[NABS-L] board position 4

Sat Jul 18 22:26:17 UTC 2020

Hi All,

Thank you Kathryn for your detailed response outlining the rationale
behind the decisions made for the annual NABS business meeting & our
elections.  I support the decision made and the reasons presented.

I have heard a few times now the idea of having Student Division State
Presidents as delegates, but until there is a students division in all
52 affiliates, this would never be a fair method or respectful to all
NABS members because their voices might be lost using that kind of
system.

Thanks & I look forward to hearing the result of the Outgoing/Incoming
Board & Nominating committee for which student will fill this vacancy.

Justin Young
President, New York Association of Blind Students

On 7/18/20, Kathryn Webster, National Student President via NABS-L
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 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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>
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