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/

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For SC email list T-and-C, send: GET TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS.CURRENT
to [log in to unmask]