Breaking News: CLC Exploring Merger

Important Message from Crater Lake Council Board President Bill Anderson 

 

 

Thank you for your dedication and leadership for the benefit of youth in the Crater Lake Council. Here is a brief update on current issues and opportunities being addressed by the Crater Lake Council Board.

 

 

As you have experienced, it has been a difficult few years, and Scouting has felt the impact. As with virtually all councils within BSA, the exit of the LDS units, the pandemic, and the legal settlement have hit our local council hard. In response, we have had to reduce staffing, eliminate services, stop BSA summer camp, and liquidate a great number of assets. In addition, the Crater Lake Council is currently without a Council Executive.

 

The resiliency of our leaders and their commitment to youth in the council have been enough up to this point to keep Scouting alive and our council afloat. As the Board of the Crater Lake Council, we know that we need to do much more than just survive. Our Scouting youth deserve to have a thriving, stable and growing Scouting organization.

 

Given the current challenges faced by the Crater Lake Council, the need to have support restored to units, and the vacancy created by the exit of the CLC Scout Executive, the Council Board has determined that we should explore the potential opportunity of a merger with the Oregon Trail Council.

 

 

Inquiry and diligence in this effort will begin shortly and is expected to take three to six months to complete. To fully represent our Scouting units, a selection of volunteers across the Council and Order of the Arrow Lodge leadership will participate in the process. If it is determined that a merger would be the best path to benefit Scouts and Scouting programs in both Councils, it will require approval from the majority of Council voting delegates. Prior to a vote, Council officials will hold fireside meetings throughout the regions to answer questions and receive feedback.

 

 

In the meantime, the most important part of the Council is your Scouting unit. Working with you, the remaining Council staff and volunteers will continue to be available, and programs and camps will go on as usual.

 

 

There are a lot of positives happening in the Council. The potential merger may very well be the best path toward a stronger, more stable, and sustainable future for both Crater Lake and Oregon Trail Councils. As we move forward and explore our options, we would very much value and appreciate your ideas and assistance in achieving sustainable operations and services for our members. If you’re not sure how you can help, just ask.

 

 

Great Scouting experiences are being accomplished because of your involvement. I thank you for your continued commitment to delivering the Scouting program to the youth in all our communities.

 

 

The Scout office in Central Point, Unit Commissioners and the Crater Lake Council Board are in place just as they have been. Please reach out to any of these resources as you find necessary.

 

 

Yours in Scouting,

Bill Anderson, Council President

Merger FAQs

Both Councils are considering the issues, pros, and cons of a merger. Oregon Trail was approached with the concept; OTC is not instigating a “hostile takeover” as has been rumored.

Currently, we are sharing information with Oregon Trail on our properties, as they are sharing the same information on their properties. A decision would be made by the newly combined Councils at a later date to determine if it makes sense to keep all properties that would be part of a new council. Some of the properties have specific restrictions on use or lease terms, and all of that will need to be factored in.

As a unit volunteer, our expectations with a merger is the opportunity to reallocate some of our assets to add more District Executives to the field. This means more professionals to help best serve all the units, the Scouting program and the larger community. Our focus will continue to be high quality customer service to our units, so you may continue to share the best Scouting program to our youth.

The number of active Scouts combined would be closer to a feasible number to continue to conduct a Council to best serve youth in our programs. We have duplicated overhead such as Executive leadership and back office functions. One idea is to reallocate resources to better serve units. This may include having more Scouting professionals in the field to better serve our existing and new units.

The reallocation of staff resources would best fit our needs of the units we serve. Higher quality customer service would be feasible with more staff to help spread the workload to a more manageable level. It could also give all our volunteers better access to services such as promotional materials, scout shops, council and district activities, and trainings.
A consideration is to put staff in each of the major areas we serve. Having a local Scouting professional helps with quality customer service, including better service to our existing units and helping create new units where Scouting is not locally available. Having more support staff will help volunteers better direct their questions to the right person and get prompt answers.
BSA allows one lodge per Council. A merger of the two Councils would necessitate the merger of the Lodges into one.
A merged council offers the opportunity to participate in other events that may not have originally been on our council radar. It also means additional people resources to help support additional events, from promotion and set up to running the event.
In any company, communication is key and constantly something that needs to be worked on. The potential to reallocate funds to put more Scouting professionals in the major communities will increase the opportunity for more units to engage in a positive manner with representatives of the council office, which in turns is better customer service to our units to make sure they have the needed support to make their Scouting program run. Having a larger support staff could also enhance the experience of the volunteers and get needed answers quicker than what is currently being experienced.
The Crater Lake Council and the Oregon Trail Council potential merger would be mutually beneficial. Both councils are similar in membership numbers. Merging as partners would get rid of some redundancy in resources and give us a chance to reallocate funds to better support our local Scout volunteers and units, including the hiring of more District Executives to serve our local communities. Having more support staff could also mean higher quality customer service because the workload would be split more evenly among more employees.

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