Additional FAQ’s for the League’s Election Process

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Khal

Some FAQ’s inconveniently left off the League’s list. Disclaimer: these are my comments. The League HQ had nothing to do with them.

Were members meaningfully consulted on the expansion of the Board to 15 members, or the change from regional to entirely at-large members, i.e., was this governance change subject to ratification by members?

No.

Will the at-large change affect your representation on the Board?

Well, we went from having one Board member responsible for a region of the country to no board members being responsible for any particular part of the country. Is that an improvement? We shall see.

Do members really elect a controlling majority of the Board?

You elect 53% of the Board. The Board chooses the rest. Oh, and the Board gets to choose the candidates who you get to vote for.

How are candidates for the board selected?

There is a list of qualifications that prospective Board members address in their application. These applications are reviewed by a Board nominating committee. You do not get to see the application via the League. The criteria are actually quite good. But we don’t really tell you what happened during the Nominating Committee deliberations, who all of the applicants were, or how we arrived at the rankings and decided who passed muster and who did not. We tell you, the membership, whom you can choose between. Trust us. We are your League government.

Is there still a petition process for those not selected who still wish to run?

Yes. One has to, without any help from your friends in the League leadership, obtain 5% of League members signatures on a petition. Try it. Its fun. A suggestion:  Any Board-approved candidates, prior to being put on the ballot, are required to themselves obtain 5% of member signatures to ensure the Membership approves those running for the Board. They can receive no help from the League in obtaining these.

How will the new voting system work?

Only as well as the lead-up to the election worked in ensuring a fair election.

Questions? Comments?

Email your League Board members and tell them what you think.

President Andy Clarke <[email protected]>

Board Chair Hans van Naerssen <[email protected]>

Here is hoping for a stronger, but MEMBER CENTERED, League.

About Khal

I am a staff scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), where I have worked for nine years after having spent 10 years on the graduate faculty of the University of Hawaii School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology and four previous years on its technical staff. I started to “ride lots” (to quote Eddy Merckx) at SUNY, Stony Brook, Long Island. I’ve been actively engaged in bicycling and bicycling advocacy, and in transportation planning as a citizen volunteer for most of twenty years. For the past five years, I have been the chair or vice-chair of the Los Alamos County Transportation Board, which advises county government on surface and air transportation policy. During that period, I have also served as the chair of the LANL Traffic Safety Committee, which works with the institution under 10CFR851 to improve the safety of the Laboratory’s traffic systems. I served several years on the Bicycle Coalition of New Mexico Board of Directors. I am an LCI. Prior to moving to New Mexico, I was active as a Board member, vice President, and President of the Hawaii Bicycling League, sat on the Honolulu Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Bicycling, and on the U of Hawaii at Manoa Bicycle Planning Committee. I was a contributor to the 1999 Honolulu Bicycle Master Plan (as VP of the Hawaii Bicycling League, which coordinated cyclist input) and a co-author, with our county traffic manager, of the 2005 Los Alamos County Bike Plan. Back when I dreamed I was fast, I raced USCF. It was only a dream. I remain committed to a strong and effective League of American Bicyclists, but demand that membership be given a much more meaningful role in League governance. That, after all, is the only way to ensure that members have meaningful control over the direction of their League. All comments I make here or on my own blog are my personal opinions alone. Others are welcome to agree or laugh. Aloha, Khal Spencer
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2 Responses to Additional FAQ’s for the League’s Election Process

  1. John Schubert says:
    December 16, 2010 at 10:22 PM

    Khal, you’re too kind. This isn’t an election in ANY form. It’s ratification of the politburo’s choices. You play into their hands when you use the word ‘election’ to describe it.
    The petition process doesn’t even give the would-be petitioners access to members’ e-mails. (I’m sure the politburo has excuses for hiding behind ‘secrecy.’ But don’t forget, they took over a membership organization which had a long tradition of members’ names and addresses published and distributed.)

  2. Khal says:
    December 16, 2010 at 11:57 PM

    Maybe I am too kind. Or, my sarcasm skills need further development.

    “The petition process doesn’t even give the would-be petitioners access to members’ e-mails. ”

    Eli, John, and I learned the futility of that challenge.

    Or, as French Marshal Pierre Bosquet said, referring to Balaclava, “C’est de la folie”

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