So it's basically then end of the "nominations timeframe" as officially announced by the BOD. They have still failed to email all members about this elections process, and they have also failed to email even those members "qualified" in the BOD's mind, the proper email address at which to submit nominations. They have made multiple attempts to censor member discuss, debate or efforts for members or organize and voluntarily bring some transparency to the process. The BOD has enacted an Elections Committee halfway through this nomination period, but there has been no official statement from the BOD regarding this..we've only heard from Rook, the committee leader. The closest thing we've heard is a pretty official looking post by Luis Magnasco which I discussed above, which lends no real credibility to the process nor clear explanations.
So, after completely botching this second attempt at an election process, the members on the whole are simply left clueless. Members who have NOT followed this situation closely are simply confused at best. I personally checked in with a member I know who was nominated, and found that he has not been notified of the nomination that was made. I don't know if this has happened to ALL nominees, or if select individuals are purposely being locked out.
It has also been brought to my attention that at least two members who are active MODERATORS are NOT listed on the Board published "eligibility list" of people members can nominate for the board. I already ranted about how they pulled some random qualifications out of the air for who could run for the BOD, but there are people who clearly should be on that list who are NOT. So now, not even being a moderator qualifies you necessarily.
http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/view ... 264&t=5218 - by all means, show me where Thales or Kmiec123 (my personal nomineee) are on that list?! There is virtually NO WAY these members fail to qualify as suitable candidates for the board elections. Or is it now also a qualification that you must not disagree with the BOD, but must support them regardless of the ethics or legality of their actions?
At any point in the last few days, the BOD could have come forward publicly to say "Sorry, we've made some mistakes, we're gonna have to restart this process". There has not been ANY clear apology to the members, assumption of responsibility for the oversights, miscommunications and mixed messages. There has been no BOD communication to inform the members of how this is planned to move forward, nor any timelines given (although the new BS bylaws clearly state that we have about 3 weeks left before the new BOD has to be in place). We are all left guessing.
Ya know, people have accused me of being paranoid, but so often in dealing with the people currently in charge at MOFIB, paranoia has actually just been "Good instincts". Coming at them with automatic distrust actually makes understanding the potential future so much more clear. I find myself wondering if the BOD has enacted the "Election Committee" simply as a diversionary tactic. I wonder if the public statements of Mark Vera that this elections process would have to be "extended" are another classic example of spinning the situation and telling members what they need to hear, solely to quiet dissent while they ram this unfair, flawed process through. We've seen it happen before. Magicians do it every day. Redirect.
Nice little side note - the thread about elections that disappeared for 2 days has been brought back.
http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/view ... 264&t=5071 - I wonder if the board simply removed it temporarily to send a "Clear Message", and to buy some time while they push things forward.
So again, I'll say that none of this reflects poorly on the elections committee. It's pretty much standard operating procedure for the current BOD and admins. By all means, if there is someone out there who supports them and their actions, I'd ask you to please explain the basis of your support.
I've said it on MOFIB, and I've seen other members say it and all those posts "disappear". So I'll say it here. I gave the BOD a fair chance. I gave Mr. Vera my full trust and cooperation and he used it to server the board's purposes, not the independent leadership he implied. He dropped the ball on some of the most basic, rudimentary tasks under his responsibility. It only takes reading through this full thread to realize that while I didn't trust the board, I did give Mr. Vera a fair chance, but on the whole, the board has blown it repeatedly, and the administrators and advisors have done nothing but support the board's decisions and actions.
So I strongly encourage the removal of the BOD through the proper channels, acknowledging that Mr. Vera may have to remain if there is no suitable replacement member from IL. I would propose the second order of business be cleaning out the rest of the administration and advisors who were all to willing to support the BOD's actions against the members. To steal a phrase - MOFIB needs CHANGE.
I strongly support those candidates who openly or silently have removal of the 3 seated BOD members as a first order of business. I'd hope that all members take ownership of their organization, communicate with each other, fight censorship, and work to ensure that there is no way the BOARD can manipulate the election to server their will....lest MOFIB's election mirror the failures in Iran. I believe MOFIB needs a CLEAN SLATE, and I don't think MOFIB can afford to wait another year for that to be a possibility. As far as I know, no one has nominated me to run for the board, and frankly, I still maintain that I would a) have to ask Renee's permissions and b) likely wouldn't anyway given that I'd be elected to work with people who I outright refuse to work with. Remember, I started MOFIB for ALL of you, not the 8 or so people hording power and protecting their positions. It's up to the members now to take their organization back.
I promise the members that if a good board is in place, I will be back supporting MOFIB and actively participating. If not, well, my wife is all for me starting MOFIB 2.0 and putting MOFIB out of business. I still don't agree with that, but hey, if my WIFE feels that way about it, well, that surprised even ME, but it also told me exactly what she thinks about the current situation.
). Skearse, I'm surprised to see you on this list, but I know that JARC has always been a strong supporter of MOFIB so I am glad to see that you are participating to help restore some stability to this organization. Mikegreen, frankly I don't feel I know you well at all, and I get the feeling that you're a friend of Mr. Kennedy's and don't see the big picture in this horrible mess. I could be completely wrong, I simply do not know you well. Thankfully, even if I cannot trust you to do a bang up or fair job, I know that there are four other poeple who I trust completely, being lead by someone who I know will take his job extremely seriously, so no worries. Overall, I believe this "third attempt" might actually fit the "third time is the charm" phrase. Maybe.....and that's a strong maybe.
