The National Association of Farm Broadcasting annual meeting is carrying on the 2016 trend for political drama.

At the end of September, the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) announced the unprecedented removal of the organization’s president-elect Tony St. James, citing “violations of the NAFB Commitment to Serve agreement.” Two weeks later, NAFB announced that Tom Steever, who has the distinction of being the longest serving president in recent NAFB history, was appointed to take the role of Vice President until the end of the year, even though the website says Steever is president-elect and Tom Cassidy is still vice president.

St. James sent a letter to NAFB members this week to provide his side of the story to members who elected him to the office of NAFB VP two years ago and president-elect last year. (pdf link to letter)

St. James says in this letter that a phone call he received from NAFB President Brian Winnekins on September 8th asking for his resignation due to a non-sexual harassment complaint “was the first indication that there was a problem.”

During the conversation he mentioned a possible conflict of interest violation and prior instances of behavior but with no details and no opportunity for me to respond. Since the charge was vague I did not resign but did ask for a written account of the accusation/allegation(s) being considered. Prior to this call, I had never been addressed personally by any President regarding my behavior and/or conduct.

St. James further maintains that he was “denied repeated requests for written accusation/allegation(s)” and not allowed an opportunity to defend himself or attempt conflict-resolution. As a result, St. James says the board’s actions have put NAFB “in a compromising situation” because NAFB is incorporated in the state of Tennessee and therefore operates under Tennessee State Code which “specifically prohibits the removal of a Board Member by any group other than the group who elected the individual.”

The NAFB board and officer elections will be held on Thursday afternoon. Max Armstrong and Gary Truitt will contend to be elected as 2017 NAFB president – without having served on the board immediately prior, which is again unprecedented. In his election profile on the NAFB website, Truitt says, “The organization is facing a crisis; the normally routine succession of leadership has been disrupted.”

It may not be a crisis, but it is a distraction that has already been the talk of the hallways here at the Westin in Kansas City. The reason why we are laying out this information here is because we are a trade publication for this industry and this is news. We are not trying to take sides or make anyone look bad. We are simply trying to report the facts as we understand them. If this is important to you and you want more than the rumor mill, we encourage you to read Tony’s whole letter, read the NAFB Commitment to Serve agreement, take a look at NAFB policy regarding Non-Performance by board members (article IV, part 7), and ask questions.