Model Aviation Online - President's Perspective (November 2007)



It's the strongest way to have the organization serve your needs.
At roughly the same time you read this column, you should receive the most important document you get from AMA: a ballot. Why is that ballot so important? It's because AMA is your organization, and your way to have the most influence on the organization is through your vote. This year we are electing a new president, so it is important for you to have your voice heard. As many already know, I am not a candidate for re-election. I made the decision to step aside and let someone else take the helm sometime ago. AMA has had only 22 presidents in its history—and only two in the past 20 years or more—so changing this position is a momentous occasion. It certainly should not be taken lightly by the membership. This is a "speak now or ... " situation. Serving as AMA president is interesting. The position comes with little authority yet it has an enormous influence on the direction and operation of the organization. The person you elect with that ballot will likely influence AMA and the sport/hobby of aeromodeling for many years. Recently I've had two interesting situations in which members seem to think that the position has much more authority than it does. In both instances, well-meaning members have asked that I overrule a vice president (VP) in his appointment, or removal, of an associate vice president (AVP). I do not know why those individuals think the president has any authority over the district officers, but I can assure you that he or she doesn't! While the president can call a VP and discuss a situation with him or her, it is the VP's responsibility to appoint or remove district AVPs and other appointees; the AMA president has no authority in those appointments. This is another reason why the ballot is the most important document you receive from AMA. Members elect district VPs, and those individuals can have an enormous effect on the organization of aeromodeling within districts and in the direction the organization takes in serving the sport/hobby and its members. There are times when I think AMA is a little too democratic for its own good, but those times are infrequent. AMA members should have the ultimate control, and they do if they bother to vote! In most AMA elections only 15-18% of the members vote. That is troubling. When members have little interest in participating in how their organization operates, it creates difficulties for those who do run it because there is no real mandate from the membership. While representing AMA in front of various government agencies I fear being asked how many people vote in an AMA election in an attempt to determine just how serious aeromodelers are. I don't care who you vote for; I'm not campaigning for any particular candidate. What I am asking is that you have your voice heard through your vote. It's the strongest way to have the organization serve your needs. MA Til next month. Dave Brown, AMA president

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