I never heard about this and am surprised it did not appear in Skydiving if it is true. The BOD minutes (page 16) merely says Bangs was nominated and Worth withdrew. None of the underlying events. (Would have cut and paste, but it is a PDF and I didn't want to retype it.) It is definitely something about which I would have liked to have known prior to this voting season, but it would not have changed my vote. Does anyone have anything to the contrary. Anyone?
It appears DeSantis tried to do the right thing, but was anyone else in on this?
If this is true, what the hell happened to USPA? Is this level of treachery appropriate for an organization of our size, intent, and mien?
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Many people both on and off the board realized that we had elected a dictator as President for the 2005-2006 term. These people were looking for someone else to stand as President. Mr. DeSantis asked Mr. Worth to stand for President after the 2007-2008 election results were known in January 2007. Mr. Worth agreed to stand if elected. Mr. DeSantis then asked most of the rest of the board if they would vote for Worth if nominated. DeSantis gathered an overwhelming majority to vote for Worth.
At the board meeting, both Bangs and Worth were nominated. Then nominations were closed. When it came time for Bangs to give his campaign speech, he passed and turned the floor over to Worth. Worth was nominated second and would speak second. Worth promptly withdrew from the election. There were a majority of people on the board with an expression of "OMG - we just got hit with a sandbag!"
Bangs declared himself a winner by acclamation and USPA had the dictator again for another term. The Governance Manual requires that the election of officers be by secret ballot - even when there is only one person on the ballot.
Worth was appointed chair of the N&E Committee by the President for the 2007-2008 term.
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Disclaimer: I do not know Jan Meyer. I never officially met Jan Meyer. I already submitted by ballot.
Re: [flyhi] How the 2007-2008 USPA President Won His Third Term
[In reply to]
Can't Post
Did you notice how he got elected to the BOD in the first place? He was an employee of USPA (Director of Safety & Training), which, by rule, cannot be on the BOD. So he resigned and his buddy, Chris Needels (Executive Director at the time) immediately rehired him as an independent contractor doing the exact same job, at which point he was elected to, and became President of the BOD (which hires the Executive Director).
Re: [livendive] How the 2007-2008 USPA President Won His Third Term
[In reply to]
Can't Post
Did you notice how he got elected to the BOD in the first place? He was an employee of USPA (Director of Safety & Training), which, by rule, cannot be on the BOD. So he resigned and his buddy, Chris Needels (Executive Director at the time) immediately rehired him as an independent contractor doing the exact same job, at which point he was elected to, and became President of the BOD (which hires the Executive Director).
In Reply To
Right! But you forgot to add the part about Chris being Glenn's boss in the Army.
Re: [flyhi] How the 2007-2008 USPA President Won His Third Term
[In reply to]
Can't Post
I was told the same story by another member of the BOD a year plus back. I had asked him why they (the BOD) elected Bangs as the Prez once again. He said as I remember that none on the BOD want the position, and then told me the story of BJ being nominated, then once nominations were closed withdrawing.
I have told others about this, but it had not occurred to me to post here. This situation is part of the reason I've campaigned against Mr. Bangs, BJ, and a couple of others on the EC I see as Bangs' puppets.
One sure way to keep Bangs from being elected once again as Prez is for the electorate to vote his ass off the BOD! I've heard Bangs supporters say that he does great things for the sport, let's give him a bit more time to do those things.
Re: [skydived19006] How the 2007-2008 USPA President Won His Third Term
[In reply to]
Can't Post
Sounds good, but it doesn't take into account the whole name recognition thing, which is what I think gets most NDs elected. The average skydiver won't vote. Of those who do, most will put checkmarks next to their favorites, and then pick the rest of their eight allotted votes with names they recognize.
Re: [futuredivot] How the 2007-2008 USPA President Won His Third Term
[In reply to]
Can't Post
In Reply To
I don't know-some of us don't feel the need to fill the ballot. I only voted for three
My objective this cycle is to "vote a few out." That being the case, it's best to use the power of all 8 votes, stacking as many "against" votes as you can.
If your objective is to put your three favorite folks on, and don't give a shit who the other 5 are, then vote for 3.
Re: [livendive] How the 2007-2008 USPA President Won His Third Term
[In reply to]
Can't Post
In Reply To
Sounds good, but it doesn't take into account the whole name recognition thing, which is what I think gets most NDs elected. The average skydiver won't vote. Of those who do, most will put checkmarks next to their favorites, and then pick the rest of their eight allotted votes with names they recognize.
Blues, Dave
You're absolutely right about name recognition votes. This is why I've never advocated voting for the sake of voting. I've used apathy to what I think is the collective advantage. I've handed out ballots, and offered to take care of the postage, double check for errors, etc. All but one of the folks I asked to vote was more than willing (on a windy day) to fill out a ballot. They also all said something like "OK, but who should I vote for." I show them a ballot with suggestions of who I like, who I don't like, those I'm apathetic about, those I know nothing about, etc.
The number of folks who are actively interested in this election are few. But if the few of us in and lurking this discussion each multiplied his vote by 5, 10, or even 20 in this manor, we can damn sure tip the name recognition votes!
