as one of them started sabotaging me to other board members. I foolishly did not call that person out, did not start my OWN whisper campaign to the other board members and supportive institutions . . .
At my final board meeting, the saboteur went public with their attack on me, waving the by-laws around (you know, the by-laws registered with the state for not-for-profit corporation?) saying it was just words on paper and not meaningful to our mission, and the other mentally unstable individual argued strenuously that I was not worthy of a living wage. I had outlined a plan where I could do enough fundraising to make more than minimum wage as staff . . . They wanted me to do that fundraising and then give it to them to dispense . . . for stuff like scholarships, don't cha know. So, my allies stayed silent while the nutty ones ruled the meeting and their attacks on me as undeserving settled on my soul like tumor. I resigned then and there; it took me three months to help/force them to get my name off the state and JwJ legal documents.
So, this was the main reason I left Eugene for the East Coast. There were two other important reasons, but had I been respected and valued by Eugene JwJ I would have stayed. I thought I was going to have a career there - supporting unions in organizing, negotiations, and strikes. But this was not to be.
I learned an important life lesson about being nice . . . but I went on to better things – organized demonstrations in Fredericksburg, Virginia, became a board member for the Fredericksburg Democratic Committee, was elected to serve as a delegate for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 and 2020 Democratic National Conventions, became a public intellectual on the internet along the way, and made life-long friends in the process.
The lord works in mysterious ways, her wonders to perform.
Dr. P-J
Two members who seemed crazy to me kept saying they wanted off the board and I encouraged them to stay. I was really nice . . . very supportive. This was such a mistake.
Since joining as a volunteer, then a board member, then paid staff, I had corrected six years of non-payment and/or lack of documentation to the IRS, Workman's Compensation, the State of Oregon, and assorted creditors, which would have certainly caused the dissolution of the organization and which took me about a year to resolve.
And the board knew it. And they were oh so grateful until they saw that I had turned my attention to fund raising . . .
That is when my decision to encourage those two mentally challenged board members to stay on really blew up in my face, as one of them started sabotaging me to other board members. I foolishly did not call that person out, did not start my OWN whisper campaign to the other board members and supportive institutions . . .
At my final board meeting, the saboteur went public with their attack on me, waving the by-laws around (you know, the by-laws registered with the state for not-for-profit corporation?) saying it was just words on paper and not meaningful to our mission, and the other mentally unstable individual argued strenuously that I was not worthy of a living wage. I had outlined a plan where I could do enough fundraising to make more than minimum wage as staff . . . They wanted me to do that fundraising and then give it to them to dispense . . . for stuff like scholarships, don't cha know. So, my allies stayed silent while the nutty ones ruled the meeting and their attacks on me as undeserving settled on my soul like tumor. I resigned then and there; it took me three months to help/force them to get my name off the state and JwJ legal documents.
So, this was the main reason I left Eugene for the East Coast. There were two other important reasons, but had I been respected and valued by Eugene JwJ I would have stayed. I thought I was going to have a career there - supporting unions in organizing, negotiations, and strikes. But this was not to be.
I learned an important life lesson about being nice . . . but I went on to better things – organized demonstrations in Fredericksburg, Virginia, became a board member for the Fredericksburg Democratic Committee, was elected to serve as a delegate for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 and 2020 Democratic National Conventions, became a public intellectual on the internet along the way, and made life-long friends in the process.
The lord works in mysterious ways, her wonders to perform.
Dr. P-J
