Editorials & Other Articles

Thing about the chair is that at no point was the chair the end all and be all of the board's authority, with the board meeting from time to time to discuss sports or good restaurants locally while drinking a mug of beer or glass of wine and playing bridge or poker or mahjong or checkers.

Usually the chair implemented policies that the board had seen a couple of times, discussed, possibly amended, heard reports on, debated, and approved. (And when the board arrogated too much authority and exceeded what was approved or refused to implement what was approved, consequences followed so either the chair came into closer compliance or found a differently positioned seat at the table.)

Then again, maybe the USPS chair and bylaws really do stipulate that the chair is liege and lord and the board is basically there to keep him company a few times a year.