THE 2010 USCF EXECUTIVE BOARD ELECTION
There is a special election this year to fill the last
year of two Executive Board seats that were vacated when the USCF memberships of
Susan Polgar and Paul Truong were revoked at the USCF annual meetings at
Indianapolis, August 2009.
Never have the voters had such an easy decision to make as in this election.
Mike Nietman is Co-Chair of the
USCF Scholastic Council, has been President of the Wisconsin Chess Association
since 1987, has been a USCF Delegate and attended every delegates meeting since
1987, has been an active member of many other USCF Committees, and has organized
two National Scholastics, the 1990 World Youth, and many huge state scholastics.
He is a senior programmer and analyst for a large non-profit hospital.
Gary Walters is an active tournament player and a "devoted correspondence chess
player" who has made many posts on the USCF Issues Forum as "Grayson,"
consistently displaying common sense and providing an attorney's viewpoint on
the many legal issues that have been troubling the USCF. Gary practices
civil litigation in Cleveland, Ohio and is a retired army officer who was
awarded the Silver Star for his service as an infantry commander in Kuwait
during Desert Storm. It will be wonderful to have an Executive Board
member who can provide the Board with legal advice when needed without sending
USCF a bill! Gary's campaign
website
There is no reason why Nietman and Walters should
not be elected, and I urge all USCF voting members to vote for both.
The third candidate is Sam Sloan, who has run for the Board in every USCF
election since 1996. In a 2006 special election, he was elected to a one
year term, but after a performance which included being censured by his fellow
Board members twice, he has been soundly trounced in each of the past three
elections. In marked contrast to Gary Walters, who will be available to
provide legal advice for USCF, Sloan has sued USCF twice, and
absurdly accused the distinguished mediator who was trying to settle the
Polgar lawsuit of being a "rogue mediator" who "uses threats, badgering and
coercive tactics" in a court filing. See these links for further details:
LINK 1
LINK 2