Guess the cat's out of the bag. Be interesting to see how many actually go through the full process in September to put their names on the ballot. But this is a good indication that there's a lot of energy around the elections this year, and it's nice to see that several regions will (likely) have competitive elections.
Only one incumbent (Mike Gruwell) has not declared intent to run; one other (Scott Stewart) has switched from Regional to National, for reasons he's already posted about elsewhere.
Best of luck to all the (potential) candidates. I hope it's an interesting election year.
NATIONAL Name Luke Aikins Glenn Bangs** Charles Bryan Sherry Butcher** Max Cohn Krisanne Combs Eric Deren John DeSantis** Jon Devore Merriah Eakins Alan "Buzz" Fink Jonathan P. Furnari Robin Heid Lawrence Hill** Kip Lohmiller Jan Meyer** Barclay Morris Mike Mullins** Francisco Neri Scott Stewart** Jay Stokes** Mike Swanson Eli Thompson Kirk Verner Chris Welker B.J. Worth**
REGIONAL Name Region Matt "Rook" Nelson Central Gary Peek** Central Randy Schroeder Eastern Todd Spillers** Gulf G. Edward Dixon** Mid-Atlantic Tony Thacker Mid-Atlantic Randy Allison** Mideastern Frank Casares ** Mountain Miles Daisher Mountain Fredrick "Bill" Wenger Mountain John Goswitz** North Central Marylou Laughlin** Northeast Jessie Farrington** Northwest Chris Quaintance** Pacific Kyle Starck Southeast Victor Johnson** Southern Joel Swann Southern Lee Schlichtemeier** Southwest Scott Smith** Western
Re: [NWFlyer] 45 Submit Letters of Intent to Run for USPA BOD
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Sweet! Looks like I might get to vote for a full slate of ND's for once. I see 4 who will get my vote right off the bat and several others with some potential. I'd like to see the USPA elections forum opened back up for this run.
Re: [NWFlyer] 45 Submit Letters of Intent to Run for USPA BOD
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I am going to bring up something and I hope many of us keep reminding others about this option as the election progresses.
You can vote for UP TO eight National Directors. That doesn't mean you MUST vote for eight.
If there are just one or two candidates you want to make sure gets elected then you can just vote for those one or two people (or 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7) and leave the rest of the selections blank. You are not required to tick eight boxes on the National Director slate. Your selection is valid and your vote(s) count.
What this does is put your “must have” person or person’s one vote up against the rest of the field. It is simply something for all voters to consider.
I really want to see a huge increase in the voter turn out this time around. I hope we can get more than the 10% of members involved as it has been in the past. I don’t care if you vote for someone I don’t want.
Re: [NWFlyer] 45 Submit Letters of Intent to Run for USPA BOD
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The following need to GO & make room of others to take a turn at leadership, some I have no problem with other then their DZO's or just been in the seat too many years. Can't do much about RD's with my vote, but expect to see some return due to no one else running against them.
Those I would vote for today, due to talking to them or already reading their reason and stance on running.
1.Krisanne Combs 2.Chris Welker 3.Jan Meyer
Those I might vote for if they would use these fourms to make public who they are & their platform as well as get involved with the online membership and not wait till parashitty to make it public. Why should you get our vote? Do you make a living in the industry or do you own a DZ or skydiving business. If you want our vote start talking/posting and let us know where you stand on the issues
1.Scott Stewart 2.Luke Aikins 3.Eric Deren 4.Jon Devore 5.Merriah Eakins 6.Barclay Morris 7.Robin Heid 8.Jonathan P. Furnari
(This post was edited by stratostar on Jun 14, 2008, 7:28 AM)
Re: [stratostar] 45 Submit Letters of Intent to Run for USPA BOD
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In Reply To
The following need to GO & make room of others to take a turn at leadership, some I have no problem with other then their DZO's or just been in the seat too many years. Can't do much about RD's with my vote, but expect to see some return due to no one else running against them.
Those I would vote for today, due to talking to them or already reading their reason and stance on running.
1.Krisanne Combs 2.Chris Welker 3.Jan Meyer
Those I might vote for if they would use these fourms to make public who they are & their platform as well as get involved with the online membership and not wait till parashitty to make it public. Why should you get our vote? Do you make a living in the industry or do you own a DZ or skydiving business. If you want our vote start talking/posting and let us know where you stand on the issues
1.Scott Stewart 2.Luke Aikins 3.Eric Deren 4.Jon Devore 5.Merriah Eakins 6.Barclay Morris 7.Robin Heid 8.Jonathan P. Furnari
In Reply To
I could not agree more. Imho, dzo's and dzm's on a board such as this is a mild form of conflict of interest, and I would rather see USPA run by the jumpers than by the businessmen.
Re: [stratostar] 45 Submit Letters of Intent to Run for USPA BOD
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The following need to GO & make room of others to take a turn at leadership, some I have no problem with other then their DZO's or just been in the seat too many years. Can't do much about RD's with my vote, but expect to see some return due to no one else running against them.
1.Glenn Bangs 2.B.J. Worth 3.Sherry Butcher 4.Lawrence Hill 5.Jay Stokes 6.Mike Mullins 7.Randy Allison 8.Lee Schlichtemeier 9.Jessie Farrington 10.Marylou Laughlin 11.John Goswitz 12.Frank Casares 13.John DeSantis One of the best representatives the average jump has on the board.
Those I would vote for today, due to talking to them or already reading their reason and stance on running.
1.Krisanne Combs 2.Chris Welker Check he responses to young jumpers on this site while he was on the board last time. Is he a DZO puppet? 3.Jan Meyer
Those I might vote for if they would use these fourms to make public who they are & their platform as well as get involved with the online membership and not wait till parashitty to make it public. Why should you get our vote? Do you make a living in the industry or do you own a DZ or skydiving business. If you want our vote start talking/posting and let us know where you stand on the issues
1.Scott Stewart 2.Luke Aikins 3.Eric Deren 4.Jon Devore 5.Merriah Eakins 6.Barclay Morris 7.Robin Heid 8.Jonathan P. Furnari A fresh view with good knowledge of the sport.
We think pretty much alike.
Sparky
(This post was edited by mjosparky on Jun 15, 2008, 3:03 PM)
Re: [stratostar] 45 Submit Letters of Intent to Run for USPA BOD
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Quote
Those I might vote for if they would use these fourms to make public who they are & their platform as well as get involved with the online membership and not wait till parashitty to make it public. Why should you get our vote? Do you make a living in the industry or do you own a DZ or skydiving business. If you want our vote start talking/posting and let us know where you stand on the issues
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8.Jonathan P. Furnari
That's me!
I'm glad you're asking. I have NO idea how to run a campaign, and I don't always play "nice" with others, but based on your view and post's I think you're the type of person I'd like to have support from.
Easy question first. Yes I do make a living in the industry. I'm a full time Tandem/AFF instructor, and I shoot video as well. I've been a tunnel instructor in the past, sold gear for two major gear stores and have participated in just about every discipline in this sport. Other than being a contractor in the industry I do not own a "business" in the industry. I'm a fanatic about safety, playing by the rules, especially as students are concerned, and developing instructional programs beyond the "crank them out mill".
I fell the need to get on the ballot because I am unhappy with the current way things are going within the USPA, and I think if I'm going to complain about something I should offer a solution. I have two areas I feel most passionate about.
1) Communication. I feel that the BOD works for the members, and that because of that there needs to be a LOT more interface between the members and the BOD. It's a two way street, and while members often seem to show apathy about being involved, there is MUCH that can be done to engage the interest of the members.
2) Safety and training. Since I started in this sport I feel the overall skill, and experience of instruction offered to students is slipping. The standards of instructors have become more defined on paper, but the bar has somehow become lowered. The judgment required of instructors is plummeting, a this has a direct effect in the skill and judgment of the skydivers coming out of programs. Something needs to be done.
As for why I deserve your vote? I don't know that I've answered that, but given the opportunity, I'd like to try. Anyone with questions is welcome to contact me through here, or via e-mail.
(PS if anyone has good campaign ideas, I'm all ears)
Re: [NWFlyer] 45 Submit Letters of Intent to Run for USPA BOD
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Did a little digging back in the archives of USPA BOD minutes to see if these numbers actually indicate increased interest in the election, or are we likely to see the same number of people actually on the ballot. Based on the last election, it looks like the number of people who submit letters of intent is roughly the same number who end up on the ballot (a few will drop off). Unfortunately, I couldn't find reference to the number of letters of intent submitted in any board minutes prior to 2006.
National director: 2008: 26 letters of intent, TBD candidates for 8 positions. 2006: 14 letters of intent, 13 candidates for 8 positions
Regional director: 2008: 19 letters of intent, 4 regions with multiple letters of intent, every region has at least one. TBD candidates. 2006: 17* letters of intent, 3 regions with multiple letters of intent, one region did not have a letter of intent. 13 candidates, 1 region with multiple candidates, two regions did not have any candidates on the ballot.
*I'm pretty sure this is the number - the way it's written up in the notes (page 15) required a little interpretation on my part.
Re: [mjosparky] 45 Submit Letters of Intent to Run for USPA BOD
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The following need to GO & make room of others to take a turn at leadership, some I have no problem with other then their DZO's or just been in the seat too many years. Can't do much about RD's with my vote, but expect to see some return due to no one else running against them.
3.Sherry Butcher
What's your problem with Sherry, Michael?
I hope it isn't because she's been in the seat too long since she was just elected as an ND in the last election for the first time. Is it because she's a DZO?
What has she done or not done that you don't like? Can you even name something in particular that she has done either way?
Has she spent any time trying hard to improve the ISP? If she did, was she motivated only because she owns a DZ?
Re: [labrys] 45 Submit Letters of Intent to Run for USPA BOD
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Kelly,
I have nothing personal against Sherry. I am sure she is a fine person.
I am against the GM program and as an extension of that against DZO’s on the BOD. You cannot server 2 masters and the interests of DZO’s is often at odds with the interests of jumpers. It is like drivers who think the insurance company has their best interest at heart when you have an accident.
Count the number of DZO’s or their puppets on the board and then wonder how we ended up where we are.
Re: [mjosparky] 45 Submit Letters of Intent to Run for USPA BOD
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Count the number of DZO’s or their puppets on the board and then wonder how we ended up where we are.
Sparky
Edit to add:
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I have nothing personal against Sherry. I am sure she is a fine person.
She is one of the most the most caring, thoughtful, honest, and loving persons I've met in nearly 50 years of trying to survive life on planet earth.
I'm sure you're right in general, Michael. But I don't think it's prudent to suggest that every DZO has nothing to offer us. I honestly wish that every member of the board could be judged on merit. I believe that Sherry and at least a few other NDs are spending time and money trying very hard to make skydiving a better, safer sport regardless of profit. I don't think it's fair to lump them all together in this manner.
(This post was edited by labrys on Jun 16, 2008, 5:40 PM)
Be interesting to see how many actually go through the full process in September to put their names on the ballot. But this is a good indication that there's a lot of energy around the elections this year, and it's nice to see that several regions will (likely) have competitive elections. 
I see 4 who will get my vote right off the bat and several others with some potential. I'd like to see the USPA elections forum opened back up for this run. 
I had to, absolutely HAD to.... best of luck with the campaign, man! 
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