Laverne Tornow
the logical choice
Philosophy
It is my belief that the County Coordinators (CC) of USGenWeb are best served by the Southeast Mid-Atlantic CC Representative BEING a CC, not a State Coordinator (SC) or Assistant State Coordinator (ASC)as they have their own representation. A CC Rep should stand up for the rights of the Coordinators in their region against State Coordinators, Assistant State Coordinators or other Advisory Board members. They should be able to put aside their personal preferences and project the preferences of their constituents. I strongly believe in the one person -- one vote system used in the democratic process of electing our leaders.
The members of the USGenWeb Project should be protected by a Coordinator Bill of Rights or other document that delineates the responsibilities and RIGHTS of the membership. Such a document should be strictly adhered to by the Advisory Board and all committees, groups or commissions, State Coordinators or other governing authorities of the project in all matters. This is an area that I feel USGenWeb is lacking and would strive to initiate such a document being adopted by the project. The Advisory Board should work to reach compromises that are palatable to the whole whenever possibe. This requires a bit of give and take from each of us.
While the gathering of genealogy and history data is the main focus of this organization, some have forgotten that while the data is important, our CCs are the most valuable asset we have. Without the members diligently working to place data on the county sites there would be no reason for the existence of USGenWeb or any of its State or Special Projects. Therefore we must always protect, nurture and mentor our members in every way that we can. Some are very web savvy, while others have equally important things they bring to the table. Each branch, if you will, should complement and enhance the whole tree.
it is my belief that secrecy begets dissension and to that end I would encourage that USGenWeb operate "in the sunshine." It's so bright and cheery. Yes, there are some things that must be done with a modicum of privacy such as matters of personnel, but privacy and secrecy are not equal.
Before you make any decision about any candidate you should look at their web page if they have one and initiate a conversation with them to determine if their ideas and yours are symbiotic. Get to know all the candidates, then cast your vote.
Remember it is not who you vote for that really matters. What matters is that you exercise your right and privilege of voting. If you don't vote, don't complain about who is elected as YOUR vote could have been the one that turned the tide!
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© 2009 Laverne Tornow | Original design by Andreas Viklund.