The endorsement process as I have seen it consists of getting the executive
committee of each group to vote on the endorsement of candidates in their
area.  I thought that there was going to be a survey sent to the candidates
with copies given to the decision makers to make their job a bit smoother,
but didn't see any such forms in our area.

Is this process set in stone, or does the leadership style of the person in
charge of the process help direct it?  I recall signing up for a discussion
of the Sierra Club candidates and never receiving anything after the email
confirmation that I was on the list.  Perhaps we could do some discussion
in a public forum such as this list next time.

Peggy Murdock

At 03:19 PM 5/18/00 , you wrote:
>Carl,
>Thank you for your response. I expected to hear more replies.  Yours
>is the first response from outside the Iowa City area.
>
>You may feel that this is a process that occurs from the bottom up.
>It may be...however in relation to the old adage, is the cup
>half-full or half-empty, our endorsement cup appears to be filled
>straight from the top with no room in the Sierra Club Cup for seepage
>from beneath.
>
>Also, no mention was made in your email concerning the method to
>determine how a 2/3 majority vote is rounded.  Perhaps, this not
>being your specific duty with the organization, someone at the
>national level will address this issue.  Also since National wants a
>Leach endorsement as bad as they do, they may not want to tell me how
>we are suppose to count our votes.
>
>Remember...... No endorsement does not state that there is no
>support!  He knows we are watching him.  He knows what he needs to do
>to keep us happy.  If he doesn't support our views he also know he
>will catch hell from us and.....maybe not get an endorsement!  So it
>is time for James Leach to get his wake up call!
>
>In researching how our State of Iowa operates their elections one of
>our Chapter ExCom members found that Iowa State Laws require a
>rounding up to meet their percentage requirements.  In our case...
>2/3 is 9.33 votes.  If you round down, you do not have a 2/3 count.
>Therefore, Congressman Leach, who has won a rounded down 2/3 majority
>of votes, has not fully won his endorsement from the Iowa Chapter of
>the Sierra Club.  His endorsement is garnered from the top and is
>therefore merely a superficial endorsement and means very little in
>Iowa City.
>
>Rex Bavousett
>
>
>At 12:36 PM -0500 5/18/00, Carl Zichella wrote:
>>Rex:
>>
>>Thanks for your note.  I respect and share some of your feelings about
>>double standards.
>>
>>Endorsements in our organization are done from the bottom up. However we
>>also realize that sometimes congressional endorsements affect the entire
>>nation and not just the area of one group.  Leach's endorsement is one such
>>endorsement.  I realize this was somewhat controversial for some folks.  The
>>LCV rating is an excellent tool and by and large a terrific indicator of
>>environmental support.  But many things don't get captured in LCV ratings,
>>and that is a main point in both Jonathan's and my notes.  Sometimes we need
>>to consider other factors, and I respectfully submit Rex, that this is one
>>of those cases.  I can recall an election about a decade ago where the
>>Arizona Chapter balked at supporting Morris Udall (D-AZ) -- champion of
>>Alaska wilderness -- over a dispute regarding a coal slurry pipeline in
>>Arizona, which we opposed.  That issue notwithstanding, we simply HAD to
>>endorse Udall, or risk losing our champion on the Arctic National Wildlife
>>Refuge Wilderness bill, now known as the Morris K. Udall Wilderness Act.
>>Sometimes we have to look beyond one issue or occasionally a lower LCV score
>>to decide where our support should go.  I am sorry you disagree with us
>>about the need to support Mr. Leach.  I stand behind all the arguments I
>>made in my memo to your chapter, and would be happy to discuss them with you
>>further if you wish.  My phone number is listed at the end of this response.
>>
>>So you know, my memo was written at the request of a chapter leader who
>>wanted my opinion.  I did not write anything about two-thirds votes or such
>>in my memo; I think you may be confusing my memo with Jonathan Ela's.
>>Jonathan is our political committee liaison, and one of our most experienced
>>national conservation leaders. Jonathan agreed with me that we should
>>endorse Leach and I think it was probably he who reminded folks about the
>>process.  Incidentally, neither of us knew the other had written to your
>>chapter.
>>
>>For the record, I strongly oppose any idea that we should have a double
>>standard for Republicans.  I do not view this decision as an indication that
>>one exists, and I do not believe the points in my memo support the idea that
>>we should generally treat Republicans differently.  We have given the same
>>sort of consideration to Democrats whose LCV ratings sometimes do not
>>reflect their total support for our work.  A good example in past years has
>>been our endorsements for Rep Dave Obey (D-WI), a great friend who, because
>>he is ranking member of the appropriations committee, does not sign onto
>>Dear Colleague letters or cosponsor some bills that are scored like votes on
>>LCV's charts.  While his LCV rating is sometimes lackluster, Rep. Obey
>>fights hard to keep riders off appropriations bills, something you'd never
>>see in an LCV rating, and something that has been essential to us over the
>>last six years.
>>
>>I submit that Leach plays a similar role in the Republican caucus and
>>challenges the anti-environmental troglodytes we fight with in the resources
>>committee and elsewhere.  You don't get LCV points for that, and too few
>>Republicans do it (Jim Ramstad (R-MN), John Porter (R-IL) and Vern Ehlers
>>(R-MI) are several other MW Republicans whose endorsements have been
>>influenced by their leadership in this area).  He also did better, even
>>considering the LCV rating, than any other congressman, regardless of party
>>affiliation, from Iowa.  Only Senator Harkin was more supportive according
>>to the LCV.  Perhaps most importantly, he is the main cosponsor of the
>>Sierra Club's ECL bill (otherwise known as "McKinney-Leach)", a top national
>>priority of this organization.  That should count for a great deal, wouldn't
>>you agree?  Yet it is not reflected in his 2000 LCV rating.    Jonathan's
>>original memo made salient observations on this point so I won't re-plow old
>>ground here.  I think this is an endorsement that was well-justified, and
>>which we can, as an organization, feel good about.  That being said, your
>>point about taking care not to have a double standard is well-taken and one
>>I agree with.  I don't believe a double standard was applied for Jim Leach.
>>
>>Though your group did not support the endorsement, the other group in
>>Leach's CD strongly did.  The Chapter concurred, although less strongly.  It
>>was a close vote, as it often the case for endorsements. But now that we
>>have endorsed Leach the entire Sierra Club must respect that endorsement, as
>>I'm sure you're aware.  I look forward to working with you in the future and
>>thanks for both your passion and your work.
>>
>>Thanks again for your passion and work.
>>
>>Best regards,
>>
>>Carl Zichella
>>Midwest Regional Staff Director
>>Sierra Club
>>214 N. Henry Street, Suite 203
>>Madison, WI 53703
>>(608) 257-4994 (v)
>>(608) 257-3513 (fax)
>>(608) 335-8084 (mobile)
>>[log in to unmask]
>>www.sierraclub.org
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Rex L. Bavousett [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>>Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2000 12:42 PM
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Cc: [log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask];
>>[log in to unmask]; [log in to unmask];
>>[log in to unmask]
>>Subject: If you call this an Endorsement of Leach
>>
>>
>>For your information,
>>
>>I am Rex Bavousett, Chair of the Iowa City Area Group of the Sierra
>>Club. For the record, my group voted not to endorse our U.S.
>>Congressman James Leach of the 1st District of Iowa.
>>
>>Speaking on behalf of the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club, Debbie
>>Neustadt our Political Chair, has announced that we, the Iowa Chapter
>>ExCom, have once again endorsed U.S. Congressmen James Leach of the
>>1st district of Iowa.  This meets with the assumed approval of the
>>National Sierra Club Board of Directors, and with the MidWest
>>Regional Office in Madison.
>>
>>Let it be known that this endorsement does not come at a cheap price
>>for such a narrowly won endorsement.  It has caused a somewhat
>>emotional debate over the apparent double standards of how
>>endorsements are to be determined. It affects how a Group ExCom feels
>>its voice is heard.  The way it stands,....if a Democrat has an
>>environmental voting record of 56 from the League of Conservation
>>Voters we would not endorse the Democrat.  However if a Republican
>>has a voting record of 56 from the League of Conservation Voters we
>>Sierran's can't wait to get the guy endorsed.
>>
>>This is where we currently stand with Leach.  Yes, Leach is a nice
>>guy!  Yes, he has helped the environment in the past and he will help
>>it in the future!  His LCV record has been higher in years past.
>>However since his record has slipped in the last two years many of us
>>here in Iowa feel that we should not over praise him with our whole
>>hearted endorsement.  Let me remind you that by not endorsing a
>>candidate, the action in itself, does not imply that we are opposed
>>to the candidate.  Many of us here in Iowa feel that Leach needs to
>>listen better to our environmental voice if he wishes to retain our
>>praise and endorsement.
>>
>>Congressman Leach represents the majority of the Iowa City Area Group
>>members.  Approximately 650 members. Our Group ExCom chose not
>>endorse Leach primarily because of his poor LCV record.  After
>>several Chapter ExCom members submitted their votes to the Chapter
>>Political Committee, our ExCom listserve began to have emails pushing
>>for us to endorse.
>>
>>Carl Zichella sent one of these emails.  He wanted to add his two
>>points: 1) a plead for us to endorse Leach     2) he set our
>>Political Committee straight that we needed a 2/3 majority vote to
>>endorse and not just a majority as the committee was initially
>>tallying.  Thank you Carl for this input.
>>
>>I am open to discussion, however I feel that when it comes to
>>deciding who to endorse at the Group or Chapter level, we must
>>decided this on our own.  The Group does not need the Chapter
>>breathing down our backs, and the Chapter does not need the Regional
>>or National Office pushing on them.  If the higher-ups want this to
>>be democratic, then let us decide on our own.  Otherwise it is a Big
>>Brother Totalitarian organization.
>>
>>Out of 14 votes by our Chapter ExCom, 9 were cast for the Endorsement
>>of Leach.  As stated by Carl, a 2/3 majority requires 9.33 votes out
>>of 14 to pass.  Again we had only 9 and the Political Committee
>>rounded the required to 9.  However, according to Robert's Rules and
>>if we follow how our State Government operates, we should have
>>rounded up.  This would then require 10 votes to endorse Leach....and
>>10 votes he did not have!  Thus we should not have endorsed U.S.
>>Congressman James Leach of the 1st District of Iowa.
>>
>>Examples, from Robert's Rules:
>>1. If the total vote count is 30, a 2/3 vote is 20 votes.
>>2. If the total vote count is 31, a 2/3 vote is 21 votes. (2/3 of 31 is
>>20.67.)
>>3. If the total vote count is 32, a 2/3 vote is 22 votes. (2/3 of 32 is
>>21.33.)
>>
>>Therefore, In my opinion, we did not vote by a 2/3 vote to endorse
>>Rep. Jim Leach in his Congressional race, and I am not the only one
>>on the Chapter ExCom that feels this way!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>--
>>Rex Bavousett
>>Sierra Club
>>Iowa City Area Group Chair
>>Iowa Chapter Webmaster
>>45 Juniper Ct. North Liberty, IA 52317
>>[log in to unmask]
>>319-626-7862 home
>>319-384-0053 work
>>319-384-0055 fax
>>http://www.iowa.sierraclub.org/
>
>--
>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>Rex L. Bavousett
>Photographer
>University of Iowa
>Our old name:  University Relations - Publications
>Our new name:  University Communications & Outreach - Publications
>100 OPL, Iowa City, IA 52242
>
>http://www.uiowa.edu/~urpubs/
>mailto:[log in to unmask]
>voice: 319 384-0053
>fax: 319 384-0055
>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
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