Nominating Committee Candidates for USFA Office

[Mr Epee]

To me this

As a result, we never came together as a group to formalize our agenda and proposed methods of implementation. We are in the process of doing that now

Sounds a lot like this.

A party platform, also known as a manifesto, is a list of the principles which a political party supports in order to appeal to the general public for the purpose of having said party's candidates voted into office. This often takes the form of a list of support for, or opposition to, controversial topics. Individual topics are often called planks of the platform.

I personally have requested additional information (several times probably) not because I suspect anything sinister, but rather because I was surprised by the lack of relevant information included in the NomCom report. What Greg posted satisfied my curiosity on that subject. That is the information that (in my opinion) should have been included in the NomCom report. Saying "likes fencing, and works with others" is pretty meaningless.

Now I'm just confused as to why a group of individuals selected as individuals is suddenly acting like a political party.

[oso97]

That is the information that (in my opinion) should have been included in the NomCom report. Saying "likes fencing, and works with others" is pretty meaningless.

FYI - that is the kind of thing that is typically included in Nominating Committee reports. Although, if you go back and read it and compare what was in that report to the bio sketches presented, most of the critical and key information is there.

To compare, for example what the NC wrote about Kallie with her bio... the NC mentioned that she had served in various roles within the organization, had served as TC chair, and had relevant outside experience.

Comparing what was said about Jerry Benson, it was mentioned he was a BOD member, did referee training, helped overhaul the USFCA accreditation process, and had relevant outside experience.

I could go on, but why?

The job of the NC report is not to do the candidates campaigning for them, but to provide a few small tidbits about the candidates saying that they are fit and suitable for office. In fact, we had a number of people say how much LONGER this report was than past ones and how much more detail it contained, instead of just the standard boilerplate that is in place. If you don't like that, blame the process, not not the people who followed it.

[Mr Epee]

Oso, dude...

Once again. I'm not blaming you. You, and the others, did what you thought you were supposed to... it's done. Time to take the shields down, little buddy.

No worries.

The report says "has relative experience" I think we can agree that statement pretty ambiguous. That's all I'm saying. If no one chose to contest the election then we wouldn't be having this discussion.

You can say "has a PhD in Education from Harvard" without doing the candidates campaigning for them. At the end of the day, the information is available now... so everything is fine.


P.S. I'm still confused about the other thing....

[Greg_D]

Now I'm just confused as to why a group of individuals selected as individuals is suddenly acting like a political party.

I can answer this from a personal perspective.

In my opinion, one of the reasons that the current Executive Committee and President have had so many problems is because they lack a shared vision and priorities. Before accepting the nomination as treasurer, I wanted to make sure that the other nominated candidates (particularly the President) were people with whom I could work and with whom I shared at least broad outlines of a vision. So, I spoke to the Nominating Committee about whom they were considering for the other positions and didn't actually accept until I had confirmation of who would be President.

Since the nomination, those of us nominated have spoken informally and are in general agreement about our vision and priorities. However, it takes time to thoughtfully prepare formal statements to which we will then hold ourselves (and which we will expect to be held by the membership) accountable.

So, a direct answer to your question... why are we acting more like a political party than a group of individuals? I think it's because we believe the six of us can and will work as an effective team to accomplish our shared goals. In addition, because each of us has a track record of effective service to the organization and a diverse set of professional skills and interests we believe there's a good mix that will help us actually get things done.

Greg

[Mr Epee]

So, a direct answer to your question... why are we acting more like a political party than a group of individuals? I think it's because we believe the six of us can and will work as an effective team to accomplish our shared goals. In addition, because each of us has a track record of effective service to the organization and a diverse set of professional skills and interests we believe there's a good mix that will help us actually get things done.

Greg

Thanks for that candid reply, and for being a good sport.

[jjefferies]

I very much appreciate what Greg has take the time to publish here, but I'm confused by the way this is framed.
:
Since this is an issue of individuals, it seems to me that individual statements of goals and priorities are much more relevant than simply agreeing on a common ideology.

I do have one procedural question.
There are three presidents for vice on both the NC set and the Alternate set. Supposing there is an election, how do they run? As one large pool and the top three win? Or is there some differentiation that says you can vote between this one and the other that has escaped my attention.

[seven6ty]

They all fence in one large pool. Victories determine it first, then indicators.

What? I mean it IS the USFA, after all.

[bigdawg2121]

Definitely a qualification for office these days.
Ooooh, I better watch it. There are republicans here.

They still have that Katherine Harris lady right?

Edit: What about Mitt Romney's wife...I think I heard good things about her...

[Mr Epee]

They still have that Katherine Harris lady right?

Edit: What about Mitt Romney's wife...I think I heard good things about her...

Politics makes for strange bedfellows....

[edew]

Don't make fun of my man Dennis. He shot and he scored. Big time.

[jfarmer]

Don't make fun of my man Dennis. He shot and he scored. Big time.

Oh, that is sooooo bad.....

[Spidermonkey]

Here's another procedural question. When the ballots are sent out will there be any way to differentiate the NC vs FFC candidates?

If it wasn't for lurking around f.net, I would never have known about any of the people running for office. My guess is that there is a significant number of the USFA membership who do not have any idea who the candidates are or what they represent. When this group gets their ballot they will either not vote or randomly vote based on arbitrary criteria. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with a elected officials from both slates.

[HDG]

If it wasn't for lurking around f.net, I would never have known about any of the people running for office. My guess is that there is a significant number of the USFA membership who do not have any idea who the candidates are or what they represent.

It is the responsibility of every USFA member to regularly read f.net.

[oiuyt]

Here's another procedural question. When the ballots are sent out will there be any way to differentiate the NC vs FFC candidates?

The candidates nominated by petition are to be so designated on the ballot.

7.Section Ballots for Contested Elections. When more than one candidate has been nominated for an office, the Election Committee shall provide for voting by secret ballot as follows:

Notice of the contested election and the names of the duly qualified candidates shall be mailed by first class mail to each member entitled to vote therein. Notice shall be sent to each such member at the address last designated by the member in writing to the National Office of the organization or, failing such designation, in care of the Secretary of the member's Division. Such notice shall be mailed not later than May 1 of the year in which the election is to be conducted; shall indicate the offices being contested and the duly qualified candidates, identifying those who were nominated by petition; shall include those portions of any report of the Nominating Committee which relate to the contested offices and statements provided by the candidates at their option, the length of which may not exceed one page of 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper copied on both sides; and shall include a form of ballot and a sealable return envelope.

b) The form of ballot and return envelope shall be prescribed by the Election Committee and shall be designed to minimize ambiguity and to allow easy and accurate validation. Where three or more candidates have qualified for any office, the ballot shall be designed according to a system of preferential voting.

c) To be valid a ballot must be returned by first class mail at the expense of the voter to the address specified by the Election Committee, must be postmarked not later than the 14th day before the Annual Membership Meeting and must bear such proof of validity as may be determined and specified in advance by the Election Committee.

d) When ballots are tallied they shall be handled in a manner designed to protect the confidentiality of each member*s vote and that also allows ballots to be identified with the validating envelope in which they were received. Ballots and validating envelopes shall be retained until the Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors and for longer if the Board so requires.

-B

[oso97]

So, in otherwords, we're looking at mailing consisting of
1) The ballot
3) The validating envelope
4) The NC report (3 pages, we could probably condense it down to 2 by shrinking the font)
5) A page for each qualified candidate for uncontested office - could be as many as 10 pages.

That is going to be some expensive copying and postage!

[JEC]

So, in otherwords, we're looking at mailing consisting of
1) The ballot
3) The validating envelope
4) The NC report (3 pages, we could probably condense it down to 2 by shrinking the font)
5) A page for each qualified candidate for uncontested office - could be as many as 10 pages.

That is going to be some expensive copying and postage!

Unless, they are brave and move on ... mail a simply postcard ballot with website links.... or even bravest ... all electronic/website balloting. You need to place your ID number and confirm it with your SSN.

[DJ Apostrophe]

Unless, they are brave and move on ... mail a simply postcard ballot with website links.... or even bravest ... all electronic/website balloting. You need to place your ID number and confirm it with your SSN.

Problem 1: There are many USFA members who have not given the USFA their SSN... and they could not (legally) and should not (ethically) be forced to do so.

-w

[oiuyt]

Unless, they are brave and move on ... mail a simply postcard ballot with website links.... or even bravest ... all electronic/website balloting. You need to place your ID number and confirm it with your SSN.

Those options would require a By-Laws revision. Certainly not something that can/will be accomplished before May.

-B

[oso97]

Unless, they are brave and move on ... mail a simply postcard ballot with website links.... or even bravest ... all electronic/website balloting. You need to place your ID number and confirm it with your SSN.

Bravery has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Our Bylaws provide explicit instructions on how contested elections are to be run.

[Philistine]

So, in otherwords, we're looking at mailing consisting of
1) The ballot
3) The validating envelope
4) The NC report (3 pages, we could probably condense it down to 2 by shrinking the font)
5) A page for each qualified candidate for uncontested office - could be as many as 10 pages.

That is going to be some expensive copying and postage!

Not that expensive. At non-profit standard rates, postage is probably on the order of $3000 or less (per the bylaws, return postage of the filled-out ballot is the member's responsibility).

Call it 12 pages of printed matter (includes envelopes)--which is probably high, given the ability to double-side--at, say, $.05 a page for pages (+ say, $.10 for envelopes--to include cost of envelope and printing) is $7,000 (for 10,000 ballots).

Say $10,000 in materials/postage costs.

Envelope stuffing--at 2 a minute works out to be 83 man-hours. That's less than $1,000 assuming you hire a couple of people at $10/hr to do it.

Say $11,000.

I have no idea, but if you outsourced it to a mass-mailing firm, my WAG is double that. So, right around $25K -- which is still less than the # that's been thrown around a bit ($35K)

For an organization with ~$4 million gross revenue a year, $25,000 every 4 years doesn't seem too extreme for an election (even given the current financial problems).

YMMV.

--Philistine