both jan-carel and gene make excellent points. Personal integrity IS verrrrry important. You have to do what you feel is right. I just don't blame Cindy a bit for stepping down. She said in this thread she felt like she had to compromise her values and her friendships and had to put her own personal feelings aside for the "betterment" of this community. i certainly understand why you are stepping down, Cindy. I don't consider Cindy to be "unprofessional" either. She treats people with kindness, gentleness, and fairness. And she speaks her mind. I'm glad she does. What Gene said about Cindy: "Cindy has been a mentor and guide for the majority of photographers since their first day on r'osity. She is the one person who has made this a positive experience for all of us. Most importantly, she has earned our respect and love with hard work and dedication." ...well, it's absolutely true! As i said in another thread, volunteers are verrrrry special. I was a volunteer most of my life. Also, at one job, i overseed our volunteer activities. The most important thing is to always remind volunteers of how special they are...because they ARE. People who give freely of their time to help others without expecting a dime in return need a LOT of pats on the back and encouragement. I do wonder how much support and encouragement Cindy has been given. Michelle, Misha, and Cindy, have now all gone and i'm just terribly, terribly sad about it. The high turnover of staff here in the forum says something. my opinion is we should be allowed to express our opinions and talk about things openly. i think an open forum is all about, well...openness. and i think it's a shame when paid and unpaid staff can't say how they feel if they might have something "negative" to say about the group. If Cindy or other staff (paid or unpaid) sees problems in the forum or elsewhere in RR, well, i just don't understand why it's considered "unprofessional" to talk about the problems they see, and talk about it publically. When you communicate openly, then if there are problems within the system, well, that open communication is one way to solve the problems. I believe that people in leadership positions should encourage open discussion. But sadly, it seems like just about everywhere you go, expressing a "dissenting" opinion is not encouraged. sigh this whole thing just makes me really sad and disappointed. i guess that's all i have to say for now. hugz Cindy!