Class Politics Ross for NA VP

gouvernail

Super Opinionated and Always Correct
Certainly there is nothing more political than a campaign thread.
I think the class could use a young eager pain disturbing the comfort of those who prefer cooperative get along members.
Our current VP has been contributing to the class in the same manner for many years. He knows what the class needs from him and will continue to do exactly as he does whether he holds office or not.
Ross would bring his youthful and unbridled enthusiasm to teh office. There would still be plenty of sedentary old folks who can easily out vote or overrule Ross' flurry of proposals. But...If Ros is an officer, somebody will have to actuallyu THGINK and respond with real reasons.

PLUS?? Ross has another 50 years of sailing in him. The current VP is almost as old as our "oldest ever" current NA Class president. There is not much point in training a replacement who is also bound for the nursing home.

Ross for VP.
Vote early!
vote often!!

Actually, it may be necessary to elect some young District secretaries as only district 16 has anybody under 30 who can vote in the election.

Anybody have a campaign slogan??

I'm gonna campaign
for the guy who's a pain


It will be a big loss
if we don't elect Ross

He may be bold
but the others are old

This class of mine
it needs to shine
let's get some gloss
vote for Ross
 
Actually, it may be necessary to elect some young District secretaries as only district 16 has anybody under 30 who can vote in the election.

Get with the times, old man! I resigned as District 18 secretary a couple of months ago to 18-year-old John Shockey.
 
This is cool. Great idea. we need to keep this post going. get someone to make it a stickey?? on all the forums? i mean 25,000 posts in laser sailing vs 2,500 posts... but i know bradley likes threads in their place. When i get home i'll make a 'neat-o' banner for people to put in their signatures!!!
 
This is cool. Great idea. we need to keep this post going. get someone to make it a stickey?? on all the forums? i mean 25,000 posts in laser sailing vs 2,500 posts... but i know bradley likes threads in their place. When i get home i'll make a 'neat-o' banner for people to put in their signatures!!!

hahaha thats great
 
well Tracy, your on the board, how can we make this happen?
 
Dr. Usher probably won't have a chance to check the forum for a while. He's at a work conference this week.
 
well we will just have to make sure to ask him when he gets back then
 
how about this:
the direct link is http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/9440/rossbforvpjv7.jpg
i might have to change it because the "y" in "early" was cut off.
what do you think????

rossbforvpjv7.jpg
 
I like it!, keep em coming!


Ross, if you are really serious about entering Laser Class politics, I suggest that you work your way up a bit. For example, have you ever run a regatta? If you have only sailed in them, it's hard to know how involved they are. Maybe you could be your district's secretary and find out if it's even something that you'd like to do? I did it for two years and at times it's a lot of work. I had to give it up in favor of my work.

Also, just because Fred Schroth says that Eric Faust is ready to move on doesn't make it so. You could have a struggle on your hands. There's nothing wrong with a struggle, but it's easier when you've established a support base, which you would have a better opportunity to do as a district secretary.

Good luck with it, whatever you do.
 
Like I said before, I would love to hold a position later on after college and when I can support myself. Coming up through the ranks is fine, and makes the most sense. But if you guys find it absolutely necessary to make me the NA VP now, you guys gotta write me in, and if you get me in, I will do the job.
 
On the other hand, Ross, if you have no experience of politics, you can use your ignorance to advantage. Ignorance is bliss, and we should all strive for blissfulness! Don't be scared of those scowling old people, Ross.

Here's a publicity trick:

First meeting you turn up too, invite a local rest home to attend in their monogramed cars, complete with doctors in white coats and stretcher bearers..and of course busty "nurses". :cool:

Hold a press conference and play on the "new young blood" ticket. Tell the world that the doctor has come to take the old guard to the rest home. Any hecklers, just direct the stretcher beares to them.

That'll go down a treat with the 4.7 kids! Work the angles!
 
I'm glad you are having fun with this :D, but you do realize that the general members don't vote on this? As Gouvernail pointed out in the first post, only District Secretaries and board members can vote on this.
 
well I'll stick with what I'm saying, if you can make it happen, I will gladly hold position.
 
I'm totally committed to this campaign! Even if I have to shift countries. You can borrow my nurse for the press conference:

lg83076.jpg


the old boys will leave voluntarily with her.
 
seeeexy


Merrliy you bring up a good point, our district reps and the current board has to vote on people

why is this? is this not a class of the people? why can't the members vote on who they want?

in my view, there would be internet board where a person posts an "ad" on themselves, trying to sell themselves on the position they want, and the people vote on who they want
 
Ross - just think.

How many Laser sailors are there in North America? Tens of thousands maybe?

How many are current class members? A few thousand maybe?

So why would a guy like you full of great ideas want to work with the old geezers like me who dominate the current minority class organization? You should start your own Laser class for the majority who are not in the current old geezer class. Charge $5 a year membership, hold the AGM at Hooters, and provide free beer. Pass motions legalizing JC straps, home made hulls, and carbon fiber daggerboards. Organize Not_the_official_Laser_class regattas and charge $2 entry fees and provide free beer. Run a campaign to be President of the Galactic_not_the_official_Laser_class on a platform of JC straps for all (and free beer). Go for it kiddo. Don't believe you're gonna have more time when you're out of college. You'll never have more time and energy to change the world than you have now. Kick some butt. Carpe diem.
 
seeeexy


Merrliy you bring up a good point, our district reps and the current board has to vote on people

why is this? is this not a class of the people? why can't the members vote on who they want?

in my view, there would be internet board where a person posts an "ad" on themselves, trying to sell themselves on the position they want, and the people vote on who they want

Same reason that the President of the United States is elected by an electoral college and not directly by the people. In both cases the folk who wrote the constitutions were scared that if the people directly elected their leaders they might choose crazy wild-eyed loons like you or Al Gore.
 
yea but the general people in the laser class have no say

at least we get to vote for the Pres of the US
 
yea but the general people in the laser class have no say

at least we get to vote for the Pres of the US

No we don't. We vote for the electoral college who vote for POTUS. (If POTUS elections were based on who got the most votes from the people then Al Gore would have won in 2000).

In the Laser class we vote for district reps who vote for POLCNA.

Same difference. Same reason.
 
man, when do district reps get voted on? every ten years? Nils Anderson has been doing it forever her in 25
 
man, when do district reps get voted on? every ten years? Nils Anderson has been doing it forever her in 25

No one votes on district reps. In my district the position had been empty for several years, so when I stepped up, the class secretaries welcomed me. If you want to head your district, make it known to Nils Anderson and to Sherri Campbell and Jerelyn Biehl of One Design Management. I interviewed my replacement and liked his ideas and enthusiasm. Maybe Nils is just doing the job because no one else will and would be glad to step down. If you really want the job, ask her (him?).

Here's what I did as district sec:

Maintained a district website.

Kept a list of all the Laser fleets in the district with the current names of fleet captains and addresses of the clubs.

Badgered the fleet captains for the dates of their regattas.

Sent e-mail notifications to all the class members in the district as regatta dates came up.

Chose the venue for the district grand prix/championship.

Submitted a list of the district regattas to the Laser Sailor in the early spring and early summer.

Submitted district reports four times a year to the Laser Sailor. These were write ups of the regattas and district activity.

Voted once for a candidate for the ex-committee.
 
man, when do district reps get voted on? every ten years? Nils Anderson has been doing it forever her in 25

ILCA By-Law 2: District General By-Law clearly lays out the rules under which districts must hold Annual General Meetings and elect their officers. Surely Ross as an interested member of the class you have been attending your district AGM every year and paying attention to such matters? :rolleyes:
 
ILCA By-Law 2: District General By-Law clearly lays out the rules under which districts must hold Annual General Meetings and elect their officers. Surely Ross as an interested member of the class you have been attending your district AGM every year and paying attention to such matters? :rolleyes:

They vote for the executive-committee officers. I don't know if there is a vote for the district secretaries. I never held an AGM, nor was it mentioned to me that I was supposed to? I could have done it at the Grand Prix regatta. Do you have a link to the bylaws? I guess if I had really been on the ball I would have read those suckers!
 
... if the people directly elected their leaders they might choose crazy wild-eyed loons like you ...

Come on now, Ross does not have wild eyes!

(pssst, Ross, you have them on the run with their "official" talk
of actually having to do/done something. Keep pushing your issues, they can't take much more and will fold.)

Did I mention there will be chocolate for the ladies? :eek:

Yes, it's true. :cool:

If elected, Ross will not require ladies to have a rhombus on their sail. It will instead be the official TM of Hershey's Chocolate Co. All women competitors will recieve a Hershey's pack of "dietary supplements". This demonstrates that our candidate, Ross Bennet - Man for, and of, the people - recognises the issues facing modern women.

Vote Ross - for "New Boss".
 
If elected, Ross will not require ladies to have a rhombus on their sail. It will instead be the official TM of Hershey's Chocolate Co. All women competitors will recieve a Hershey's pack of "dietary supplements". This demonstrates that our candidate, Ross Bennet - Man for, and of, the people - recognises the issues facing modern women.

Vote Ross - for "New Boss".

Well, you were turning me off with the nurse thing, but I'm interested again.
 
They vote for the executive-committee officers. I don't know if there is a vote for the district secretaries. I never held an AGM, nor was it mentioned to me that I was supposed to? I could have done it at the Grand Prix regatta. Do you have a link to the bylaws? I guess if I had really been on the ball I would have read those suckers!

The Bylaw about running a district is on page 44 of the ILCA Rules on the ILCA website (after all the stuff explaining why most of Ross's ideas are illegal).

I'm not sure that any North American District follows this Bylaw exactly but I do remember going to one District AGM where they at least asked if anyone wanted to stand for election as District Secretary and, of course, nobody did except the poor soul who had already been doing it for ten years.
 
Come on now, Ross does not have wild eyes!

(pssst, Ross, you have them on the run with their "official" talk
of actually having to do/done something. Keep pushing your issues, they can't take much more and will fold.)

this is what I was hoping for, nag enough and hopefully somebody will get it lol



[/QUOTE]
If elected, Ross will not require ladies to have a rhombus on their sail. [/QUOTE]

seriously, the whole idea of the rhombus for women is ridiculous, if women get those, men should get like blue stars or something
 
The Bylaw about running a district is on page 44 of the ILCA Rules on the ILCA website (after all the stuff explaining why most of Ross's ideas are illegal).

I'm not sure that any North American District follows this Bylaw exactly but I do remember going to one District AGM where they at least asked if anyone wanted to stand for election as District Secretary and, of course, nobody did except the poor soul who had already been doing it for ten years.

Thanks for the link. I see that I should have held an AGM. I guess it all fell by the wayside when leadership lapsed for several years. I'll point it out to the new DS to see if he wants to hold a meeting. We vary quite a bit from those rules. We don't have a District Chairman. The DS is secondary to the Chairman, and we don't have a Treasurer or Measurer. So, out there to District 18, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in the running of the district.
 
Thanks for the link. I see that I should have held an AGM. I guess it all fell by the wayside when leadership lapsed for several years. I'll point it out to the new DS to see if he wants to hold a meeting. We vary quite a bit from those rules. We don't have a District Chairman. The DS is secondary to the Chairman, and we don't have a Treasurer or Measurer. So, out there to District 18, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in the running of the district.

I think that having a District Secretary who is the top or only official is the standard practice in North American districts.

Not sure why this region does it differently from the ILCA Bylaws but I guess it's probably related to the fact that in many parts of the world a Laser district is a whole country and the district organization is the one that collects the class dues, sends out membership cards, publishes the class newsletter, schedules national championships etc. whereas all that is done by the regional officers and staff in North America.
 
I think that having a District Secretary who is the top or only official is the standard practice in North American districts.

Not sure why this region does it differently from the ILCA Bylaws but I guess it's probably related to the fact that in many parts of the world a Laser district is a whole country and the district organization is the one that collects the class dues, sends out membership cards, publishes the class newsletter, schedules national championships etc. whereas all that is done by the regional officers and staff in North America.

It is standard practice and I think you are correct in your reasoning. I was doing the duties listed for the secretary in the bylaws. It is also probably why they didn't push a district meeting.
 
first>>
Elected or not,
I sincerely believe Ross will do more for the game of Laser sailing next year than Eric will do.
A also believe Eric did more for the game of Lasering between October 1999 and October 2001 than Ross will ever be able to accomplish.

Currently Ross has something Eric has lost. Ross has youthful enthusiasm.
Eric learned long ago that being carried away with enthusiasm generally results in a long walk back.
Ross doesn't know what the hell the above sentence means.

Our current set of old fart leaders ( and Easter Regatta chairmen) are about as eager to hear new ideas as Custer was eager to hear more indians. New ideas upset our daily patterns and force us to think and adjust.
New ideas upset and even remove our control...
People in charge hate new ideas.

Those who worry about lack of experience are generally the same people who are out of fresh ideas.

Enthusiasm is a concept created by the young and inexperienced.

I am well aware that our current leadership stepped in when the NA Laser game was at death's door.
Without a new form of edge and enthusiasm, their best efforts may pull it through.

last: Make yourself two lists.
a. Name one way Ross could make things worse!
b. Name one way he might make things better.

Then repeat until you cannot add to one or the other list.
 

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