[nabs-l] NABS Leadership Update

[Antonio M. Guimaraes]

        Nejit,

You say in your post that those who are angry... have little grounds to feel 
this way.

While I agree that we need to move forward and stay positive, I also see no 
value in slipping the durt under the rug. Most people present had very valid 
concerns about the way the meeting and elections, mostly the elections were 
conducted.

First, when the amendment to the constitution was passed, discussion shut 
off by the president, and people not given a chance to voice their concerns, 
the entire membership should have been concerned that something was wrong. 
The meeting would have gone on till god know when and god knows how if one 
of our members, yours truly, didn't plea for reason, and bring up the 
constitution matter back to the forthfront, where it belonged.

I sought  to run for a board position, and was nominated for treasurer, so 
that I could have a voice, access to people's ears, and I saw this as the 
only way to bring up the constitution concern up for debate again. I 
withdrew my candidacy, and some discussion was had, and the amendment voted 
on again.

The meeting was full of interesting twists, one board member running for a 
board position clearly on his popularity, and a voice mail message. He 
wasn't present at the meeting, and a voice message most could not understand 
was played for the room.

People run and win because others like them, so winning on popularity is why 
people win elections. You are more popular than I am, and so forth. The 
proof of the value of sheer popularity will be in the results the NABS board 
can accomplish in the time ahead.

Do I not have the right to be at least a little angry when someone gets to a 
mic, and proceeds to tell the room that

she can sense some animocity in the room, she is an elementary school 
teacher, and we all need to take a little brake, and sit back, relax, and 
count to 3?

I do not know who pulled off that performance, but I tell you this. I did 
not see, hear, or otherwise detect the presence of a 3-year-old in the room, 
even when most could agree that many, leaders and meeting attendees acted 
like one.

I don't appreciate being likened to a child, not am I susseptible to any 
kind of hypnotic techniques.

That I don't know who said this goes to tell you that, even in a meeting 
full of blind people, some neglected to identify themselves by name whether 
or not they were recognized.

I challenge anyone who was at the meeting to tell me they would be proud if 
the thing had been streamed on the web, or recorded.

Not too angry anymore,

Sincerely yours,

Antonio Guimaraes

If an infinite number of rednecks riding in an infinite number of pickup 
trucks fire an infinite number of shotgun rounds at an infinite number of 
highway signs, they will eventually produce all the world's great literary 
works in Braille.

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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Nijat Worley" <nijat1989 at gmail.com>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 11, 2009 6:05 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] NABS Leadership Update


> Greetings Joseph,
>   I believe that there is little doubt about the legitimacy of the current 
> NABS board and the process by which they were elected. Those who are 
> angry, and those who want to grumble about it, and still those who want to 
> take action about it, have little ground to do so. Besides, what kind of 
> action would be appropriate at this point? The former board and Terri did 
> their best to make sure that the elections were fair. They did almost 
> every vote by a hand count at your request. I am utterly surprised that 
> you are still dissatisfied about the outcome of the elections. I 
> understand there were some mistakes made in the election process, and the 
> board has made note of them. We will take proper action to make sure that 
> those mistakes don't happen again. I do agree with you that to try to do 
> anything  that might divide the organization at this point would only 
> counter your intentions. NABS is an ever changing and evolving 
> organization simply because of the fact that many of its members both on 
> the board and off the board come and go so quickly. Nobody stays in NABS 
> forever. We are all new to this organization, and we all make mistakes. I 
> appreciate you expressing your concerns and telling folks to stay united, 
> because only united, can we make change and strengthen this organization 
> for the benefit of all. I always tell our members both at the state and 
> national level that one does not have to be on the board to help out the 
> organization and to be a leader. I think Arielle intends to get everybody 
> involved in the development and growth of NABS. I am very pleased to say 
> that I saw many of you at the Monty Carlo night helping us put it together 
> and wrap it up at the end. We couldn't have done it without you. Thanks to 
> B. J. Sexton, Caron Anderson, Willie Black, Jim, Jedi, and many others for 
> staying and helping with Monty Carlo Night. Let us put behind us any hard 
> feelings that may be in our chests and move on to bigger and better things 
> for the sake of NABS if for nothing else.
>   At your service,
>   Nijat
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "T. Joseph Carter" <carter.tjoseph at gmail.com>
> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, July 11, 2009 12:36 PM
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] NABS Leadership Update
>
>
>> Arielle and all of NABS,
>>
>> I've heard more than a few rumblings about it already, and I am not sure 
>> the board should try to address them:  The NABS election was a complete 
>> and total fiasco lacking even the appearance of integrity.  A number of 
>> people are really unhappy about it, and some are talking about taking 
>> action.
>>
>> I feel a need to say, "Don't do it, please."  I know some of you to be 
>> good students and good advocates both fro this organization and for the 
>> blind in general.  If those of you I don't know are of the same caliber, 
>> then you may turn fiasco into tragedy.  Think about the possible outcomes 
>> first.
>>
>> Either you will find widespread support, or you will not.  If the latter, 
>> you face marginalization and feelings of disenfranchisement greater than 
>> you already feel.  That will drive you away from the organization for 
>> certain.  Perhaps I am being a bit selfish here, but NABS and the NFB 
>> need _you_, and I'd rather not have you fall away over something as 
>> transitory as a single problematic election.
>>
>> If you do garner widespread support, the tragedy will be larger still: 
>> The organization would faction into those who support the incoming board 
>> and those who oppose the process that elected them, with a lot of people 
>> who want to do both feeling caught in the middle.  There's no faster way 
>> to ensure more controversial elections than to go down this road.
>>
>> So .. what do you do?  I made my decision before the election was even 
>> over: I'm going to support the incoming board, and I'm going to encourage 
>> (read: make a pain in the rear end of myself) the board to act boldly and 
>> with integrity on behalf of blind students.
>>
>> I also intend to similarly encourage (read the same way) that only 
>> registered members vote, and that each registrant gets one vote.  I can't 
>> claim to have a simple and brilliant solution here yet because I can't 
>> figure out how to handle runoff elections quickly and cleanly yet.  The 
>> curious know my email address.  *smile*
>>
>> Joseph
>>
>> P.S. I considered suggesting the Condorcet method, but I decided not to 
>> propose anything that required calculating a square root to figure out 
>> who wins the election.
>>
>>
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