Best of the Welcome Columns


Best of the Welcome Columns

Author: Cornish, Rick
So there you have it

So, there you have it. With today’s news item postings you’ve seen thirteen candidate’s statements (We do have fourteen candidates, by the way, but have not yet received a statement from Steve Goldfield.) You can click here to view the entire field. And here’s hoping that at some point, you do just that. Take ten minutes to sit down and read all of the statements, comparing and contrasting. Could be eye opening. So, here’s my statement: “I’ve served on the CBA board of directors for eleven years. I’ve made the decision to run one last time. This was kind of a hard call for me. On the one hand, it surely seems the Association is ready for some new leadership and my leaving the scene, both as a board member and as board chair, would go a long ways toward making that happen. On the other hand, during the past seven or eight years I’ve assumed a great many duties and I feel some responsibility to ensure that each of them gets passed along into good hands and in an orderly fashion. Hence, my last year on the board of directors will be a transitional one.” I want to take a minute to say a little more about my situation. Why? Because today’s my turn to write a column and, well, I’ve got to write about something. (Do all of the other candidate’s have the chance to write a Welcome column about their candidacy? You BETCHA. Send ‘em on over.) First and foremost, it most certainly is time I step aside. And if I win re-election, that’s what I’ll be doing as we move through 2011-2012. As I wrote in my candidate’s statement, over the past eleven years I’ve gradually accumulated a big bunch of duties. This is due partly to the fact that for more than half my tenure on the board I’ve been half-retired; that’s given me the luxury of having time to contribute to the Association that most other board members have not had. And second, (and here’s admission that’s unnecessary for those who know me well), when I get into something, I pretty much jump in. So, as I shared my plan not to run again with some of my colleagues, what I heard was, hey, maybe I should wait a year and give people a chance to get up to speed on their new responsibilities. Do some training….coaching. After sleeping on it, I found that I agreed….hence, this year of transition. (I know, I know, some of you will understand, some of you will groan at my self-aggrandizement and most of you could care less. Nothing new here.) One last word about my running for the board of directors. A good number of you are aware that for some months now I’ve been struggling with my health. Since before Grass Valley I’ve been afflicted with some mystery rheumatoidal condition that has so far baffled the docs. I haven’t gotten any worse, but I haven’t gotten any better and the tests just keep coming. I missed most of the Fathers Day Festival, the July board meeting and the August board meeting, and I will continue missing both the fun stuff and the business stuff until I feel better. I’m ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that I will beat this thing and feel better and that’s why I’m running one last time for the board. All this notwithstanding, I will of course do what’s right if my health situation drags on.

Posted: 8/20/2011