[UAH] REQUEST TO REDUCE FEES

Dear Members of the EC,

I am an aspiring candidate for the UNAA presidency and I have several UNAA members that I have been in touch with to convince them to run for various offices in UNAA.

Several weeks ago, I contacted members of UNAA (on unaalist) to start a conversation about the need for candidacy fees. I am aware that the UNAA constitution provides for candidate fees. However, the EC is free to set an amount that the EC sees fit.

Today, I saw the amounts that were released by the EC and I was saddened because they are at all-time high.  I strongly believe that the fees should be nominal. Here are my reasons:

1. since our organization is a non-profit, we should not set such high fees for fellow members that are willing to volunteer their time to serve us in leadership.

2. we should look at candidates for elective office as one set of several sets of UNAA volunteers. If we do that, we will realize that charging them exorbitant fees is unfair since all other sets of volunteers are free (EC, Board of Trustees, Local Convention Organizers, ambassadors, etc).

3. candidates spend a lot of their time and money, in order to run for office. e.g reading UNAA materials, calling members for support, research, etc.  UNAA should applaud those efforts rather impose high fees.

4. many potential candidates have been put off/scared off by the high fees. Many members have refused to run for office because they can't afford the high fees.

5. historically, these fees have been a hindrance.  e.g in 2011, more than half of the elective offices were not filled.  We had only 11 Council members and all of them were unopposed. As for the executive, we had just 2 candidates for each position.
I have little faith that this year's elections will any more competitive.

6. at a time when people are struggling to pay the membership fees, we should not impose an extra fee on the candidates (so far, we have less than 200 members...at a time when convention registration is said be at record levels for June numbers and most hotel rooms have been booked).

7. UNAA does not remunerate its leaders. In fact, leaders end up spending their own money to do UNAA work. We should therefore not charge them high fees.

8. I have heard some of the reasons for high fees: that UNAA needs money to run elections. My response is that election costs should be borne by all members since we all benefit from the services of the elected  volunteers.  We also benefit from the fact that some members are willing to run for office.  The alternative would be appointed officers and very few members would prefer that option.

Besides, the most expensive item for the EC is the criminal/education check.  In my view, this expense is totally unnecessary. UNAA's constitution does not require any minimum education qualification. You could have stopped in P.4 but still qualify to run for office.  The criminal background has limited use because most UNAA leaders are exempted. e.g though the treasurer's criminal back ground is checked, the Budget Director is not checked...yet both are heavily involved in UNAA finances. Almost all UNAA leaders and Local Convention organizers collect money from delegates (and are supposed to pass it on to the treasurer) yet none of them will have their criminal background checked.

Though I have heard stories of financial mismanagement, I have seen any evidence of criminal activity. If our leaders steal from us, we can always call the police!

Another reason I have heard is that UNAA needs to raise money for other activities. Again, I do not think UNAA should do this on the backs of volunteers for elective office.  We should not raise money from one set of volunteers when other sets serve us for free.

the other reason i have heard that we need high fees to deter "un-serious" candidates.  As I mentioned above, UNAA has a dearth of members willing to volunteer in any capacity...especially in elective positions. e.g all current Council members were unopposed (see above)!

For the above reasons, please reconsider the fees that you set.  I hope you'll respond to my email as soon as you can so that potential candidates can meet your deadlines.

thanks

c.c unaalist

c.c unaanet (since many folks are not on unaalist because they have not yet paid membership fees)

 

For a faster response please contact me at 415.789.6427

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Joseph <jmusoke98@yahoo.com>
To: "joseph.musoke@ymail.com" <joseph.musoke@ymail.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 20, 2013 3:57 PM
Subject: Fw: UNAALIST 2013 Elections Guidelines

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "samutyaba@yahoo.com" <samutyaba@yahoo.com>
To: jmusoke98@yahoo.com
Sent: Thursday, June 20, 2013 11:03 AM
Subject: UNAALIST 2013 Elections Guidelines

Wish you all the best in this preparation.

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