----- Original Message ----- From: "Shari Handley" <srh@tyaskin.com> To: <STATE-COORD-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, September 10, 2004 5:46 PM Subject: [STATE-COORD] RAL Candidate: Scott Burow *1. Your name Scott Burow *2. Your email address sburow@swbell.net *3. A listing of all positions you currently hold in USGenWeb County Coordinator - Marion County, MO County Coordinator - Ralls County, MO County Coordinator - Richland County, IL State Coordinator - The ILGenWeb Project *4. A listing of the URLs of all USGenWeb-affiliated web sites you maintain. www.rootsweb.com/~momarion www.rootsweb.com/~moralls www.rootsweb.com/~ilrichla www.ilgenweb.com *5. A statement telling the AB why you wish to be considered for this position, and why you feel you would be the best candidate for it. I think that the county coordinators are the heart and soul of this project. We provide a service to people, we provide them information, help, and guidance as County Coordinators. We locate people to help our website visitors, lookup volunteers, and people with information. We supervise the websites, the message boards, and the mail lists, as well as generate, and/or coordinate the information that brings people back to our respective websites. . As County Coordinators, we stand at the grassroots level of the project. Without us, there wouldn't be much available to our visitors and users. Our voice needs to be heard, and respected, on the Advisory Board. Since the last elections, I've been listening. These are things that I have heard County Coordinators talking about in the last year or so: The problems of the past need to be resolved. The infighting and bickering between differing areas of the project need to be settled. The by-laws need to give some security to volunteers and county coordinators. There needs to be improved lines of communication between the Advisory Board and State Coordinators and County Coordinators, and the rights and responsiblities of each need to be clearly defined. Recent events at the AB level have caused legitimate concern for USGenWeb members. These concerns need to be addressed by the Advisory Board. The process needs to be out in the open so that the members of the USGenWeb are aware of what's going on at the AB level. The current distrust does no benefit to the project as a whole. These issues I've heard about and these are the things that I would plan to work on should I be a representative on the Advisory Board. The USGenWeb Project is the greatest organization for the genealogical community, and the people that I've met here are the most incredible and giving folk. This project has the potential to provide so much to anyone who needs or wants to research their family history, and the backbone of that whole process lies with the county coordinator. As RAL I'll be the CC's voice on the Advisory Board, and I'll do my very best to have their concerns and issues heard. Thank you for your consideration. Scott Burow