Statement regarding the meeting of the Board of the Czech Chamber of Architects on January 14, 2014

Dear colleagues,

Considering that the situation in which the chairman of the Czech Chamber of Architects was dismissed by the board, merely three months before the General Assembly, is unprecedented and the issued press release does not inform about the essence of the matter and the reasons, I took the liberty to write this statement. I admit that I am doing this also to respond collectively to the inquiries from the past few days.

Regarding the proceedings of the board meeting
At the beginning of the Czech Chamber of Architects board meeting on January 14, 2014, Pavel Hnilička asked the present employees of the ChA Office to leave the meeting room and turn off the recording device. He then called for my resignation, stating that if I did not resign, a group of board members had exactly enough votes to dismiss me, and that they did not have to state the reasons. I responded that I saw no reason to resign and considered this kind of pressure unacceptable. Such actions can additionally damage the ChA publicly. If this group can justify its actions, they must dismiss me in accordance with the Organizational, Procedural, and Electoral Rules of the ChA. Subsequently, I was dismissed in a secret ballot without proper justification.

I see the reasons for this entire event not only in the ambitions of some board members to control the Czech Chamber of Architects and the upcoming General Assembly of the ChA but primarily in the budget proposal, which was to be discussed and adopted at this board meeting. I perceive the pressure on the ChA budget at this moment as enormous and practically unscrupulous. In my opinion, the Czech Chamber of Architects is now trying to stretch itself too wide. Of course, there are many activities that the ChA could engage in, which could be beneficial, but it does not currently have sufficient financial resources for that. Therefore, it is necessary to seek priorities and compare them with the possibilities of the Czech Chamber of Architects.

Budget: we proposed expenses 1 million lower
In accordance with the principles currently in effect, we, together with the representative of the supervisory board Jan Drahozal, prepared a budget proposal for discussion, which had an expense side of 22,315,235 CZK (20,051,900 CZK without counting the costs of the CEC5 grant). We asked the director of the ChA Office to ensure that this proposal was included in the materials for the board meeting on January 14, 2014. However, something I consider completely incorrect happened. Our proposed expenses were not included in the materials, and a completely different budget proposal appeared in them (with expenses amounting to 23,420,477 CZK). I believe that members of the Chamber should now closely monitor the amount of the budget proposal that will be accepted by the board and how it will be justified at the April General Assembly.

At the General Assembly in 2012 in Brno, I clearly stated during my candidacy for the board what I considered to be my priorities: firstly, to calm the situation that arose in the board in 2011. My other priority was the frugality of the ChA and the streamlining of the Chamber's office functions. I was aware that I would have to take steps that would not be popular. Given that I received the second highest number of votes in the election to the board, I believe that I had and have a mandate from the members for these steps. (Quote from the audit conducted by NEXIA AP a.s.: "We believe that the wage costs of the Prague office are above average, especially in terms of the remuneration of certain job positions. In the aggregate, the annual gross wages of the Prague office amounted to 5.5 million CZK for the year 2011 for 11 employees. The figure listed for the Prague center in the financial report, i.e. 4.4 million CZK, is incomplete, as the costs of the Prague office staff are also included in other centers, especially the economic activity center.")

The costs of the ChA office have been decreased as follows:
2010        9,617,219 CZK
2011        9,518,875 CZK
2012        8,768,192 CZK
2013        8,028,630 CZK (expected fact according to the office's data)
As a result, the financial management of the Czech Chamber of Architects in 2012, after years of real losses, ended up in profit again. Now I hope that the management of the Chamber will again be profitable for the year 2013, even after the retroactive payment of bonuses approved by the board on January 14, 2014, and after the payment of taxes.

Financial results of the ChA after taxation:
2008        -294,345 CZK
2009        -1,502,147 CZK
2010        -413,101 CZK
2011        -343,842 CZK
2012        +671,224 CZK

- I believe that the Czech Chamber of Architects must focus on the core of its activities that it can ensure for its members (legislation, legal assistance, authorization, professional education, support for competitions) in the current unfavorable situation.
- The idea that the income side of the ChA budget will be unrealistically increased would be a path to destruction.

- The ChA cannot further increase the number of office employees; on the contrary, I believe that their number needs to be reduced.

- The position of the Chamber's secretary should not be recreated (besides the main reason that the ChA should be represented by architects elected by members) practically because the Chamber does not realistically have the funds for it.
- Chairpersons of working groups must be responsible for their activities and results, including meeting deadlines and financial limits. 
- The priorities of the ChA should be this year's completion (in cooperation with MMR and ČKAIT) of the Professional Standards and support for architectural competitions.

- The new visual style is not among the main priorities of the ChA; it should essentially be an addition, and the Chamber cannot spend another 450,000 CZK on its application. (PS for architecture promotion, chairman Petr Janda)
- The current delay in the work on the new website of more than a year is significant, and the results do not correspond to the time and resources expended.
- It is unacceptable that there is an increase in the financial demands of ChA publications (for example, the loss from the newly conceived yearbook is a record 160,000 CZK). At the same time, a significant decline in advertising revenue in the Chamber's materials has occurred.

- I believe that the Chamber cannot double the finances for the working group for foreign activities in 2014 - 445,000 CZK. (PS for foreign activities, chairman Josef Smutný)
- I am convinced that the costs of some working groups should be limited (PS for architecture promotion, PS for foreign activities, PS for grants).

- The Chamber can logically only organize those events for which it can realistically ensure financing.
The newly hired employees of the office are currently failing to secure funds and partners for the organization of even long-planned events.

- There should not be a cumulation of functions in different professional organizations (ChA, OA, NČA); I did not agree with the current board members of the ChA, Josef Smutný and Petr Janda, running for similar positions in the Community of Architects, as I see a conflict of interest in that.

- The rude and aggressive behavior of some board members towards employees and other architects (forcing them to leave the ChA) is destructive and unacceptable.

- Furthermore, I consider it extremely unfortunate that since 2011, people who have worked or are working for the Chamber have been intimidated and devalued, and the results of their work are denied. Discontinuity in operation can be destructive for any organization.

- I am grossly displeased with the constant squabbles, quarrels, and explicit hatred among architects (see the course of the General Assembly of the Community of Architects). Perhaps this state arises from our competitiveness and the effort to assert ourselves, or it may relate to the current state of society. In any case, it seems that even in the face of a clear threat to our profession, we have major problems pulling together in a proverbial unified manner.

Conclusion
I perceive the situation in the ChA over the last three years as extreme. Members have entered the board, among others, whose activities are (with relatively detailed knowledge of the matter, I think I can claim this) destructive and disintegrative. Over time, I understood from their practical steps that the main interest of some of them is primarily the power to control resources and narrow personal interests. In the board of the ChA, people with opinions different from mine have evidently prevailed, and I assume they should be able to clearly and non-evasive defend them at the upcoming General Assembly. The steps they are taking are unacceptable to me.

The manner of my dismissal personally affects me, but on the other hand, a considerable weight has fallen off my shoulders. I have not hidden the fact that I want to end my role as chairman at the upcoming ChA General Assembly, which will be held on April 26, 2014. I will continue to serve as a board member until the end of my term in April 2015.

I fear that the ChA is now sending rather poor signals outward, to its members, partners, and the public.

Thank you.

Best regards
                     Josef Panna                      

in Prague, January 17, 2014