RSFA Board Election Candidates Set

Author: Phil Trubey

Date: March 13, 2022

Five members are vying for three seats on the RSF Association Board. The candidates are:

• Phil Trubey (RSFPost.com editor and writer of most articles on this site)
• Paul Seitz (Third time running, here's our article from the last time he ran)
• Laurel Lemarié (Incumbent board member, she is re-running for a second term)
• Courtney LeBeau (Second time running, here's our article from the last time she ran)
• Scott Thurman

Key Dates

• In about a month (mid April), the Association will mail candidate flyers to everyone.
• In about two months (May 12), there will be an in-person all candidates forum at the Association Annual Meeting. That's also when ballots are mailed to everyone.
• In about three months (June 13), is when all ballots must be received by.
• And in about 3 1/2 months on July 1st, the seven member Board is re-constituted with the three newly elected members.

Whither The RSF Post?

So, should I get elected, what will happen to the RSF Post? I am not planning any major changes. I am still going to be writing articles and will still recap Board meetings. The RSF Post used to have a Board President that wrote regular articles, so there needn't be a major conflict.

However, to be completely honest here, I'll be wearing two quite different hats if I'm elected. Being an effective Director means getting along with all other Board members. I'd be reducing my effectiveness as a Director if I continually annoyed another Director based on what I wrote. This won't mean I would stop advocating for what I think is right. I'll always do that. I just might have to tone down some of my rhetoric.

Honestly, I would be thrilled if other Association members were to start writing more frequent articles. I would be ecstatic if an aspiring writer were to write the Board meeting recaps instead of me. And now that Board meetings are available for later playback online, you don't even have to attend those Thursday morning meetings. You can review meetings at night (and even skip over the boring bits!) and compose an article then. Writing is an enjoyable activity for the write person (couldn't resist). So please consider writing for the RSF Post and let me know at editor@rsfpost.com.

I Want To Be Your Director

I've kinda fallen into an unofficial ombudsman roll as editor of the RSF Post. People will reach out to me and ask questions about this or that, or complain about something that's bothering them. When I can and when the situation is serious enough, I've acted as a mediator between the Association and the member. Other times, all I can do is direct people to an appropriate Board member or the General Manager.

I want to remain accessible. Kinda of a funny story. Many years ago, I tried to contact an Association Board member, but didn't have their contact info (I find it amazing that to this day, there's still no official way to contact a Board member directly), so I called the Association offices, and here's how the conversation with the then receptionist went:

• Me: Hi xxx, this is Phil Trubey, I was wondering if I could figure out a way to reach xxx [the Board President]?
• Receptionist: I don't have his contact info, may I ask what this is regarding?
• Me: Well, I just wanted to ask him some questions about yesterday's Board meeting.
• Receptionist: Let me put on you on hold and see if I can get you that information ... No one is available at the moment to take the call, but if you have a specific question, I can relay it.
• Me: OK, I want to have a conversation with him. Can you get back to me on how to get hold of him?
• Receptionist: Do you have a specific question and we could get the information to you?
• Me: I can't have a conversation with xxx?
• Receptionist: He's not here.
• Me: I know, but in general, he is a Board member.
• Receptionist: OK, leave your number , and I can pass on the information.

The Board member did in fact call me back, but yikes!

Call me old fashioned, but I think that every elected representative should be easily accessible to their constituents. I can promise that you'll always know how to contact me (for now, editor@rsfpost.com) and if elected, I will work with you to help resolve issues and problems with the Association.

By the way, if elected, I hope my Board term will be more about creating new services and improving existing ones for members rather than solving problems. If you have any suggestions on how the Association services can be improved, or suggestions for new ones, reach out to me.

That's it for now. Hope all is well!