To the Editor:

Last night, Matt Katz, President of RIRA, deliberately and publicly prevented a Town Meeting, and thereby wrested authority from the residents, in order to institute a new RIRA Constitution solely by Common Council vote rather than by the vote of the community.

He did so, under strong vocal protest, by refusing to remain in the Chapel even until 8:15, and by refusing to count the attending residents again.  He had never called the Town Meeting to order, and people were moving around and coming through the doors as he spoke.  His supporters, many of them current Common Council members themselves, lingered outside in the plaza in order not to contribute to the quorum.

By his own count, Mr. Katz said there were “only” 96 people in the room when he ended the Town Meeting at around 8:10, saying that the required 100-person quorum had not been achieved.  A simultaneous count being made by two different people while he was speaking produced counts of 107 and 108 respectively.

I sincerely hope, Mr. Editor, that you will publish the picture you took of Mr. Katz scurrying out the door, head down, shoulders hunched, passing uncounted residents streaming inwards through the same door.

By his own rule, put in place in his very first Council meeting as President, Mr. Katz allows his Councilors a full half hour to get to regularly scheduled Council meetings.  One would think he would offer the residents at least half that time to arrive to vote on the complete restructuring of their own constitution.

But Mr. Katz continues to operate by his own rules, and they are a disgrace and a shame, both to him and to this community.

Common Council meetings are now suspended for the Council’s summer recess.  The residents should watch carefully that Mr. Katz does not now call some unpublished “emergency” Council meeting to ratify this new Constitution, which will prevent the residents from having a voice in the loss of their longstanding rights ever again.


 
To the Editor:

As a longtime resident of Roosevelt Island I am ashamed of, embarrassed for, and disappointed with the organization I have worked for and supported for many years.

For the last nine years I have been in attendance at no less than 90% of all Common Council meetings.  I cannot recall any instance of any President not waiting until a quorum was present.

Our current Common Council has not kept faith with our community.  How can we keep faith with our Common Council?


 
To the Editor:

As a 21-year resident of the Island, I thought I had seen everything until Tuesday night.
I remember when the Residents Association and its Council were a civil, respected, and listened-to organization – but that all changed Tuesday night.

Shame on Matthew Katz and his accomplices for failing to show any respect to their fellow residents and neighbors, for failing to live up to, and succeeding in living down to, everything I thought was wrong with how he runs the Council and the Residents Association.

Shame on him and the RIRA officers for not waiting for a suitable amount of time for a quorum to assemble.  Shame on them for continuing to fail to properly inform the community about the Town Meeting, believing that all it takes is the use of The WIRE — which by the way, is not the RIRA WIRE, but is the Island’s newspaper, which seems to have forgotten that it is not the official mouthpiece for the President of RIRA.

What an embarrassment – and it is Mr. Katz who should apologize to the community for treating his fellow Resident Association members and neighbors so disrespectfully and shamefully.  If you want change so badly, open the process, have an independently hosted and moderated debate, and stop trying to baffle us with BS and a whole lot of paper, and treat us with the respect you expect from us.


 
To the Editor:

Very few people were satisfied with Tuesday’s meeting to approve RIRA’s amended constitution.  Those not involved in the process may not understand why Matt Katz chose to follow the rules and at 8:10 p.m. declare that there was no quorum and therefore no meeting.

I imagine that most people don’t care what went on behind the scenes that caused this meeting to turn out the way it did.  I was on the committee that worked very hard to come up with the amended constitution, and I’m very anxious for the public to understand why we made the decisions we made.  I’ve been on the Common Council for several years, and I know the fine work being done by many of the members.  I know how much time and effort Matt Katz puts into this organization, and I would hate to see that tainted by the actions of a small group of people who were able to orchestrate a regrettable outcome to what could have been a terrific meeting.

Matthew is, above all else, fair.  Although he followed the rules the other night, people who wanted to understand the changes and give their opinions were not heard.  For that reason, several of us on the Council intend to recommend having another meeting that includes a debate of the issues, a time for comments, then a vote by the residents.

I want to make the point that the constitution does not call for this and, in fact, it allows Matthew to bring the issue right back to the Common Council, where it previously passed with more than 75% of the vote.

If a new meeting is scheduled, I urge anyone who wants to hear both sides of the issue to attend.


 
To the Editor:

RIRA held a Town Meeting last night and I attended with over 100 other residents.  The behavior of Matt Katz, the President of RIRA, and several council members, was disgraceful.

The purpose of the Town Meeting was to change the RIRA constitution, something Mr. Katz has been trying to do for almost four years.  At 8:00, when he realized that at least 100 residents would attend, he started counting, and at 8:07 he declared that there was not a quorum of 100 residents, called no meeting, and left.  Roberts Rules states that you should wait 10 to 15 minutes before starting any meeting.  Mr. Katz never called the meeting to order, and people were still coming in the doors as Mr. Katz was walking out of them.  Again, according to Roberts Rules, you must call a meeting to order before you take a count and declare there is no quorum.  Mr. Katz’s behavior reminds me of a small child who owns the bat and ball and when he is not allowed to play the position he wants, he takes his bat and ball and goes home so no one can play.  Well, Mr. Katz, the residents played.  We took a vote and guess what?  The residents voted against the changes to the constitution and remained for over an hour to voice their disgust for your behavior.

If not for Karen Stewart and I, very few residents would have even known about this meeting. You are required by the constitution of RIRA to post notices in every lobby informing the residents of the agenda, time and place of a Town Meeting; this was not done.  Except for The WIRE, the residents were not given a copy of the present and proposed changes so they could make an informed decision.  The only reason Mr. Katz put out a flyer was in response to the one put out by us urging the residents to attend and vote no.

Mr. Katz will say that I am not an elected member of the Common Council.  This is by choice. I found it non-productive and constantly went home with a headache after the meetings.  I am an active member of this community and have been since 1977.  I have not stopped working for the residents, and when my voice and time are needed, I respond.  For those of you who do not know me, I am very involved in St. Frances Cabrini Parish, am a board member of the Roosevelt Island Senior Association, and volunteer my time whenever asked.

This is America and the voice of the people count.  Mr. Katz, you need to listen.


 
To the Community:

Was Tuesday night really about the RIRA constitution, or was it a desperate attempt to derail it by those few who were going to lose their unelected seats on the Common Council, if this revised constitution were approved?

Karen and Patrick Stewart already lost the previous elections by finishing fifth and sixth on a list of six.  Their humiliation turned to revenge, and their victim became the community – us.

They managed to mobilize many by means of lies, fear, and manipulation.  Some attendees after the meeting admitted that they were told the meeting was about rent, some were told it was about the Island House and Westview takeover.  Most were provoked and were upset. They were a list of twisted lies and were told outright to vote “no,” believing that they were fighting for the truth, not knowing they have been played in an act of spite and self-interest.

Karen and Patrick Stewart attended all the committee meetings dealing with the constitutional changes.  They were involved and vocal, made suggestions and negotiated every step of the revisions.  They were part of the whole process, or maybe pretended to be.  How can one explain their turning around and stabbing their hard-working colleagues in the back, other than an act of hate toward RIRA, and contempt for the community?  Karen’s fliers under the doors are not a source of information.

Read the original documents, both the original and the revised, learn firsthand, and understand the improvements made.  Learn to appreciate the hard work and the many hours your elected delegates devoted to a long and demanding process.  Do not believe the out-of-context lies Karen put under your door.  Talk to your present representatives, get it straight from the source, and if you really care, volunteer yourself as a candidate in the coming RIRA elections this November.


 
To the Community:

In the post-mortem of Tuesday’s town meeting, I feel a mixture of regret and betrayal.  The opposition, led by Karen Stewart and Joan Christianson, made great efforts to rally people based on a mixture of half-truths and lies.

Roosevelt Island has real problems.  We have residents in Island House and Westview who are genuinely and legitimately afraid that they may not be able to afford to stay in their homes when the new owner gets control, we have a Pataki-appointed RIOC Board that cares only about selling off pieces of the Island for short-term gains, we have a chronic million-dollar deficit that stifles expenditure on even vital services, let alone amenities.  Public Safety is almost totally ineffective, Motorgate has a crime wave, and the elevators don’t work.  Our merchants can’t make enough to pay their rents, and our Youth Center can’t get two million dollars promised by our elected representatives because RIOC won’t find them the space for a permanent home.

In the midst of these and so many more legitimate concerns, these two people have chosen to devote themselves to “Keep Democracy in RIRA” by misrepresenting the efforts of your elected RIRA representatives to streamline the constitution and move the operational parts to bylaws.

Over the first months of this year, I led a committee of RIRA Council members in many lengthy meetings that succeeded in overhauling the Constitution so that it was understandable and would also permit RIRA the latitude to operate more freely to work for the community. The resulting product was approved by a 75% margin by the whole Common Council, and none of your elected representatives voted against it.

I came to this meeting prepared to sit next to RIRA President Matthew Katz, to calmly discuss the very legitimate concerns of the community, and to explain the rationale for the proposed changes.  However, I was really disconcerted by the really militant nature of the audience, particularly since none of the proposed changes in any way affect anybody’s well-being.  
I can understand why Matthew was anxious to leave the meeting as well, after he took two counts that failed to meet the necessary quorum.  You may not agree with his decision, but I hope you can understand it as well.

In written statements that were distributed and comments made by some of the speakers, this initiative was characterized as a power grab by a venal group of RIRA Council members.
This is simple paranoia.  These folks are your neighbors and (I hope) friends.  They volunteer in a community organization with no official power save the power to say they were elected by the residents and reflect the concerns of that community.  Many of them work at blood drives, sponsor social events, lobby politicians for our share of the pie, and hound RIOC to work in our best interests.  Matthew Katz is the most tireless of these volunteers, and he’s not getting wealth or power from his efforts.

I’d like to now explain why these changes will be helpful, to address the misconceptions, and to offer some suggestions that may defuse these issues.

I’ve been either observing or participating in RIRA for over five years, and I can tell you that it gets bogged down in two aspects – the constant need to “interpret” the constitution, which is unclear in so many areas, and the divisive and combative actions of several non-elected members whose voting membership in RIRA is granted by the old constitution.

Here are the highlights of what we recommended to the community:

We moved the following topics to bylaws, so that we don’t have to call a Town Meeting whenever they change:

• Added Southtown to the list of voting Districts, and set the number of seats to three.  (By putting district representation in the bylaws the Council can increase this number with a two-thirds vote as new buildings become occupied.)

• Require all voting members of the Common Council to have been either elected by residents, or allow vacancies to be filled by a set of clear rules.  (The old rules were confusing and inconsistent.)

• Permit non-voting appointees (such as an Auditor) to be added to the Council.

• Tightened up the rules on Motions by Mail – so we can respond to time-sensitive events without calling an emergency session of the Council.  (We added e-mail to the list of acceptable communications methods.)

• Permit representatives who move from one building to another to complete their two-year term.  (It’s hard enough to recruit and keep hard-working volunteers on the Common Council – see more below.)

• Clarified the rights and responsibilities of building representative alternates.  (These are the people that don’t win in the building elections.)

• Removed the requirement that checks less that $750 be co-signed by both the President and the Treasurer.  (In the interest of speed and convenience, checks haven’t been co-signed for many years, anyway.)

• Realigned the Committees to more evenly balance the workload.  (Public Safety has its own committee, for example.)

• Require that all committees meet at least three times a year.

• Added a provision that campaign rules be established by the Election Committee.  (Current rules are unfair and, in some cases, unenforceable.)

• Mandate that bylaws can only be changed by a two-thirds vote of the Common Council.

What remains unchanged in the Constitution are definitions of membership, requirements for elections, and rules for Town Meetings. We specifically added a stipulation that seats must be proportionally allocated.

Here’s how the flyer that Stewart/Christianson asked Housing Management to distribute has misrepresented the facts:

“Co-signing of all RIRA checks by the President and Treasurer has been removed.”

Not true – Checks over $750 must be co-signed.  This is in line with many community groups.  We get monthly statements, and no one in the committee saw a need to hold up the issuing of small checks for several days or more so that they can be co-signed.

“The requirement that all Council Members serve as members of at least one RIRA committee has been eliminated.”

Not true – that requirement is clearly stated.

“The mandate that RIRA president be RIRA’s appointee to the RIOC Board has been removed.”

True, but of course RIRA doesn’t make appointments to the RIOC Board.  The Governor makes seven and the Mayor makes two.  Neither RIRA nor the residents have a say in who these people pick.  I hope that the Government Relations Committee can convince the Mayor to abide by an Island election for his two picks, but that’s another matter.

“Resident members of Community Board 8 and School Board 2 have lost their seats.”

Also true – but resident RIOC and RICO members have also lost their seats.  That’s what makes this revised constitution more democratic – only your elected representatives can vote. If you don’t like the job they are doing, vote ‘em out.  RICO, the Roosevelt Island Council of Organizations, is a long-defunct organization that Karen Stewart inherited.  The current constitution permits her and another four individuals of her choosing to vote in RIRA matters. Whenever votes come up that Karen feels like blocking, she can show up at RIRA meetings with four of her friends and vote no.  To my knowledge, School Board 2 members have never appeared at RIRA meetings in recent history.  RIOC members have the real power in the community.  Do we really want them voting in RIRA on issues that concern our interaction with RIOC?  These folks, and others can, and are encouraged to come to RIRA meetings and share any expertise or opinions they may have on issues under discussion.

Although no vote was taken, perhaps this can be an opportunity to learn from what was said, and to rework the documents to allay the concerns of many of the attendees.

The single provision that several residents told me they don’t like is the one that allows a member who moves from one voting district to another to retain his seat for the remainer of their two-year term.  The committee adopted this provision because RIRA has, in the past few years, been forced to remove several very valued members from its Common Council.  As in any organization, some members are very hard to replace.  We didn’t want to penalize the organization any more, just because a council member moves 100 yards away.  However, since many residents don’t share this view, and believe that many important issues are building-specific, I will propose to the Common Council that they rewrite the bylaws to replace representatives who change buildings, in the same manner that they are replaced when other vacancies are created.  In this way, we can assure that each district is represented with the full number of votes that they deserve.  I suggest that, in order to keep the services of the person that moves, they remain on the council as an “at-large” representative for the remainder of their term.

Others were concerned that we were excluding RIOC, Community Board 8, and School Board 2 delegates.  I feel strongly that only individuals elected to RIRA should be allowed to vote, because we all need the ability to vote people out when we don’t like the job they are doing for us.  However, since these folks have much valuable insight that can be helpful in RIRA deliberations, I propose that they be asked to join in the deliberation, but refrain from participating in the voting.  In this way, I think we get the best of both worlds.

I really think that this RIRA term has been one of the most productive – Matt Katz’s efforts over many years helped us secure the MetroCard, communications with RIOC have been improved, we were able to exert enough pressure to restore normal Red Bus service, and civic events have been quite successful.  There is a huge amount more to be done – the constitutional reforms we are proposing simply allow us to serve the community more easily. You may disagree with one or two of the changes but, when viewed as whole, I hope you agree that it’s a significant improvement.


 
To the Editor:

Tuesday evening I was at the Chapel of the Good Shepherd for the Town Meeting vote on the proposed new RIRA constitution.

The meeting started about 8:00 p.m.  There was no call to order.  When there were only 96 persons at 8:12 (by his officers’ count, others counted more), Matt Katz, president of RIRA, adjourned the meeting.  By a minute or two later, by anybody’s count, there were more than the required 100 persons present, and the meeting could have started.  At 8:14 p.m. there were well over 100 persons, and Mr. Katz had left the auditorium.

It seems that the Islanders have been duped by a Residents Association that does not want the input of the residents it is supposed to represent.

The officers of RIRA walked out and left us to have an informational meeting on what representative democracy is.

A straw poll of the audience was taken.  There were only four votes for the revised constitution.

It is obvious that the new constitution was going to be voted down by a very large margin. Instead of facing defeat, the RIRA officers left the meeting. They will now vote in a new constitution at their meeting and feel very satisfied that they got their constitution.

They may soon be the only ones that care about their constitution since they refused to consider a true vote by the community.

It was one of the saddest days in our community’s history.  We have worked together and have been a real community for over 25 years.  RIRA has never been perfect but, tonight, RIRA was not the community, just a group of individuals out to get their way any way they could.


 
To the Editor:

In an effort to conserve WIRE space I will only make three statements to Matt Katz.

1. You were eager to debate when you ran for office and gave the impression that you believed in debate and fellow residents ideas and input.

2. This Island, with its thousands of residents, has always been the home of people who enthusiastically and excitedly sought open debate and open discussion.

3. Look at yourself in the mirror, apologize to yourself, apologize for disgracing the Chapel by your act of deception inside the Church (your sins will be forgiven), and rejoin and debate with the community.


 
To the Editor:

I got a call after the Town Meeting ended Tuesday night from a Westview neighbor, excoriating “you” (meaning Matthew Katz, my husband and President of RIRA [and all of RIRA?]) about the undemocratic methods used when the meeting was adjourned.  I responded that the RIRA Town Meeting agenda was posted on kiosks repeatedly for 30 days, as required.  It was replaced several times after the initial posting.  Some copies were still up as of the meeting.  Even the Stewarts’ flyer and incorrect “informational” postings gave the time. The complete text of the revised Constitution and the by-laws was posted in The WIRE with the date and time of the meeting.  This was an important enough meeting that RIRA felt that those interested should and would be on time.  Matthew waited ten minutes, convened the meeting, and asked for the attendance count.  He did two, although Robert’s Rules explicitly says to do the count once and if there’s no quorum, adjourn the meeting.  Common Council meetings are scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m.; we start by 8:10 p.m.  This is a discipline to which the membership has become accustomed.

I am curious how many of the attendees among those so angry at last night’s events sought out their democratically elected building representatives’ counsel on the old and revised version of the Constitution and its bylaws, prior to this meeting?  How many residents relied instead, on the Stewarts’ and Joan Christianson’s misleading questions and incorrect information?  Remember, none of these folks are your elected representatives.  And the Stewarts sat on the Constitutional Committee, helping to mold the finished document presented to the Common Council.  Residents, it seems, never thought to ask Matthew directly, or engage his/her own building representatives in any kind of discussion on the issue. I received no prior call from last night’s neighbor, nor any others, and as far as I know, neither did my fellow Westview representatives, nor any of my colleagues in other buildings. Whassup?

Speaking of democracy, please avail yourselves of this opportunity, nay, responsibility, to question your representatives about these large and even the smaller issues.  If we don’t know the answer, we’ll surely do our best to get you one.  I am truly puzzled why residents listened only to and followed along with someone not elected by building constituencies, without at least going to their own elected reps for confirmation or correction of the information given out.  Remember that Ms. Stewart, incidentally, came in seventh in a field of seven in her own building when she last chose to run for RIRA in 2000.

Democracy is a participatory project; you really ought not allow others to do all your thinking and questioning for you.  And shame on those who completely misrepresented the revised and updated documents and their changes, and who would then tell you how to vote.


 
To the Community and Editor:

During Tuesday evening’s Town Hall meeting, a running theme was how wrong it is for someone to keep his or her seat when moving from one building to another.  I have a unique perspective on this because I moved twice while on the Council.  I would like you to hear another point of view.

After living in Eastwood for 16 years, I moved into Island House and lost my seat on the Council.  What I discovered was that people in Island House did not understand many of the issues of Eastwood, and I was able to share with them what I thought the issues were, and why I thought it important for all buildings to support one another.

When I got on the Council as an Island House representative, it did not mean that I no longer cared about Eastwood or its issues.  In fact, I find one of the problems on this Island is that many people only care about their building and not the community as a whole.  When I moved into Rivercross last year, that didn’t mean that I no longer cared about the issues of Island House or Eastwood.

My point is, we should all be supporting each other, and in fact at RIRA meetings, in the seven years I have been on the Council, it has never been necessary to vote on a building-specific issue.

Most Island residents don’t have the time or inclination to devote to RIRA affairs.  Therefore, to lose a willing and experienced member simply because s/he changes her/his address does not make sense.  Let’s get real:  We are only talking about service to the end of someone’s two-year term.

I can’t help but think that people are using this perceived inequity for their own political agenda and have persuaded others to be against the Constitution because of this one non-issue.


 
To the Editor:

At my husband Bernie’s memorial service in Manhattan Park in January, in one-degree weather, the unity of this community was something that should have been bottled and sold. How sad that Tuesday night’s meeting shattered that bottle of love!

I attended last night’s meeting for the purpose of trying to obtain an explanation of 1) why the existing RIRA constitution was being replaced, and 2) whether the organization itself was being replaced.

I wanted answers and a forum to help me to decide whether or not this was actually going to happen.  I am appalled at the tone and tenor or last night’s meeting.  Whether or not it was the intent of the leadership to “pull something,” nevertheless that’s the perception of the community.  As I said in my opening sentence, I want to see the unity and love in this community once again.

A constitution serves as the infrastructure for governing an organization.  It is simply, emulating our nation’s constitution, an instrument which states the mission, charter and overall guiding principles which govern/guide that organization.  If a constitution has flaws which render the governance of an organization unworkable or if those principles are out-of-tune with the times, then the constitution can and should be amended, not replaced!  Further, the processes and procedures for implementing the charter and mission of the organization should be clearly stated in the organization’s bylaws.  We may find fault with many of the provisions of the U.S. Constitution, but that’s why we have amendments and a Supreme Court.  After all, the original Constitution didn’t provide for me as a woman to vote, but that was remedied by an amendment.  So, that the current RIRA constitution is a troubled or anachronatic instrument is not a surprise.  As Nneka Pope eloquently stated at the Tuesday meeting, the constitution is a “living, breathing organism,” and as such can change and grow, just as our national and state constitutions grow.  In effect, RIRA was trying to dissolve itself and form a new organization, which I believe would have required a vote by all of the residents.  I don’t think that the Common Council had in mind to do something illegal, but that’s what the effect would have been accomplished by replacing a constitution.

Matt, you have been a dear friend to our family, as have the Stewarts and Christiansons.  It breaks my heart to see the divisiveness which has been created by this faux pas ... and I hope that when the excitement abates, everyone will accept that it was a faux pas!  After all, this was about ideas and processes, not life and death.  Unlike Bernie’s demise to cancer, this can be fixed ... and I urge everyone to fix it.

Matt, I acknowledge how hard and tirelessly you have worked for this community, hope that you will continue to serve, and call upon you to right this dreadful situation.  I know you are not an evil person, and I think you can “fix” it by taking the following steps:

1. Write a letter of apology to the community about last night’s fiasco, both to clarify the misunderstanding of why and how RIRA wants/needs the constitution changed and why you left; you will then gain unprecedented respect from everyone in this community.  I don’t think we all understand why the changes are needed.  In other words, as my kids say, “drop back and punt.”  You have worked so hard for this community, and I know you are a truly magnaminous person.

2. Schedule and publicize a meeting of the community to discuss, clarify, and debate the changes.  Recuse yourself from leading that meeting, so as to provide a mechanism for healing last night’s wounds; that will demonstrate to this community that you are clearly above and beyond reproach.

3. Ask that the “opposition” select a leader to act as a co-chair of the meeting together with a RIRA Common Council member, so that it does not deteriorate into a public bashing, but instead creates a climate where this community can focus on the instruments which serve our needs.  Have the designated RIRA leader work with the “opposition” leader in advance to provide a mechanism to ensure that the meeting does not deteriorate into a bashing.

4. Provide The Main Street WIRE with a synopsis of each RIRA Common Council meeting, such as the Rivercross board provides to its shareholders.  That way we would have complete communication without breaking the budget of the WIRE.  Further, arrange with the Island branch of the New York Public Library and the Roosevelt Island website to publish the complete minutes of each meeting, and let the community know where and when we can see those minutes in a reasonably timely manner after each meeting.  This shouldn’t be difficult, as RIRA has a recording secretary ... and in any organization, it is the recording secretary’s job to record and produce meeting minutes.  I think part of the issue and reason for so much rancor is that we have no clue as to what went on to make RIRA want to do a new constituion.  We desperately need a forum to ask those questions, and a little time to digest and discuss the information.  Just publishing old and new versions of the constitution doesn’t do it for most of us.

5. To underscore your commitment to democracy which I know is very important to you, make very clear the need to observe Roberts’ Rules at that and every other community, town hall, and council meeting.  They were written for a reason.  Had those rules been followed, the passions of last night would not have surfaced and been allowed to derail the fine work of our residents association under your leadership.

I appeal to all my friends and neighbors to get past the events of Tuesday night and move forward to ensure that we continue to achieve harmony in this glorious community.  We should not have to see that spirit only at funerals.  I don’t want to see the next and only unified community meeting at someone’s memorial ... and Bernie would not have wanted that either!


 
To the Editor:

At the Town Meeting Tuesday night, the president of RIRA sacrificed his public reputation and political future to win a battle over the RIRA Constitution.  If the president allows the proposed changes to be enacted against the wishes of the residents, the changes are likely to be undone soon after the November RIRA election.  The president may still be able to salvage both his reputation and his desired improvement to the Constitution.

The Constitution would indeed benefit from being split as proposed into a Constitution that expresses principles and bylaws with details.  Working toward consensus now on the disputed issues would benefit the community as well as the individuals involved.