Official announcement: Notice of Election, May 14, 2019, at the Grill at Rolling Hills Golf Course at 6pm. Instructions for electronic voting will be emailed to all members of record as of April 1, 2019.
It is already time for AYC Board Elections. I am always amazed at how fast a Board Year goes by. I want to pull back the covers a little bit on the formation of the board and the traditions that have been involved over the past 60+ years.
In the past we’ve seen people make a 5 year commitment to the board by moving through the Commodore ranks from Rear, to Vice, to Commodore, then to Jr. Staff and Sr. Staff Commodore. This was a tradition that served the purpose of creating continuity and stability on the board from year to year. We broke with that tradition in the mid 2000’s, but since then have also had trouble finding a slate of willing board members. I would like to consider a revision to that tradition with the hope of providing that same continuity and stability.
Each Board Position cannot be done single handed. Each should have a committee of supporters. The AYC Fleet Captain already has the “Rules Committee” made up of all the Racing Fleet Captains and generally a new AYC Fleet Captain comes from that group. It was never the intent that each board member do all the work of their position themselves. Your support of these people is imperative to get the work of the club done. When each board member has a support group, continuity is created by “promoting from below.” A person that is “promoted” from the support group has knowledge of what has been going on. The other thing that does is allows a person to make a smaller commitment to the board. Instead of a 5 year commitment, they can choose a period that works for them. Maybe it is one term, maybe 3, but it gives them the choice.
This year, we break with tradition again. Many of the board members, myself included, really feel like we are just starting to get some traction and build momentum with the things we are doing and that if we move on now, some of these efforts will fall flat. Things like the Junior Racing Fleet, the 4th Tuesday “Dog Watch” Social, and even some of the changes being considered to the racing schedule. We feel like we need to follow through on these things and vacating positions or even moving on to another position will jeopardize our efforts.
It is with this in mind that, with your support, I have chosen to run for a second consecutive term as Commodore. Along with me running for a second term in their current position is Marc Danner at Vice Commodore and Heather McClain at Cruising Fleet Captain.
So “who will run the Birthday Regatta” you ask? Well, again, the tradition is that the Jr. Staff Commodore runs the Birthday Regatta. This year Bob Naylor, who was one of the instrumental players in helping pull together what has been called the best Birthday Regatta in recent memory, has agreed to be the Regatta Chairman. He will still work with the Jr. Staff Commodore for guidance and other formal approvals. Former Commodore Bill Hutchinson has agreed to be the Jr. Staff Commodore to provide that guidance.
The full slate of Board Nominees looks like this:
Commodore: Rob Gibbs
Vice Commodore: Marc Danner
Rear Commodore: Deb Heisler
Fleet Captain: Scott Richards
Cruising Fleet Captain: Heather McClain
Jr Membership Director: David Henning
Jr Staff Commodore: Bill Hutchison
Additionally, 2 more members filling 2 year roles are:
Sr Membership Director: Skip Kempff
Sr Staff Commodore: Mike Ferring
Finally, the 2 positions that are elected by the new board are:
Secretary: Paul Wojtczak
Treasurer: Tony Chapman
Thanks to our current board and to our new volunteers for their support. Now I ask that you help us too. There are so many activities that we do that require volunteer support. This year, make it a point to pick something, just one thing, to help with. Whether it is running one of our single day events like the Ruth Beal’s Cup or the Tall Cactus, or helping the Rear Commodore contact and book a speaker for our regular Membership Meetings, or agreeing to host a Dog Watch Happy Hour. Step up and help us make YOUR Club the best it can be this year!