Greetings, Below you will find Operation Restore AADB (ORA) letter. Feel free to share everywhere! Dear Supporters and Friends of AADB, As you know, for the last few years, AADB has faced many challenges including dwindling funds, low membership participation, and aninability to fulfill the goals of the members wishes for the organization. Most noticed is the lack of conferences. Since 2006, AADB has only had one conference in 2011 and at this time there is no clear date for the next conference. Some of the main reasons for this is because of the bylaws that AADB has. These bylaws reflect an era that has passed us and no longer meets the modern needs of its membership. As a result, we have seen fewer participation in the organizations efforts. This also resulted in an almost total appointment of board and officers rather than an election supported by its members. Without an election, it has been hard to justify AADBs actions as it did not reflect the will of the people. Recently, a movement has spontaneously come up within AADB by a group of concerned members and supporters who wish to see AADB return to its glory days. This movement is now called ORA or Operation Restore AADB. The mission of ORA is simple: Draft new bylaws that reflect our modern times and push for a full general election of board members and officers in 2015. ORA also aims to reduce the barriers of participation and increase the number of members in the organization. AADBs board and officers have expressed support for this much needed movement and join ORA in calling for the DeafBlind community to support this effort to restore our beloved organization. In the coming months, many board members and officers have agreed to resign from their position in order to create the first-ever full popular election of the organization in many years. Their resignation does not reflect a push-out by ORA. Their resignation reflects support for ORA and support for AADB as a whole, and these individuals may consider running for elections in 2015 as well. The most important effect is that these individuals will finally and truly represent the members of the organization, rather than be appointees. We hope you will join us in this exciting change for AADB and for the DeafBlind community as a whole. AADBs mailing listserv is no longer restricted to members-only and we invite you to join this mailing list to observe, support and participate in the ongoing discussions as ORA explores the many possibilities to restore AADB to its true glory. To subscribe to AADB-L, send an email to: aadb-l+subscribe@googlegroups. Signed Mark Gasaway, Current AADB President Bryen M Yunashko, Community Advocate John Lee Clark, Community Advocate René G Pellerin, Community Advocate Janie Neal, AADB Lifetime Member Christopher Woodfill, AADB Lifetime Member, Current Board Member Timothy Jackson, AADB Lifetime Member, Current Board Member Lynn Jansen, Past AADB Vice President Jeffrey Bohrman, Former AADB Board Member, 20 years Ryan Bondroff, Current AADB Board Member Jeri Cooper, Current AADB Board Member Adam Drake, Current AADB Treasurer and Former Non-Board Member Aimee Bader, Current AADB Board Member Randy Pope, AADB Member Ryan Odland, Community Advocate Lenore Presley, Community Member
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 00:32:47 +0000
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