[nabs-l] NABS Leadership Update

Sun Jul 12 02:28:12 UTC 2009

Dear Joseph and all:

	I am aware that some of  our members were disappointed in the way
that elections and the passing of a constitutional amendment were
handled at the NABS business meeting. While in the end all procedures
were followed according to proper NABS protocol, there was some
confusion initially among those running the election about how to
handle these issues. I’d like to apologize personally for this and as
NABS president I will make every effort to ensure that future
elections are followed according to proper procedure. The good thing
about making mistakes is that once they are made and recognized, care
can be taken to keep them from happening again.

	It’s important to keep two things in mind when contemplating the
elections. The first is that this is not the first time these issues
have come up in NABS. For years we have been debating about how to
count votes. This is the first time we required voters to display a
card proving paid member status when voting. In the past we used
standing votes and trusted that all voters were paid members. This
policy led to its own set of complaints and chaos which is why we
switched to the vote cards. Using the vote cards was an experiment,
and if the members feel it was a mistake, we won’t do it again.
Similarly, we have frequently had long elections with several people
running for each position. There has been much debate about whether or
not NABS should appoint a nominating committee. That is still an open
question, and one I’d like the membership to think about before we
make a decision. So, these are tricky issues with no easy answers and
ones we’ve been struggling with for years.

The second point I’d like to make is that our constitution is very
vague. It doesn’t tell us how to count votes. It only specifies that a
candidate needs a majority of the votes to win, and that if no
candidate gets a majority, the one with the least votes is dropped.
So, again, a lot of this is open to debate and there is no one way to
fix it.

	Before our next election I’d like to have a couple of focus groups
with NABS members about the best and fairest way to handle
vote-counting, etc. For those of you who were feeling disappointed,
I’d ask you to cease “grumbiling” and instead come to me with clear
suggestions for improvement. What specifically did you find
problematic? If you were the one running things how would you have
done it differently? We can’t take everyone’s suggestions, of course,
but we need concrete feedback in order to make changes. Though I can’t
speak for anyone else, as NABS president I would never want to “quiet
dissent”. Those of you who knew me in the early days of my NFB
involvement know that I frequently asked questions and expressed
opinions contrary to the so-called NFB party line. I do, however, ask
that complaints and suggestions be voiced respectfully and that they
be specific to what you thought was wrong or unfair. Just saying “it
was chaos” doesn’t help us figure out how to make things better in the
future. If you were disappointed, I also hope that you can still work
with us and move forward. Elections only happen once a year, but the
mentoring and collective action that happens in NABS happens all year
long.

	Finally, I will say this: Whatever procedure we decide to use for
conducting the election and counting votes, when I run the next NABS
election I’ll be sure to spell out the procedures ahead of time before
we start the election, and I will also make sure the vote counters
have been chosen and instructed prior to the election. I suspect a lot
of the trouble came from the fact that people didn’t know what to
expect and that some of the rules changed throughout the course of the
election. Again, I apologize for this and I can say with certainty
that this won’t happen again.

P.S. For your reference: The NABS constitution (not yet amended) is attached.

On 7/12/09, T. Joseph Carter <carter.tjoseph at gmail.com> wrote:
> David,
>
> I did not.  If I had, I'd be in the same position as the incoming
> board right now—if they speak on the issue, it looks like they're
> trying to quiet dissent.  An outsider is the only one who can do it
> under the circumstances.
>
> If anyone ought to be crying foul about the election, it probably
> ought to be me, for multiple reasons.  And yet that's exactly why I
> need to be the first to say that it's time to move on.  We have a new
> board, and they cannot be faulted.
>
> The only responsibility the incoming board has is to do better.
>
> Joseph
>
>
> On Sat, Jul 11, 2009 at 02:10:04PM -0500, David Dunphy wrote:
>> Did you win any board positions Joseph?
>>
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-- 
Arielle Silverman
President, National Association of Blind Students
Phone:  602-502-2255
Email:
nabs.president at gmail.com
Website:
www.nabslink.org
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