After perusing the list of candidates for Regional Directors in 2003 ( http://www.jcna.com/library/news/2002/jcna0104.html ), I must admit being a little disappointed and perplexed. I am very happy to see that we actually have a couple of "races" going on, where voters have a choice of candidates. But I am disappointed to see the majority of regions with only one candidate running and one region with no candidate. We have been reminded to encourage our fellow club members to vote, given the disappointingly low voter turnout in recent elections. But why should they vote? If there is no race (only one candidate) why even bother sending in a ballot? What will it change?

I also do not understand why a club with 5,000++ members ends up with the same people running for Regional Director year after year, term after term. Something is wrong here.

Not to take anything away from the excellent work done by previous Regional Directors who have given generously of their own time, money and sweat to make JCNA a better club, I believe that one of the duties of a Regional Director should be to FIND A SUITABLE REPLACEMENT! Regional Directors are supposed to out there beating the bushes, talking to local club presidents, membership secretaries etc. in their own regions. They are supposed to be in constant contact with the kind of people that would make great regional directors. Wouldn't it be great if, come nomination time, the serving regional director would announce "Daniel Thompson, outgoing Regional Director for the Northeast is proud to nominate Xxxxxx and Yyyyyyy as candidates to succeed him; please study their platforms carefully and vote accordingly". In my opinion (and it is only my opinion), a Regional Director who gets re-elected has failed in one of his/her responsibilities.

This club needs young, fresh people to give it renewed enthusiasm. A lot of the responsibility for finding these people lies with the Regional Directors. I encourage persons who may be interested in serving JCNA at the national level to contact their local regional director and indicate their willingness to help.

A listing of current regional directors can be found here: http://www.jcna.com/regional_directors.html

Respectfully submitted,

Daniel Thompson

JCNA vice-president

Regional Director, Northeast

Submitted by vincent.devos@… on Thu, 09/05/2002 - 00:00

All very valid points Pascal, Bravo! I'll be sending a copy of your reply to all the Regional Directors. Something they can mull over in preparation for the upcoming Board of Directors meeting.

Daniel

Submitted by anim30@yahoo.com on Thu, 09/05/2002 - 00:00

you raise some valid points but I think there are aditional issues which are at the root of this problem.

1)- what are the duties of a regional director ? Is there something which tells people who might be interested what is expected of them ?

Yes, there are a few paragraphs on that in the bylaws but it's very general. Even basic issues of travelling costs should be mentioned : how often will they have to attend meetings, other club events, etc..

2)- Members don't really know much about regional directors. The july issue of the JJ, the one right before the deadline, only mentioned the nominations. Very visible but brief. Maybe it should have been addressed more thouroughy. Clubs should be reminded as well, via an annoucement sent around may/june so that it can be announced and discussed at club board or monthly meetings and appear in newsletters.

3)- raising interest in the election process is JCNA's duty. How come we didn't receive something from the nomination committe to publish on the website around june ? a post on the issue's forum maybe ? reminding people about the nomination process ?

I don't know how early most nominations come in, but assuming they normally come in a few weeks before the deadline, clubs in regions where no one volunteered should have been notified as well to motivate candidatures.

4)- Just like there are committee reports within JCNA, shouldn't there be regional director reports ? covering regional issues, how clubs are doing in their region, what are the concerns, what contact did the directors have with each clubs, on what issues, etc. etc...

Pascal