Last week I outlined the mission of the SouthShore Roundtable and the basis for holding membership. If you missed last week’s column, you can access it by visiting http://www.observernews.net/archive/101603/voice.html

The first level of involvement in the SouthShore Roundtable is to volunteer to serve as your community and/or category representative and voting member, as described in last week’s column.

A three member nominating committee is appointed and conducts interviews and recommends persons to serve as SouthShore Roundtable officers. Nominations may also be made from the floor at the annual meeting. Each officer is elected by the voting members.

The officers of the Roundtable include the chairman, vice-chairman, secretary, treasurer, immediate past chairman, chairman of the membership committee, chairman of the issues committee and any other Ad Hoc Chairman, as may be designated by the current chairman or a 3/5 vote by the voting membership.

During the five years of its existence, the Roundtable has proven that each SouthShore community can accomplish more by joining forces with other SouthShore communities, than any one community can accomplish by themselves. The SouthShore Government Services Center and the SouthShore Regional Library are two examples of successful SouthShore Roundtable projects.

Despite the many successes of the SouthShore Roundtable, it is my opinion that it is in need of the following if it is to continue to serve the needs of the SouthShore communities:

• Each SouthShore community must increase their participation in the Roundtable by designating a voting member and an alternate who will attend all scheduled meetings and actively serve on committees so the voice of their community will be heard. This voting member is then responsible for reporting on the activities of the Roundtable to their respective communities.

• A strong chairman with demonstrated management and leadership skills must be elected and be provided with an opportunity to put together a team of officers and chairmen who will allow themselves to be directed by the chairman.

• A renewed effort should be made to reach out to the community to encourage new SouthShore citizens to volunteer to serve on the Roundtable.

• The TEAM (Together Everyone Accomplishes More) approach to conducting the business of the Roundtable should be used, rather than placing an excessive reliance on the chairman to perform the work of the Roundtable. Again, members of the team should support and be willing to accept direction from the chairman.

• Conduct a thorough review of current and proposed future Roundtable issues, placing an emphasis on regional SouthShore issues. Establish priorities and get in step with the description and defined purpose of the issues committee, as outlined in the Roundtable bylaws.

You are invited to attend tomorrow SouthShore Roundtable meeting at Sun City Center’s Town Hall Complex, in the Caper Room at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 24.

Finally, I’ve been selected to serve as a member of the three-member Roundtable nominating committee and would like to hear from you if you are interested in serving on the Roundtable during the coming year. Also, if you have someone to nominate or require additional information, please give me a phone call at 813-273-8976.

Send letters to: THE VOICE of SouthShore, P.O. Box 476, Ruskin, FL 33575-0476. Phone: 813-273-8976.