By the Way, There’s This Election . . .

USA Fencing is once again electing members for its Board of Directors. We’re choosing two At-Large Directors from among five candidates, one Club Director from among two candidates, and one Volunteer Staff Director from among three candidates, which is the category I’m running in.

I hadn’t planned to run for the board at all, except that the email soliciting nominations happened to arrive at a time when I’d been more than usually frustrated following a board meeting. As Tournament Committee Chair, I don’t miss many board meetings, whether they’re in person or by conference call, and I often text with both board members and a few of my fellow spectators/auditors during those meetings. I realized, though, when I read that Nominating Committee email asking for potential candidates, that I often had points to make that weren’t being made by current board members, and that my perspective as a long-time national bout committee volunteer could be valuable.

So I updated my resume, wrote my cover letter, and sent them in. When the Nominating Committee declined to select me as one of their nominees for the Volunteer Staff slot, I collected a few pages of signatures and qualified by petition as a nominee. (One of my opponents signed my petition; the other declined but said he would have if I’d been running for one of the other board slots. I’d have done the same for them—we’re amicable rivals.)

If you’ve been reading my blog for even just a few months, you’ve got a good idea of my views. And I’ll be writing more off and on over the next few weeks. If you’d like a quick summary, or something you can print as a handout for others, here’s my candidate flyer. If you’ve got specific comments or questions for me, I’m including a contact form at the bottom of this post.

You can find information about the election and the rest of the candidates on the USA Fencing Election page here.

Voting will be conducted online from May 23 through June 10.

I’d appreciate your vote.

If you’ve got questions or comments for me, you can contact me privately via this contact form; otherwise, use the normal public comment field (moderated):