Why I resigned from the Florida Progressive Coalition

Mon, 22 Mar 2010

I recently resigned from the Florida Progressive Coalition. While I have detailed reasons for leaving the group in my resignation letter to Kenneth Quinnell, I also feel it necessary to air some of the reasons in a public forum, here in my blog.

As one of the founding members of the FPC, it was a very difficult decision for me to resign from my position as a manager. I was actively involved in the development of the group for four years, and many of my suggestions were key in making the group as successful as we were.

As the technical consultant for the group, I spent a great deal of time and effort on projects that were not obvious to the general membership. Few others, beyond Kenneth, ever knew how many hours I spent to ensure that the blog and wiki remained functional, spam-free, and secure from hacking attempts. I learned a great deal about the platforms we relied upon, and I appreciated the challenges that I was presented with. I found the work to be intellectually rewarding and enjoyable. Very little of what I accomplished was publicly recognized, but a core group of people, (whom I respect greatly), were aware and appreciative of my efforts.

Whatever successes the FPC enjoyed, they were due to a relatively small group of content providers and active managers. Kenneth’s leadership was indispensable; Without Kenny, the FPC would never have been. Operating on a shoestring budget, the group created an incredible amount of content that was of great use to our audience. I think we did amazing work, considering the meager resources we had to work with. I am proud to have been a part of this noble effort, and humbled to have had the opportunity to work alongside this team of exceptional people.

I want to thank all the people who contributed to the Florida Progressive Coalition.

Yet, despite my admiration for the people I worked with, I decided that the time had come for me to move on. Real life concerns often interfere with our on-line lives, and it had become increasingly difficult for me to work with no renumeration. Other of the FPC managers had also found it hard to maintain sufficient engagement with the project to ensure its continued success. When Kenneth’s personal and professional life began to interfere with his ability to contribute material to the blog and erode his effectiveness in leading the group, we lost hard-gained momentum. The FPC was coasting to a halt.

Months ago, I tendered my resignation from FPC management, because family obligations were limiting the amount of time I could devote to the position. Kenneth declined to accept my resignation at that time, as he was willing to have me stay on despite my diminished ability to perform.

Because many of the managers were similarly distracted, there arose a couple of occasions where Kenneth felt pressed to make unitary decisions, when such matters should have required a consensus among the managers. I do not fault him for this, but I was left feeling that I had little power to shape policy within the organization.

The event that ultimately led to my resignation came in the form of a subpoena, where a demand was made for information regarding comments to a post at the FPC blog. I am a great believer in free speech, and I feel that the ability to blog or comment anonymously is essential to maintaining that freedom. I recall that many of the Founders of this great nation chose to write anonymously, and recognizing that tradition, I am persuaded that it was the intent of our Founders to protect such anonymity. I objected to any disclosure of information that might be used to expose the identity of the comment author.

However, my objection came too late. Rather than seeking legal advice on how we might object to such a subpoena under First Amendment protections, Kenneth had already supplied the information to the court, even before informing the managers that we had been served. Compounding this, though two weeks passed, he failed to reply to two emails regarding the matter, leaving me in the dark about his preemptive compliance with the subpoena. Only when I wrote a resignation letter did I receive a reply and an explanation of how he had handled the subpoena.

The FPC simply outed the authors of comments to its blog, without first asking for any legal advice. When presented with a First Amendment challenge, rather than stand up, it rolled over.

Kenneth didn’t know any better. He did not understand that the subpoena could be challenged.

In my view, the outing of an anonymous comment author is a cowardly and perfidious action. It is with shame and regret that I admit to being unable to stop this from happening.

I was left out-of-the-loop on this matter of great importance. I was not consulted. I lacked the authority required to exercise the responsibilities of management within the FPC. Therefore, for reasons of principle, I have chosen to distance myself from the organization and have resigned from its management.

I hold no ill will toward the FPC and I wish them success in their future endeavors, but they will have to continue without my not-inconsiderable help and guidance.

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