[NABS-L] board position 4

Sat Jul 18 22:49:40 UTC 2020

So in essence, it isn’t up to Kathryn as to who becomes the leader. I make a motion that we make the vote happen post or after the convention, so as to make the process fair and we all get a vote. All registered members. Otherwise we should get our refunds.

> On Jul 18, 2020, at 3:35 PM, Nico Petrillo via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> As a state student division president I also agree having state student division presidents vote is not the way to go. Imposing a deadline like this is creating the issues at hand. Simply call a special meeting to vote on board member for when it is convenient to the new board. I want to reiterate I’m not questioning anyone’s ethics or intentions just that we abide by our constitution. Below is the link to the constitution that is public on a Our student division website.
> 
> http://nabslink.org/about/constitution <http://nabslink.org/about/constitution>
> 
> Nick Petrillo
> He/him/his
> Virginia Association of Blind Students| President 
> 703-346-9981
> 
> 
> 
>> On Jul 18, 2020, at 6:27 PM, Justin Young via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org <mailto:nabs-l at nfbnet.org>> wrote:
>> 
>> 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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