Posted by Scarlet Olivia in Observation and questions for all candidates
I know that there are going to be plenty of people who leap up and do their darnedest to go ‘Scarlet you are wrong, boooooo’ but I’ve noticed something.

So far all I have seen is one candidate going and saying what they would like to change, what they see is broken and every other candidate doing their darndest to say ‘nothing is broken, nothing to see here, move along’. Then I see the current Prez and VP leap in and have their hackles raised, politely of course, but do their best to prove that the one candidate who would like to change things is either, making accusations or is ‘wrong’ or something along those lines. Everyone is trying so darned hard to make it sound like things are running smoothly, that there needs to be no changes or anything of the sort that it has me highly suspicious. I’m the kind of person who starts questioning when people seem to be leaping in to all sing the same song save for the one person those singing the same tune are singing as loud as they can to drown out.

Let’s review some of the things we’ve said so far, shall we?

The Personnel Department is not running like it should be and its been like that nearly the last year. As far as I can tell, we haven’t had more than two people playing a significant role in that department since last August. And there have been times it has been one, and no matter who that one is that isn’t going to work out well. Responsiveness is the name of the game in that department. Now, for much of this term I was a big part in making that department as responsive as possible considering there were only two people fully trained to contribute. But the “only two people” part of that needs to be fixed. It was an issue on Daniel’s radar that he did put effort into fixing this term. But we didn’t end up quite getting there and I’ll be keeping a close eye on this throughout this term. Maybe that means pushing others to get us up and running or maybe it means recruiting staff there or training the staff myself. I’m planning on taking the needed action.

The Mentorship Program has been mostly ignored. This term it was moved from the Personnel Department to the Academy, where it makes more sense anyhow. A current list of mentors to assign to mentor-requesting people entering the club does not exist. It hasn’t existed all term. Right now the Commandant is working on creating that list once again. There needs to be training and accountability for our mentors from the Academy staff to get this program functioning and an active Mentors Coordinator. That will be a challenge the Academy will be facing, and the President needs to be aware of the support the Academy may need as they tackle it.

The Command Mentorship Program is something I don’t think most people know exists, especially those who actually would benefit from it. I helped lay the groundwork for this program, and it’s still in place. This just needs to be advertised so members know they can get personal mentorship to learn to be a DH, an XO, or a CO.

I brought up that our cabinet needs to have good judgment, be present, and be competent. While we do have some cabinet members ticking all those boxes now, there’s always room for improvement. And that’s improvement we’re planning on making by choosing cabinet members who meet those criteria. We’ll lead them by example by demonstrating the qualities we expect from our leaders.

Those are not only changes, they are changes that make the club better. I think the changes we’re after will walk the line of being significant enough to make a difference and attainable enough to realistically possible. If you’re looking for a remaining ticket that will take enough action to make improvements I feel that is ours.

Worse, when the current elected individuals get in and seem to do the same stuff. Makes me wonder what has people so afraid that they want to stamp down this one individual voice. I don’t really get the agenda, I know there is one and I know denial is going to be quick. Before anyone leaps at me and says I am making accusations, I’m not, I am just voicing something that seems to be a way and weather someone thinks I am right or wrong is their opinion, just as this is mine. It seemed to me, as the election only had one candidate till almost the deadline, that people threw in just to make things go slowly. As if last minute, people drew straws and then signed up. The only times I have ever seen a concentrated will to move an election is when TJ ran. He was a uniting force that got everyone involved in a rally and his absence? Creates a ponderous cycle where old faces plod in just to fill a slot and younger people or people new to the politics just try to give it a shot.

Not how this happened and almost at the deadline is a bit of an exaggeration. I first realized my life could work out in mid-June that I could run for President this term if I wanted to. I was traveling out of state when the election started I didn’t have the benefit of knowing for certain I could run, so my entry was a couple days later. I wanted to hit the ground running after we had thoroughly discussed and carefully considered our goals and I believe we did just that. Running a hastily thrown together campaign was not something I had an interest in.

I was no fan of TJ, but that man was great at getting elections active and getting everyone involved. I actually miss that, the elections he was involved in were always memorable… So, my question is, what will the candidates do to bring back energy to this club? I have heard stories that in the Club’s heyday there were 300+ people, but we’ve dropped down to what, 90 people? Most of those people have circled the drain as the same faces in different positions over and over again. Every election, I see like, maybe twenty people every year. What are you guys planning to give new faces a chance to step in so those who have done the running of the government, over and over and over again can take a rest should they wish it?

Great question. Part of the problem is most of the new faces don’t have enough experience to feel comfortable serving in the cabinet. The key is to get some active people into the assistant roles, especially those who may not think of volunteering to try it but would be quite good. I made a couple suggestions of these sorts of people for the current administration. I’m already thinking of a couple of new people I think would be great to get plugged in as assistants this term that I intend to suggest.

As far as bringing back energy to the club, we’re already starting to see that with the effort being put into community events. The execs need to support that effort as it’ll be key in making this a place people want to join and don’t want to leave.

Also, how as Prez will you have your VP active? From where I sit, the VP is largely known, but mostly unseen. I am sure there is a lot of stuff behind the scenes, but they largely do nothing unless the Prez cannot. So how will things be different with you and how are you planning to make them your partner so that you share the load and weather the stupidity we all know comes with a government position? I’m curious to know more about what the heck a VP does and how things will be different with yours, unless as usual there is nothing and no reason to change anything at all?

—Scarlet

As VP I wrote the instructions now on the Academy MOTD for the Command Mentorship Program. I promoted that program. I helped by reviewing and writing posts and e-mails. I moderated Command. I made news feed posts. I helped prioritize the President’s to-do list when she got swamped by life. I spent a lot of time investigating major issues with the Academy and encouraging those who needed it and fielding their complaints, and relaying everything back to the President. I kept an eye an the activity level in different parts of the club and helped address issues. I ended up signing up to staff the Academy, which needed to get back on track at the time. And I discussed all sorts of things with the President that she needed to decide on. That’s what’s coming to me off the top of my head anyhow. In a nutshell I did what was needed to help the President achieve objectives and deal with the issues that popped up.

I see Thomas doing the same sorts of tasks that I did for Linds. He will be active, which I think you can tell by reading this board. I have been very impressed by how much time he puts in, including with effort put in behind the scenes. He brings wisdom and experience and expertise in different aspects of the club than I have. We’ve been helping each other by making what the other person writes better, and I’m sure that will continue when tricky situations to deal with pop up. He’s great at looking at the big picture and sometimes he’ll bring up a key point I hadn’t thought of. I think we’ll make a great team.

Thanks for the excellent questions.

Adam
Adam W / Thomas B