Talk:Bob McDonald (businessman)/Archive 2

Some Proposed Changes
Here is an updated image to place on the left hand side of the article under U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs area thumb|Robert A. McDonald Portrait UnveilingTsmith47 (talk) 21:25, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

Reply 6-JAN-2020
Spintendo 21:59, 6 January 2020 (UTC)
 * Thank you.Tsmith47 (talk) 19:07, 7 January 2020 (UTC)

Some Proposed Changes
The following changes are being proposed for the Personal Life section of the article.

McDonalds's family foundation, the Robert A. and Diane J. McDonald Family Foundation, has provided matching dollars to Main Street Ventures for The Wendy S. Lea Female Founder Grant that helps to support first-time female business founders. Tsmith47 (talk) 18:34, 4 February 2020 (UTC)

Information about the operation of this Foundation would be germane to an article on the Foundation itself. Regards, Spintendo  18:55, 4 February 2020 (UTC)

Some Proposed Changes
I am proposing the creation of a new section for the article titled Outside Interests. The goal of the section will be to better organize the charitable pursuits and board memberships of the subject. The content below has been harvested from the Career and Personal Life sections, and if approved, would be migrated from those sections into the Outside Interests section:

McDonald is on the boards of RallyPoint, Quotient Technology, and Partnership for Public Service. McDonald is the founder of the McDonald Conference for Leaders of Character.

In 2014 McDonald led a community-based task force to help the city of Cincinnati renovate its Museum Center. As a result of this work, the Hamilton County Commissioners added a tax levy known as Issue 8 to the ballot in the fall of 2014 which passed, adding an additional sales tax to assist in paying for the renovations.

McDonald donated a statue of General Ulysses S. Grant that was unveiled on April 25, 2019 on The Plain at West Point. Tsmith47 (talk) 18:09, 17 February 2020 (UTC)


 * It is not clear what is meant by Outside interests, as philosophically speaking, there is nothing "outside" of the individual person. As the Career section best denotes work done for profit/influence gained by/for the self or others, that section is currently the most accurate place for this information. Regards, Spintendo  18:19, 17 February 2020 (UTC)


 * Absolutely oppose the creation of an outside interests section. This is not social media. Mr. McDonald can put an outside interests section on his linkedin, if he likes. Honestly, this is getting ridiculous. --valereee (talk) 20:34, 17 February 2020 (UTC)


 * The intent of this suggestion was not to misalign the article content. Rather, other subjects have this section in the article along with the same type of content being proposed on this talk page.  A good example is the article for David S. Taylor where the extensive board positions of the subject are cited.  Please reconsider the proposed changes for inclusion in this article.  Thank you for your time.Tsmith47 (talk) 14:30, 19 February 2020 (UTC)
 * I have provided the reasoning for why the Career section (where part of the information is currently placed) is the best place for this information. If you'd like for me to move the board positions out of the Personal section and into the Career section, then please advise — but as far as a newer section, this should not be created. With regards to the types of sections used by the Taylor article, WP:OSE applies. Regards, Spintendo  15:55, 19 February 2020 (UTC)
 * Thank you for the re-consideration. If it is not possible to place requested content in a new section because of WP:OSE then let's leave it where it is with the opportunity to build upon.Tsmith47 (talk) 18:30, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

Some Proposed Changes
I am proposing the addition of one new sentence to the very end of the last paragraph under U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs:

One of McDonald's first decisions in September 2014 was to increase salaries for physicians and dentists to close the pay gap with the private sector and to make VA an employer of choice. McDonald personally visited several medical schools to recruit new medical personnel in the early months of his tenure at VA. As of June 2015, VA had increased onboard staff by more 12,000 including over 1,000 physicians, 2,700 nurses, and 4,600 other select critical occupations. McDonald also supported plans to build new housing for disabled and elderly veterans, and, for female veterans with children. .Tsmith47 (talk) 17:00, 27 February 2020 (UTC)

Reply 27-FEB-2020
Regards, Spintendo  19:00, 27 February 2020 (UTC)
 * The first claims referenced by the Washington Post are vague by not stating how and in what way McDonalds decision to increase salaries made VA an employer of choice, whom that point was made to, nor how many of those individuals eventually made the VA an "employer of choice".
 * The claims regarding the personal visits to medical schools are not referenced by reliable, independent, secondary sources.
 * The claim regarding "supporting plans" referenced by the New York Times is vague, in that how and in what way the support was given to those plans has not been stated.

Some Proposed Changes
I am proposing the addition of the following content to the very end of the last paragraph under U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs section:

McDonald also supported plans to build new housing for disabled and elderly veterans, and, for female veterans with children by detailing the actionable steps that would be taken by the VA in the Veterans Homeless Strategic Action Plan, and, by facilitating the Principles for a Partnership and Framework for Settlement that allowed steps of the Veterans Homeless Strategic Plan into action.Tsmith47 (talk) 16:03, 2 March 2020 (UTC)

Reply 2-MAR-2020
Regards, Spintendo  16:36, 2 March 2020 (UTC)
 * 1) Please state how and in what way the subject detailed the actionable steps that would be taken by the VA in the Veterans Homeless Strategic Action Plan, including the explanation of what it was, about that detailing, which allowed the action plan to proceed.
 * 2) Please state how and in what way the subject facilitated the Principles for a Partnership and Framework for Settlement, including what it was, about that facilitation, which allowed the taking of steps placing the Veterans Homeless Strategic Plan into action.


 * Please let me know if the following will suffice:

McDonald also supported plans to build new housing for disabled and elderly veterans, and, for female veterans with children. McDonald contacted and worked with parties representing homeless veterans in Los Angeles to draft the framework of a new master plan that set forth a series of tasks to be completed by both parties. These tasks were formalized on January 28, 2015 in a Principles Agreement that dedicated the West Los Angeles VA campus to serving Veterans in need. Included in the master plan was an action item for McDonald, VA, and the parties representing homeless veterans to create the Veteran Homeless Strategy Action Plan that was released on February 13, 2015 and served as a living document that operationalized the Principles Agreement Tsmith47 (talk) 17:39, 5 March 2020 (UTC)

" McDonald contacted and worked with parties representing homeless veterans in Los Angeles to draft the framework of a new master plan" Please state what it was, about McDonald's contacting and working with the parties representing homeless veterans, which enabled the mentioned action plan to be formalized and to proceed. Regards, Spintendo  21:20, 19 March 2020 (UTC)


 * McDonald directly contacted Ron Olson, the lead attorney representing homeless veterans in West L.A. During an initial conversation with Olson, McDonald stated that "this is not a problem that should require lawsuits or litigation.”  A series of discussions followed between McDonald and Olson to which Olson stated “We have moved from adversaries to partners in a month's time."  The result of McDonald contacting and working with Olson was the drafting of a framework for not only a settlement of the lawsuit, but also a partnership to develop a "new master plan" for the West LA campus.

Tsmith47 (talk) 21:22, 6 April 2020 (UTC)


 * Please state what it was, about McDonald's conversation with Olsen - specifically, what is it about his statement that "this is not a problem that should require lawsuits or litigation" - which enabled the mentioned action plan to be formalized and to proceed. Regards, Spintendo  16:21, 2 May 2020 (UTC)


 * The context of the discussions between McDonald and Olson that led to the action plan being formalized was the creation and implementation of a blueprint that would dedicate the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs campus to veterans in need.

Further, Olson also stated that when the agreement was reached it was "forged through the leadership" of McDonald. Tsmith47 (talk) 14:37, 12 May 2020 (UTC)

Some Proposed Changes
The following has been provided per the request of User:Psiĥedelisto.

I am proposing the addition of the following content to the very end of the last paragraph under U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs section:

McDonald also supported plans to build new housing for disabled and elderly veterans, and, for female veterans with children. McDonald contacted and worked with parties representing homeless veterans in Los Angeles to draft the framework of a new master plan that set forth a series of tasks to be completed by both parties. These tasks were formalized on January 28, 2015 in a Principles Agreement that dedicated the West Los Angeles VA campus to serving Veterans in need. Included in the master plan was an action item for McDonald, VA, and the parties representing homeless veterans to create the Veteran Homeless Strategy Action Plan that was released on February 13, 2015 and served as a living document that operationalized the Principles Agreement

McDonald directly contacted Ron Olson, the lead attorney representing homeless veterans in West L.A. During an initial conversation with Olson, McDonald stated that "this is not a problem that should require lawsuits or litigation.”  A series of discussions followed between McDonald and Olson to which Olson stated “We have moved from adversaries to partners in a month's time." The result of McDonald contacting and working with Olson was the drafting of a framework for not only a settlement of the lawsuit, but also a partnership to develop a "new master plan" for the West LA campus.

The context of the discussions between McDonald and Olson that led to the action plan being formalized was the creation and implementation of a blueprint that would dedicate the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs campus to veterans in need. Further, Olson also stated that when the agreement was reached it was "forged through the leadership" of McDonald. Tsmith47 (talk) 15:03, 2 June 2020 (UTC)


 * &mdash;I added the first two sentences, plus did some research on my own to find the current status (as of 2019). In my view, you are giving WP:UNDUE weight to this minor incident in McDonald's career. Therefore, I have simplified your wording greatly. If you disagree with me, you may wait for User:Spintendo. However, I would advise User:Spintendo to please not implement your wording as is without discussing it with me. Welcome to Wikipedia. All the best, Psiĥedelisto (talk • contribs) please always ping! 20:41, 2 June 2020 (UTC)
 * Psiĥedelisto Thank you for your review and approval of the content I have submitted.  I realize you had to review several submissions I made, so if you and Spintendo feel that there is adequate use for the additional content I have provided please include it in the article.Tsmith47 (talk) 18:41, 15 June 2020 (UTC)
 * Please review WP:UNDUE to understand why I did not write everything. If the entire article was much longer, it might be due. But as things stand, it puts too much focus on this minor event in McDonald's career. Psiĥedelisto (talk • contribs) please always ping! 18:45, 15 June 2020 (UTC)

Some Proposed Changes
I am proposing the following content be added as the first sentence under the Personal Life section.

In September of 2020, McDonald was selected by presidential nominee Joe Biden to be a member of his transition team's advisory board .Tsmith47 (talk) 17:53, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

Seems reasonable. Done!Westminster88 (talk) 11:02, 18 September 2020 (UTC)

Some Proposed Changes
I am proposing that the following be added as the first sentence under the Personal Life section:

In July 2020, McDonald was appointed by the George W. Bush Institute as the April and Jay Graham Fellow where he serves as a key member of the Military Service Initiative team, advocating for post-9/11 Veterans and building awareness for the issues that affect their successful transitions to civilian life including employment, education, and health and wellbeing.Tsmith47 (talk) 13:15, 2 October 2020 (UTC)
 * ✅ - I updated the page but left out whatever is after Military Service Initiative team as it will be a copy-vio to copy the whole line over from the source. --Justanothersgwikieditor (talk) 03:04, 13 October 2020 (UTC)
 * Thank you.Tsmith47 (talk) 15:06, 13 October 2020 (UTC)

Some Proposed Changes
I am proposing that the edit below be made to the first sentence in fourth paragraph of the Career section:

McDonald is on the boards of RallyPoint Networks, Inc., Partnership for Public Service , Quotient Technology , Audia International, Inc., the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy, the Boulder Crest Retreat Foundation , and the McCormick Research Institute.

I am proposing that the edit below be made to the fourth paragraph in the Personal Life section:

McDonald has two children, three grandsons and three granddaughters.Tsmith47 (talk) 15:33, 15 October 2020 (UTC)
 * The edits to the board service section were made where the board affiliations were sourced. Boards without citations we not included in the edit. I added the requested edit to family section to the bio page. Go4thProsper (talk)|
 * Thank you.Tsmith47 (talk) 12:58, 21 October 2020 (UTC)