[Blindtlk] Democracy in the NFB

Mon Dec 2 02:34:37 UTC 2013

Hi Arielle and All,

I totally agree in spirit with everything Arielle said; I simply have
become jaded as regards the prospect for organizational change since
my days in the student division, this has been informed by my
interaction with non-blindness politics.

I think a half-measure that the membership might support would be the
placing in nomination of perhaps two *approved* candidates for each
office, to get the membership used to ideas other than the jingoistic
"unity is strength." I got this idea from the Iranian system where six
candidates in a narrow ideological band were put forward, and the
voters (to most people's surprise) chose the most open-minded of the
group.

I think term limits have a mixed bag of an impact in non-blindness
politics; they tend to make elected leaders weaker, a good compromise
might be long term limits such as we have here in California for the
legislature (a total of 12 years in either chamber.)

Some food for thought...

Paul

On 12/1/13, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> For the record I am an active NFB member and I agree with Ray for the
> most part. I do think that NFB could take steps to become more
> democratic without sacrificing program strength or efficiency. The NFB
> has developed an organizational culture of uniting around a strong
> president and supporting that individual unanimously for decades. I
> think there was a time early in NFB history when that kind of
> leadership mentality was essential for the organization to survive.
> Historically, there has been enough threat on the organization from
> outside the blind community that any internal dissent could cause the
> organization to crumble. I do think that those times are changing,
> though, and that we can afford to become more democratic, to set term
> limits on our leaders or at least to train multiple people for the top
> leadership positions.
> This kind of shift would not only be in line with American values in
> general, but could also allow more diverse opinions and ideas to make
> their way up to the top where they can be acted upon. The
> super-democratic "other organization" Paul spoke of isn't what we want
> either, but I think there is a balance that is more democratic and
> transparent than where we are. However, in order for these changes to
> occur, there needs to be a shift among the thinking of the membership
> and not just at the top. Right now, no one wants to nominate an
> alternate presidential candidate because the organizational culture is
> really opposed to that kind of behavior.
> Best,
> Arielle
>
> On 12/1/13, Cherylandmaxx <Cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com> wrote:
>> X FYI his title is Dr which he got as an honorary and earned it from him
>> alma Mata from college.
>>
>>
>> Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S®4
>>
>> -------- Original message --------
>> From: Lauren Merryfield <lauren1 at catliness.com>
>> Date:12/01/2013  6:50 PM  (GMT-05:00)
>> To: 'Blind Talk Mailing List' <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Fwd: [Nfbv-announce] Retirement of Dr. Maurer
>>
>> Hi,
>> I do not see Mr. Maurer's supporting Mr. Riccobono and his subsequent
>> election as a formality. Whoever leads us when Mr. Maurer steps down
>> needs
>> to have many of the qualities Mr. tenBroek, Dr. Jernigan, Mr. Maurer and
>> others had, plus a thorough understanding of how to lead the NFB. Any of
>> us
>> out here might not possess those qualities and we certainly do not know
>> the
>> inner workings of the NFB.  It would be scary, and possibly disastrous,
>> if
>> someone were elected President who wasn't fully prepared and ready to
>> lead
>> us.
>>
>> Personally, I'd like to see an open-minded  female finally lead the NFB,
>> but, then, I'd like to see a liberal female run the USA, too, for a
>> change.
>> But that isn't happening yet.  So we're still behind the times.
>>
>>  I am thinking that Mr. Riccobono, though I do not know him, is probably
>> the
>> best one to lead us in the future. I do trust Mr. Maurer's and the
>> National
>> Board's thinking on most things, therefore, I do not feel as if Mr.
>> Riccobono's stepping up to the Presidency as  only a formality. I'm sure
>> he
>> has been being prepared for this for some time, so it is no overnight
>> decision on Mr. Maurer's part.
>>
>> I'm sure glad it isn't me. I am happy to let someone serve in that
>> position
>> and I do feel that my vote would count, were I able to attend the
>> National
>> Convention next summer, which I won't. Not unless I rob a big bank, haha.
>> Many blessings,
>> Laurenthe
>>
>> For my new book go to:
>> www.TheresMoreThanOneWay.com
>> curious about thirty-one? Go to:
>> www.LettingTheCatOutOfTheBag.com
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ray
>> Foret
>> Jr
>> Sent: Sunday, December 01, 2013 3:17 PM
>> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Fwd: [Nfbv-announce] Retirement of Dr. Maurer
>>
>> Paul, You seem, with respect, to be implying that one must choose between
>> lack of transparency and a good program for the blind or else full
>> transparency and a bad program for the blind.  I do not agree.  Here is
>> what
>> I think will go down.  Maurer will support Riccobono and then, when it
>> comes
>> convention time, and time to elect the next president, Riccobono will be
>> chosen by acclamation without any competition.  Now, if one were to take
>> this process strictly in parliamentary terms, it would be impossible to
>> quarrel with its legitimacy.  My concern, to speak frankly, is this.
>> That
>> looks too much like a mere hand off instead of a legitimate election.
>> Smooth?  Yes.  Efficient?  You'd better believe it.  Morally right?
>> Well,
>> that's where I have a slight problem.  I'm not saying that this way of
>> doing
>> it is completely wrong:  however, when you have a process that looks too
>> much like you're just handing it off, you might as well not even bother
>> with
>> the formality of election.  Just might as well go ahead and crown
>> Riccobono
>> king of the movement.  I just do not feel terribly comfortable with the
>> way
>> things look like they're going to happen.  Call me a traitor to the
>> movement
>> if you will:  but,  'Tain't no skin off my nose.  Look, this procedure
>> just
>> don't set to well with me.
>>
>>         I ain't sayin that President Mauer can't support whom he pleases,
>> and I ain't sayin he can not publically say whom he supports nor that he
>> can't urge the members to back his choice:  But, to just do a hand off
>> and
>> have the election as a mere formality really bugs me.
>>
>>
>>
>> Sent from my Mac, the only computer with full accessibility for the blind
>> built-in!
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> The Constantly Barefooted Ray, still a very happy Mac and Iphone 5 user!
>>
>> On Dec 1, 2013, at 5:01 PM, Paul Wick <wickps at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Ray that's how things have always been in the Federation In the world
>>> of the organized blind there is an organization that while it lacks
>>> transparency has a strong program, while another has democratic forms,
>>> but is kind of an empty suit when it comes to the programming
>>> department; I would rather be part of the former than the latter. I
>>> wish President-designate Riccobono well, and may he reach out to all
>>> the unaffiliated blind people rather than just preaching to the choir.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>>
>>> Paul
>>>
>>> On 12/1/13, Ray Foret Jr <rforet7706 at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>> I should like to pint out that there seems to be an assumption upon
>>>> the part of the top NFB leadership that Mark
>>>>>
>>>>> Riccobono will sort of just be given the presency of the federation.
>>>>> That strikes me as not being the proper democratic way to do things.
>>>>> To assume that just because Doctor Maurer personally supports Mark
>>>>> Riccobono for president he will just sort of be handed the
>>>>> presidency by Dr. Maurer and the election of Mark Riccobono a mere
>>>>> formality strikes me as being very improper.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Sent from my Mac, the only computer with full accessibility for the
>>>> blind built-in!
>>>>
>>>> Sincerely,
>>>> The Constantly Barefooted Ray, still a very happy Mac and Iphone 5
>>>> user!
>>>>
>>>> On Dec 1, 2013, at 12:44 PM, David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>> Mark
>>>>>> Riccobono
>>>>
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>>>
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