[NABS-L] board position 4

Sat Jul 18 21:47:39 UTC 2020

Hi everyone,

First and foremost, thank you so much for surfacing your concerns on a public platform. I applaud you for exercising your voice in this format. I want to clearly explain voting protocol so there is full transparency. I also want to highlight that these concerns should have been brought up on Wednesday night, as we felt comfortable and confident in the decision made upon adjournment. If that was not the case, I wish we could have openly talked about it regardless of the time. I hope you understand that I am a fair leader, one in which values each of your ideas, contributions, and opinions. To that end, I only want full transparency, fairness, and honesty. I do not say this to be defensive, I only mention it because I tried to make it as clear as possible that I am open to alternative ideas, not only the executive decision I made. The entire board would have stayed on Zoom ready to go name by name down our registration list if that is the direction that made the most sense. As I'm sure you can imagine, this is a tough situation to be in, given the circumstances.

Each year, we initially rely on voice vote to conduct elections. This proceeds to a standing vote if the voice vote does not suffice in making a clear decision. Any member elected must receive a majority vote of the active members present and voting. If there are more than two members seeking a given position, then we proceed in the following way. We would take a voice vote, dropping the candidate who received the least amount of votes. We would then conduct another voice vote, dropping the individual who received the least amount of votes that time around. This continues until there are two candidates remaining. Again, a majority of votes must be received in order to be fairly and constitutionally elected.

This year is different due to the virtual environment. A Google form would have to be distributed at least four times to the hundreds of members to ensure it is done fairly. On the other hand, the final seat is a 1-year position this time around, as it was vacated by a board member who was elected to an officer position. To be completely honest, as president, I could have appointed all three vacated board positions from a constitutional perspective. I did not feel comfortable doing that as the voice of the membership is critical in our movement.

While we all have extremely passionate emotions around what completes a great NABS Board, I promise that my heart is in the right place in making this decision. Diversity matters. Experience matters. Balance matters. I am working with the outgoing and incoming NABS Board to make the wisest and most appropriate decision for the future of NABS. I also am working with our trusted Nominating Committee to be intentional, aware, and proactive. This means, everyone's opinion matters. However, this also means that a discussion on the NABS list or on Facebook does not compare, even slightly, to allowing for an open forum during our annual business meeting. Leaning on student state delegates who were present excludes all states that were not on at 11:30pm. Not to mention not all states have delegates to represent you. Taking a vote via Google form is not logistically feasible given the protocol that is needed to follow voting procedures. As president, I have the right to proceed in this way, as long as I am being ethical and intentional. All members who ran for Board Member 3 or Board Member 4 are prioritized for consideration, without a doubt.

I am saddened that members are not feeling that I am proceeding as you would prefer. I also hope that you can trust that my opinion is not the only one that is being taken into account. As we are seeing at General Session right now, sometimes the virtual space forces us to make decisions that were not initially planned. Our NABS board put in a ton of thought and intention as we discussed the mitigation strategies for elections this year. Not to mention, many divisions opted to not hold elections this year; and instead continue with the current board until next year. We did not agree with that approach, and thus problem solved ways to be most fair.

I appreciate you reading and truly hope that you feel empowered to call me to discuss if you continue to have concerns. I value you; I appreciate you; and, at the end of the day, we need you.

Love,
Kathryn Webster
President, National Association of Blind Students
203-273-8463
Nabs.president at gmail.com

-----Original Message-----
From: NABS-L <nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Victor Marques via NABS-L
Sent: Saturday, July 18, 2020 5:16 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Victor Marques <therealvictormarques at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NABS-L] board position 4

I too was dissatisfied with the choice to simply appoint board member 4. Those who expressed an interest at the meeting, and the individual who was not successful for board position 3, should be put into a 5 way Google Form vote. It would be easy to cross-reference membership and tally votes. Should the be a tie for positions 1 and 2, that could be decided by a second vote.  That’s the democratic way I would have handled this, Google Forms is perfectly capable as a tool to manage this election.

I’m glad I am not the only one who felt this way.  I felt this was pushed through without voting on the rules of engagement or without adequate discussion.

Victor Marques
NABS Member

> On Jul 18, 2020, at 5:06 PM, Keri Svendsen via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> I think this is reasonable.
> 
>> On 7/18/2020 4:40 PM, Zachary GriegoDreicer via NABS-L wrote:
>> Hello, I hope everyone is enjoying convention. I've had a number of people talking on facebook and to me directly that we don't approve of the handling of the voting of board position 4. There has been significant discussion of this topic and I think that the discussion should  be opened to all NABS members. I think it only fair that everyone who ran for other board positions, and were not elected, should be allowed to run again for said position. Further, any dues paying member should be able to vote for the student they believe the best to serve in this role. I propose that a second google form be created for this purpose. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the general convention would run perhaps by raising hands in zoom or something similar to fill all positions....I think we will find out soon enough if my thought process is correct. Thus, in fairness to all involved, I would like to suggest that position 4 be elected by google forms or other fair form of voting. I would love everyone's input. Thanks all for your consideration.
>> 
>> Sent from my BrailleNote touch
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> 
> -- 
> Keri Svendsen
> 
> 
> 
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