by Penny Reeder
Again this year, the ACB board of publications will host an online candidates’ forum on the ACB web site, http://www.acb.org.
“This virtual forum will give ACB declared candidates an opportunity to introduce themselves and to inform members about the offices they plan to seek and how they feel about a variety of issues,” says Charlie Hodge, chair of the board of publications.
“It will work as a read-only web page where all candidates who wish to announce and who wish to participate will be asked to respond to the same set of five questions. The online candidates’ forum will allow ACB chapters and affiliates to have a preliminary introduction to announced candidates before they send delegates to the national convention. Each year since the BOP initiated its first online forum in the year 2000, we have been gratified to learn that a number of chapters routinely provide copies of the candidates’ responses to their members in braille or read all the responses aloud at membership meetings.” Lively discussions have ensued, and many members have told us how much they appreciated the opportunity to participate more actively in ACB’s democracy because of the early dissemination of information which the online "forum" can facilitate.
How Will It Work?
The board of publications has identified five questions which all participants should answer in sequence. The questions are:
- What office are you seeking, and what qualifications do you possess which make you uniquely qualified to serve in that office?
- In a situation such as the Iowa rehabilitation agency guide-dog discrimination matter, where ACB affiliates may hold diametrically opposed positions, how should ACB react to and most appropriately take actions on, or resolve matters such as these, which may have potential state and national ramifications? If you can do so, please address in your response both the civil rights concerns of guide dog users and the traditional independence and autonomy rights within ACB granted to state and special-interest affiliates. As an officer, what do you see as your role in resolving such disputes?
- How should ACB expand, diversify, and better mesh its financial, leadership and membership resources to meet ACB’s ever growing needs?
- What strategies should ACB use to make our advocacy efforts more effective, and what role should ACB officers play with respect to advocacy?
- Please identify the three issues which, in your opinion, most urgently affect people who are blind.
Answer each question with a maximum of 250 words. Submit answers in any accessible, readable media, i.e., in print, or braille, on paper, computer disk (in ASCII text, WordPerfect 5.1, or Microsoft Word formats), or via e-mail. Pasting the text into an e-mail message is preferable to sending attachments, but attachments in ASCII text or Microsoft Word will be accepted. Submissions will not be accepted via telephone, voice mail, audiocassette, or in handwriting. Note that we will not edit submissions for spelling, grammar, or content. The only change which will occur to submissions is conversion to the HTML code to facilitate online posting. Note further that it is our webmaster’s role to convert documents into HTML, and we will not accept submissions which you have coded in this format yourself.
For the sake of consistency, all participants should format personal information as follows:
Place your name, address, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and employer and job title at the top of each page. Center each item. The top of your page should look like this:
Jane Smith
1234 Main Street
Anytown, Any State 00000
(555) 222-3333 (home)
(555) 000-4444 (work)
E-mail: [email protected]
Writer/Editor at AnyJob, Inc.
Write each question, and then place your corresponding answer, consisting of a maximum of 250 words per question, underneath. Please number your pages.
Send your completed submissions to the following address: American Council of the Blind Candidates’ Forum, 1155 15th Street NW, Suite 1004, Washington, DC 20005. Responses may be submitted by e-mail, according to the guidelines noted above, to [email protected].
Time Lines
Submissions should be mailed, either by postal delivery or electronic mail, so that they reach the ACB national office no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Friday, May 30, 2003. When we receive a declared candidate’s materials, we will check the ACB membership database to ensure that he or she is a member of the organization in good standing. We hope to have the online candidates’ forum available at the ACB web site as soon after we have received all the submissions as possible, so that members will have access to the information in time for June membership meetings of local chapters. The Online Candidates’ Forum will remain online at http://www.acb.org until the morning of July 11, election day. We encourage ACB members who have computer access to share the contents of the candidates’ forum page(s) with members who do not. We anticipate that the forum will become the substance for discussion among ACB members at chapter meetings and other venues where blind people get together. We will notify members on the day that the forum goes live online on all the ACB e-mailing lists. In addition, Jonathan Mosen, director of ACB Radio, will utilize the contents of the candidates’ forum as a basis for ACB Radio coverage of the 2003 elections.
When official campaigns begin in earnest at the ACB national convention, declared candidates will present at formal and informal state and special-interest caucuses. In addition, the board of publications will sponsor a live question-and-answer Candidates’ Forum, which will be moderated by Jay Doudna, at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday of convention week. The board of publications encourages all ACB members to submit written questions which will be considered for this forum to the convention press room. More details about this and other aspects of press room operations can be expected in the June “Braille Forum,” on the “Convention Ear,” and in the pages of this year’s daily newspaper.
“Once again this year, our process for electing officers begins at the ACB convention,” says Charlie Hodge. “Following constitutionally mandated procedures, the nominating committee will meet early in convention week to put forward an approved slate of candidates. In addition, the floor will be open on Friday, election day, as it always is, for nominations of people who may not have decided to announce in advance. We do not anticipate that this online candidates’ forum will alter the customary course of ACB elections in any way. We do expect the level of excitement about our candidates and the elections in general to build as we approach the dates for our departures to Pittsburgh, and the 42nd convention of the ACB.”
Best of luck to all the candidates.