[Blindtlk] Fwd: [Nfbv-announce] Retirement of Dr. Maurer

Mon Dec 2 04:00:15 UTC 2013

Hi all,

I don't think it's a problem that Dr. Maurer announced who he was
supporting. The issue is that in the ensuing election there will
likely be only one presidential candidate. This is not typical of any
truly democratic group, at least not any that I am aware of. In the
United States, even presidents who were widely supported and respected
still face some competition for re-election, and the candidates they
endorse to succeed them do not necessarily always win by a landslide.
The candidate President Obama supports in 2016 won't automatically win
a unanimous vote from the Democratic party; he or she will still have
to stand up to scrutiny. Regardless of Dr. Maurer's popularity and
efficacy as a president, I am concerned that because of the
organizational culture in the NFB, those who would endorse a
leadership change feel they must either keep quiet or withdraw from
the organization, and so their voices are not heard.
I was recently president of the NFB's student division. When I decided
to resign I announced publicly who I was supporting to be the next
president. Someone ran against him who, though not my first pick as
president, was also a qualified and accomplished potential leader.
There was an election, and though the candidate I endorsed did win,
the other candidate received a sizable number of votes. I don't think
the people who voted for him did so because they distrusted my
opinion; I think they just thought he was a strong candidate. In fact,
I was pleased to see such healthy democratic debate among the student
division. It gave me more confidence that the individual who won the
presidential election was someone that the majority of the people
truly wanted to be in charge, not just someone who was elected by
default because he had no opposition. As president I always felt it
was better for members to question my judgment rather than blindly
trusting me. When members questioned my judgment it allowed me to
improve as a leader and to ensure I was doing things the membership
wanted to see happen.

I am curious if others share my views; perhaps this is not actually a
significant problem in the eyes of our membership. But if there are
others who think the culture could be improved, this discussion could
be quite productive. Furthermore, even as I question whether the NFB's
political culture and procedures could be improved, I don't oppose the
philosophy or the major policy decisions of the organization and I am
committed to support them.

Best regards,
Arielle

On 12/1/13, Ray Foret Jr <rforet7706 at comcast.net> wrote:
> Steve, I fear that perhaps you missunderstood.  Of course, Dr. Maurer has
> the right to support he or she whom he pleases and to publically ask the
> membership to support that person.  I’m just questionning whether an
> election that looks too much like a mere hand off is necessarily the best
> way to go.
>
>
> 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 8:36 PM, Steve Jacobson <steve.jacobson at visi.com> wrote:
>
>> Ray,
>>
>> What you are really saying, though, if you think about it, is that
>> President Maurer should not state who he thinks should follow him.  What
>> purpose does
>> that really serve?  The only way this will work has a "Hand-off" as you
>> put it is if President Maurer has enough support and trust to have his
>> recommendation followed.  Therefore, the process is important because if
>> he were to not have the support and trust of the membership, there is a
>> means
>> to elect someone else.  To me, that is far more than a technicality.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Steve Jacobson
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Ray Foret Jr" <rforet7706 at comcast.net>
>>> To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Sunday, December 01, 2013 5:17 PM
>>> 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
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> blindtlk mailing list
>>>>> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
>>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
>>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>>>> blindtlk:
>>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/wickps%40gmail.com
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> blindtlk mailing list
>>>> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>>> blindtlk:
>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/rforet7706%40comcast.net
>>
>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> blindtlk mailing list
>>> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>> blindtlk:
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/b.schulz%40sbcglobal.net
>>>
>>
>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> blindtlk mailing list
>>> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>> blindtlk:
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/steve.jacobson%40visi.com
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> blindtlk mailing list
>> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> blindtlk:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/rforet7706%40comcast.net
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindtlk mailing list
> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindtlk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/arielle71%40gmail.com
>