USPA Proxy issues - Cons.

[quade 4]

Quote

On July 11, 2003, at 7 p.m. in Fredericksburg, Virginia, USPA will host its annual General Membership Meeting. All members in good standing should attend or be represented by proxy to vote on the following three changes to the USPA elections:

1. To change the term of office of USPA directors and officers from the current two years to three, effective with the next election.

2. To move the election schedule for USPA directors to two months earlier and to seat the new board at the next scheduled BOD meeting following the election.

3. To eliminate the national director nominating committee and the petition requirement for USPA regional director candidates.

Just the Cons, because the Pros are already delineated HERE.

1) I think that the argument that two years is insufficient to learn the system and perform the job is specious at best. Members of the House of Representatives (usually called congressmen, or congresswomen, or representatives) serve 2-year terms, and the entire membership stands for reelection every second year. 1 Certainly our organization isn't any more complex than the House of Representative.

2) Again a specious argument about moving the dates based on drop zone closures during the winter months. Clearly if the Nationals can be held in Chicago during the middle of September, then people can still campaign as late as that and according to Accuweather.com high temps didn't fall below the 60s in Chicago until October 13 last year. Seattle didn't see highs drop below 50 until mid-October. The same holds true for Augusta, Maine.

3) While the argument about a nominating commitee for BOD candidates may be valid, the linking of this argument with the elimination of the Regional Directors requirement to secure signatures is, in my opinion, not valid at all. By securing signatures the candidate is forced to travel to several drop zones and actually interact with skydivers. By not having this requirement, I feel this gives a slight advantage to skydivers that may be somewhat savvy in internet politics. In other words, they could have superior skills on-line, but simply awful to deal with in real-life, yet still get elected by virtue of their "following" on-line. I can think of at least one particular member of rec.skydiving that I can see trying to run a campaign like this and I simply shudder to think of him holding any office that might represent me in any dealings with the government.

In summary, I can't really say that I see the need for any of the changes being asked for. They ONLY seem to serve a very small and select group of people and not the membership at large.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver