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[65GT]

You have to give Don McKelvay big Kudos here.  There were only FOUR motions that would have added value to the membership experience here and Don McKelvay brought two of those forward.

This Mid-Winters crowd is tough and I think more than anything that's because other than Region Leaders this Mid-Winters crowd truly is the IBT Friends and Family type as was evidenced last year with the MoHo issue and will become more evident in Don's Badge Insert Change Motion (I'll address that next).

Don tried to fix what is an undisputable fact in this round.  Members don't have any CHOICES in officer elections in this club – none – nada – zip.  So when nominating committees do nothing but put forward THEIR slates of one nominee per position who cares?  It's old boyz club central.  Yet it's also an undeniable fact that this old boyz network has a 30 year consecutive failing record.  30 years of dropping memberships with that one 15 member year growth on '05 (the year I joined – yes I'm 1 of 15).

So they (International Leaders and past International leaders) all get on the mic and start defending the current system.  These committees merely screen the applicants and select the BEST ones.  HELLO?  30 years of FAILING leadership – HELLO?

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Individually these folks are the nicest folks on the planet.  You'd probably get along and have a great time with each and every one of them.  But you put this old boys club into a room together and listen to how they compare the officers of this club with US Presidents and all you can hear is the twilight zone music playing in the background.  ...and it just gets louder and louder and louder.

I had to step out of the room.  I don't know where this one ended up.  Nominating Committees should be endorsing one or more candidates after their interview yet passing any member that wants to run onto the membership for consideration – especially in light of 30 years of failure in this club.  Don't expect forward thinking to prevail on the 18th IF this motion comes up.  This old boyz network is only interested in the old boyz network.

You might think it's just a matter of time before this thought process changes but this old boyz network is going to continue on for as long as they can find like thinking members within the club and continue to push those like thinkers through nominating committees.

What happened here earlier with Franklin Sander's motion should make you ill.  No matter what avenue the Prez and the Parliamentarian thought they could create to kill that motion the bottom line is this:

In a deliberative society exactly what is the difference between a Delegate and a Proxy holder at a Delegates meeting where each and every Delegate and Alternate delegate are in fact proxy holders for the individuals that gave them their votes to carry to the International.  Pretty pathetic huh?