9 April 2009, I have reached my limit with the ineffectiveness and lack of leadership of the NSS officers and board of governors, and I have decided to try to do something about it. I have declared my candidacy as a write-in candidate for the Board of Directors Election now in progress. Jay Clark and Andy Armstrong share my views, and have agreed to join me as write-in candidates. Our primary goal is to try to change the nature of the NSS leadership to make it more professional, more appropriate to the core mission and purposes of the Society, and more responsive to the membership. To do this, we need your help. We each need about 1,000 votes to get seated. We all know that there are over 8,000 members who discard their ballots every year without voting. We believe that in many cases, this is because they are also unhappy with the leadership but do not see any real hope for change. Well, there is a way to make change happen. We are working to build a coalition of reform-oriented directors, and we will turn this thing around and get it on track and working. We would appreciate it if you could take the time to read the following statement and pass it along to your fellow cavers who may not be aware of our campaign. Please reproduce and distribute it as widely as possible - this campaign is all about "get out the vote" and is dependent on the Internet and word or mouth. You are our campaign workers. If you have already mailed your ballot, find someone who has not and encourage them to vote for me. Then work together to find others. We can do this! Feel free to post any comments or questions to the NSS Cavechat forum or to email them or even to call us. I am mad as hell and I am going to do something about it. Please join me. We can change the NSS for the better. Right here. Right now. Thank you, and feel free to call or email us if you have any questions. Bill Putnam, NSS 21117 William O. (Bill) Putnam,
NSS 21117 RL/FE, Lawrenceville, Georgia I am a Life Member and Fellow of the Society, having joined in 1980, shortly after I began organized caving with the caving subcommittee of Outdoor Recreation Georgia Tech while I was in college. Before that I was an occasional spelunker and flashlight caver in the caves around my home in Birmingham, Alabama, having been bitten by the caving bug while on a family vacation visit to Ruby Falls and a school trip to Rickwood Caverns. I have served the NSS most recently as the IT and computer network support person for the NSS Office since 2005. In that capacity I have written and procured grants for the office to purchase new computer equipment and software, and have saved the NSS thousands of dollars in IT consulting expenses by installing and supporting the office computer network and applications and procuring donations and grants of new software and hardware. I also served as the Editor of American Caving Accidents (from 1996 to 2007, producing five multi-year issues during that period and saving the NSS more than $40,000 in publication costs) until I stepped down from that position in June, 2007. I am an Instructor for the National Cave Rescue Commission, and just finished teaching at the South Central Regional Seminar in Arkansas last week and at a special training weekend for the Dogwood City Grotto last month. I have also served as the editor of the Georgia Underground, the publication of the Dogwood City Grotto, of which I have been a member since 1980. I was the editor and principal author of the 1989 NSS Convention Guidebook, Caves and Caving in TAG, as well as two TAG Cave-In guidebooks. I have written and given presentations extensively on caving, cave surveying, safety and techniques, and cave rescue. I cave actively in the TAG region, but have also been active in Kentucky (surveying in Mammoth Cave with the CRF), New Mexico (Lechuguilla expeditions, including one last year and one this year), Wyoming (Tetons, Gros Ventres, and Bighorns), Mexico (primarily as a pit-bopping speleo-tourist to date, but I hope to get on a deep cave survey expedition soon). I will be an active caver and NSS member until the day I die. I love to survey and produce maps. I collect caving literature and I am an aspiring cave photographer. I am a member of the Chattanooga Hamilton County Cave and Cliff Rescue Team, and have participated in many cave rescues over the years, including my own (rock fall, caver fall, injury and aid, broken leg) in 1987. My only regret in caving is that I did not find the NSS until I was 19. I am a founding member (SCCi #6), incorporator, and past Chairman (1994-1999) of the Southeastern Cave Conservancy, Inc., and the only director of the SCCi who has served continuously on the board since its founding in 1991. The first organizational meeting was held in my living room. I currently serve as Acquisitions Chairman, and in that capacity just completed the acquisition by the SCCi of Surprise Pit and the majority of Fern Cave. I served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the SCCi during its growth from a small group of dedicated cavers into a nationally recognized leader in the cave conservancy movement. I have participated in or directed the acquisition of almost every one of the SCCi's 27 cave preserves, negotiating and writing contracts, leases, and easements, securing and arranging financing, developing management plans, conducting meetings and hearings, dealing with state and federal agencies, and raising donations to pay off the mortgages. I am a sustaining member of the SCCi at the highest level, and have been since the creation of the sustaining membership program. In 1998 I was honored to accept a Certificate of Merit presented to the SCCi by the NSS for the acquisition of Neversink, which was negotiated by then Acquisitions Chair Mark Wolinsky and myself. I am a self-employed Information Technology Consultant in private practice in the Atlanta, Georgia area, where I have lived since 1977. I received a BS degree in Physics from Georgia Tech in 1981, and the MS degree in Computer Science, also from Georgia Tech, in 1984. I have also done a substantial amount of graduate study in geophysics. I married a caver 26 years ago, and, thanks to her patience, am privileged and proud to still be married to her. My two children are cavers. They are also my greatest accomplishments.I have attended more board meetings in 30 years than I care to recall. I have served on and chaired NSS committees. I have supported the NSS as a Life Member and with targeted donations to the Great Ex purchase, the library fund, and other funds and projects. I have edited NSS publications and supported the NSS office with my professional skills, time, and talents as a volunteer. The NSS is in a crisis, but it is not a financial crisis, a membership crisis, or a biological crisis: it is a leadership crisis. Our problems and challenges are but symptoms of this larger deficiency. The mis-management of the current election is an excellent illustration. It is time to address the root causes. We have been poorly served by our officers and directors for far too long, and good people have resigned in disgust or declined to run for reelection because they are fed up with the obstruction, obfuscation, incompetence, and inaction of our leaders. The current board and officers know that these things are true, but some have ignored and suppressed them. It is well known to the board members that they have had difficulty each year finding candidates willing to run for the board - this year was a case in point. One reason for this is that no talented person wants to waste his or her valuable and limited time serving on an ineffective board. I have been solicited to run many times, but have declined repeatedly for exactly this reason. I know others who can tell the same story. It is time to clean house, lead by example, and get the NSS back to its core mission and principles. We need leaders who are not afraid to take positions, answer questions, and make tough choices in the best interests of the Society and its members. I am such a person, and I ask you to write in my name on your ballot, and to urge your friends and associates to do likewise. NSS Board elections typically garner only about 1000 to 1200 ballot responses - less than 10% of the membership. Your vote and efforts will make a difference. Further, I urge you to vote for or write in people you know or believe will be active, dynamic, and outspoken leaders, and not just chair-warmers. We need an activist board, where each director is expected to chair at least one committee and serve on at least two others. I will commit to do this and hereby challenge other candidates and directors to do the same. We need articulate people, who can speak clearly, write coherently, and provide thoughtful opinions and constructive debate. We need people who are serious and committed, and who have taken the time and trouble to read our governing documents, attend board meetings, and give substantially of their time, talents, and resources to support the society in its mission and projects. We need people who will lead by example and walk the walk. I believe that the NSS can and should do a better job of listening to and communicating with its members. I know it must do a better job of recruiting and supporting its volunteers. I know that we can make this happen. John W. (Jay) Clark, Jr., NSS 3896 RE/FE/CM,
Birmingham, Alabama I am presently a director for the NSS, having been elected three years ago. I am a Fellow in the Society and hold a Certificate of Merit. I have been a member of the Society longer than any of the present directors. I have served as chairman of the Birmingham Grotto on more than one occasion in the past. I was chairman of the Southeastern Regional Association many years ago. I am a lawyer in active private practice in Birmingham and do trial work defending people who get sued. Among my clients in the past were the NSS, The Huntsville Grotto, and several members of the Huntsville Grotto whom I defended in a wrongful death case (Teresa Carnes v. The National Speleological Society). I serve as general counsel for the Southeastern Cave Conservancy. I negotiated the acquisition of Tumbling Rock Cave and have served as the preserve manager for that cave since its acquisition. My platform is simple, and my voting record is a matter of public record. I am in favor of the NSS Office staying in Huntsville. I presented the proposal to the Board on behalf of The Huntsville Grotto at the April Board Meeting. I am against the NSS owning cave preserves. I am not against the NSS buying caves and then spinning them off to other organizations such as the National Speleological Foundation. Owning and managing the preserves is a risk that the Society does not need to take. I am a firm advocate of civil behavior between all of our directors and all our volunteers who were kind enough to devote their time to serve the Society. John Andrew (Andy) Armstrong, NSS 45993 SU, Heber City, Utah
It's true,
I am a reluctant candidate for the NSS BOG. I am reluctant because I can see
frustration and struggle a mile away, and that is what I see in the future for
any BOG member. I have been asked to run because of my views on the core issues
of the RHP and my willingness to speak out on those issues. In a time when our
Society has faltered and forgotten its identity I feel a duty to try and help
the NSS find its way again. RHP Platform, Philosophy, Issues, and Positions We believe the NSS must be a leader in the research and prevention efforts related to WNS. We must support research in every way that we can, lead by example, reach out to the non-NSS cavers, and take an active role in partnership with BCI, ACCA, US-FWS, USGS and other organizations as befitting the premier speleological organization in North America, and we must make sure the members and the public knows everything we are doing and have done in this area. We must lead the way, and not let the crisis lead us. We must also act to protect and conserve our own caves and do everything possible and reasonable to prevent harm by WNS, whatever its cause. We must work with cave owners to educate them and advise them about WNS and cave conservation and protection. We must consider all types of caves, all types of cavers, and all types of caving, and avoid simplistic "one size fits all" approaches. Caves are unique individuals, and must be treated as such. We can do these things carefully, and deliberately, working in partnership with government agencies, scientists, and other non-profit organizations, but we must have serious and thoughtful people as directors and officers in order to succeed. We are the only organization representing the interests of both caves and cavers, and we must choose our path carefully and wisely, and communicate constantly and effectively with our members and partners, always listening to their concerns and seeking their input, so that all are fully informed and all options and opinions are considered. We believe the NSS office should remain in Huntsville unless that becomes economically impossible. I have considered and discussed the three proposals recently developed. I have concluded that the Indiana site is too remote from airports and interstates and would be too expensive to build on and operate due to its rural location, and that the Kentucky site would be too remote from airports and from a sufficiently large grotto or member base for adequate volunteer support. Huntsville, on the other hand, has a regional airport and is served by interstate highways. It has a large, established grotto with many active members who have historically supported the office in countless ways until alienated by the NSS board and officers. It is in one of the most cave-rich and caver-populous regions of the country. We also have a substantial investment in our office staff, which will probably be lost if the office is relocated out of the Huntsville area, increasing training and staffing costs and reducing efficiency and member services. The proposal to build a new facility across the street from the present Huntsville office, demolish the old office, and expand the Shelta Cave preserve is a good one - both environmentally and economically. It offers the least disruption of NSS office activities and operations. Its estimated cost is within the ability of the NSS fund raising activities, given adequate leadership, focus, and effort. It will be the quickest and easiest plan to implement. It will have the largest volunteer and member support base (assuming that we can repair the relationship with the Huntsville grotto, as we believe new leaders can and should do). Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it is doable right now. The Cave Research Foundation conducted a similar sized project a few years ago with a much smaller membership base. We believe that the new office complex as proposed can be designed to house, protect, and display the NSS library and museum, something that is long, long overdue, and can be expanded and upgraded to improve the work environment for the office staff as well as the quality and breadth of services provided to the membership. We believe that the NSS should not seek to buy, own, or manage caves. That is the mission and competency area of the local and regional cave conservancies, such as the SCCi, IKC, MAKC, and others. The NSS should support those organizations - not compete with them for funds and other resources. Buying, owning, and managing caves is demanding work, and it diverts energy, time, volunteers, money, and other resources away from our core mission areas. If a significant cave is offered in donation to the NSS, we should consider accepting, provided that we have the resources to manage and protect the cave, but we should first consider whether there is some better home for it, such as a local or regional cave conservancy. We believe that the NSS should focus on its core mission:
We should direct our efforts toward promoting the study and science of speleology, supporting the protection of caves and cave life, and promoting fellowship and community among all members of the caving community at large. We do not have to conduct science, buy caves, or throw parties to do these things. We can produce publications, create and give scholarships, give grants, raise awareness, create educational programs, sponsor conferences, conventions, and expeditions, and do many other things that no other organization in North America is doing. We should not compete with other organizations or institutions where our interests overlap - we should support and cooperate, and allocate our resources wisely. We believe the NSS should investigate and seriously consider spinning off a National Speleological Land Trust, an entity similar to the National Speleological Foundation that manages the NSS financial assets, so that we can transfer title to our cave preserves to a separate tax-exempt land trust dedicated to their care and management. This will allow the NSS to substantially reduce its liability insurance costs while providing greater protection for the Society's other assets as well as for the caves themselves. Cave conservancies already follow this successful model - it works, and it takes the management of our caves out of political hands and micromanagement and puts it into the hands of the people who know and love them best. Finally, we believe that the NSS must work harder and more effectively to recruit, train, nurture, and retain talented volunteers. The BOG and officers have had a terrible track record for volunteer management, alienating both individual volunteers and even entire grottos over the last decade. We are losing talented people, valuable donors, and priceless opportunities because of mismanagement, miscommunication, and just plain misbehavior. It is time for this to end, and for the NSS leadership to conduct itself in a rational and professional way. Please feel free to email us at hodags@hodagrevolution.com or to call any of us to discuss NSS-related questions or concerns that you have that we have not addressed here. We will also continue to monitor the NSS Cavechat forum and other distribution lists and will be happy to respond to any questions or comments there as well. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for your consideration. If our message resonates for you, we would appreciate your write-in vote, and your help in getting word of our candidacy to all your friends and fellow NSS members. We each need about 1,000 votes to get seated. If we do, we promise that it will be, at the very least, interesting. Bill Putnam This site powered by Linux and by Terrapin Rye Pale Ale. |
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