James Bradley <<jb183>>
writes:

What’s behind the change:

• If two great candidates run for one seat in a regional election, only one of
  them can win, and the organization loses out. In a national election, both
  of them can be elected, while still guaranteeing every other region at least
  one seat on the board. (Please read the proposal for details on how this
  works.)


• When a long-time regional director is running for re-election, they often
  run unopposed. Other people with valuable skills and energy, who might be
  interested in participating, can feel they’d be taking something away from
  the organization by defeating an established player, as well as being
  unlikely to win in the first place. So they stay away. In a national
  election, a new person running need not displace a valuable long-time
  director. There will be four seats up for election every year, with
  staggered two year terms. There will be a meaningful candidate questionnaire
  that gives the voters real perspective on who each candidate is, what they
  bring, and why they want to do all this free work. The membership will be
  able to choose from a real slate.


• A number of people have been on USHPA’s board for decades, a few since the
  70s. With committees composed almost entirely of board members, USHPA’s
  governance has felt like a closed club. In fact the group has been welcoming
  of new participation, but you never knew that if you didn’t physically
  attend a board meeting. By better separating the board from the committees,
  we hope to attract new energy to both, while continuing to include the the
  wise old guard. With national elections, we hope to have some of our most
  experienced people and also interesting new people with valuable abilities,
  running as candidates. (Will you, dear reader, step up? Please think about
  it.


• It’s been written that our voter turnout in regional elections has been low
  because our members are too busy with their lives to vote. An odd
  conclusion. USHPA’s members show a lot of engagement when they think it
  matters. In a regional election, with one unopposed candidate, why would you
  vote? The low regional turnout doesn’t say anything about what might happen
  in a national election.


• For me, the biggest thing is that regional elections make us
  feel like a fragmented organization, like we’re sending our tribe’s warrior
  off to the council of tribes, to stake our region’s claims against the
  others. USHPA isn’t a bunch of fractious regional tribes, it’s one national
  organization, one community. It needs to feel more like that. We think
  national elections will help us all feel more positively connected to our
  other members around the country.