Four members have quit the Free Speech Coalition board of directors, and one of them says the timing wasn't coincidental.
Steve Hirsch, Christian Mann, Michael Warner, and Steve Orenstein handed in letters of resignation Tuesday. "Clearly," Mann tells Gene Ross, "the four of us are on a friendly basis."
But Mann says a number of factors led him to resign, mostly to do with his family and business commitments. "I feel I've let the board and the Coalition, in general, down by not being able to follow through on many of the projects that I thought to do for the board," he tells Ross. "After three years I've lost my intensity, and my feeling of direction and purpose on the board."
Hirsch, Warner, and Orenstein cited similar reasons for their resignations. "It's one thing to go to one meeting a month. It's another ball of wax to devote some hours outside of the board meeting to effect (sic) a good change," Mann says.
He says they still believe in Free Speech Coalition, but the group needs some fresh blood, according to Ross. Mann says most important is the coalition's going about the business "of getting their executive director in place so they can focus on the big picture" - including issues like Internet growth.
"If they can veer back to that mission," Mann says, "I think the Coalition will only grow and have a more important role in the industry."
