Today is July 16, 2007. There are 2 major issues that have been ignored:
1. The annual delegates’ meeting is taking place in a few weeks. The election is about over. So where is the financial numbers for the USCF? When some financial people reported that the USCF lost money again and this is the 9th times in the last 11 years that the USCF lost money, various board members said that it is not true. But the numbers have not been released. What are we waiting for? Will it conveniently appear after the election is over?
2. What is the story of the USCF website? The USCF paid a lot of money to have the website redesigned. There was no open bidding process. None of the current board members are experts when it comes to this area. None of them have their own professional websites. But they went ahead and spent money for something they know very little about. Then they said it did not work. So they once again went out and got a second company to come in to fix it. Again, no open bidding process! The deadline has past and it is still not done. Why not? But no words from the board! It’s business as usual!
But we did hear some board members defending the decisions and they endorsed one another for the upcoming election while attacking, insulting and misleading the USCF members about other candidates who are much more qualified. They even changed the rules in the middle of the election. Welcome to the USCF! When things are not going well, let’s create a diversion by attacking others. And if that does not work, change the rules of the game. Is this leadership? Is this in the best interest of the USCF or US Chess?
As I have been saying for the last 6 months, if you are happy with the current state of the USCF, vote for the status quo. This board has lost 3 potential multi-million dollar sponsorship deals in the past 6-7-8 months alone! If you think the USCF needs professional help, I recommend Mikhail Korenman, Paul Truong and Randy Bauer.
You have the power to change the course of the USCF for many years to come. Please vote! There is less than one week left to send in your ballots!
These are my take on some qualified candidates:
– Susan Polgar: You already know about me and the countless successes I have in positively changing the culture of chess. Here is my vision for the USCF.
– Mikhail Korenman: He is one of the key components for a successful USCF as an organization. Very few people in the USCF can successfully work with scholastic, college, adult, professional and Internet chess. Mikhail not only can work and bridge all these membership groups; he has one of the most impressive records of success. Many chess membership groups do not understand each other and cannot work together. Mikhail can change this. He can also help raise the membership level which means more revenues for our federation. This is why I ask you to please vote for him.
– Paul Truong: As you all know, Paul is by far one of the most successful persons in chess marketing, promotion and PR in US chess history. He has a unique combination that few possess. He was a chess prodigy and competed at a very high level. But he gave up chess to pursue an incredibly successful professional career. Therefore, he understands the mentality of chess players and he understands how businesses operate. This is why he is able to combine them and make some of the most spectacular deals for chess while no one else can even come close to this. Without his guidance and lead in this area, the USCF will go nowhere. Anyone who spends 5 minutes talking to him will understand that he is in a different league than the rest of the field in these areas.
– Randy Bauer: How often do you have a person with Randy’s experience? He was the budget director of the state of Iowa, dealing with multi-billion dollar budgets. Randy is also a chess master and supporter. He served on the USCF EB one year and helped this federation achieve a remarkable turn around. He is a finance guy. His skills and experience in finance is crucial for this federation.
hang in there susan. the election will soon be over and i hope all the crooks will get what they deserve.
Of course the financials will be released after the election. It’s corruption at the highest level.
As we all saw so far, Goichberg will do everything in his power to influence this election for his own benefits. His conduct is disgraceful. I hope he’ll resign in honor after all the damages that he has caused the USCF. Sam Sloan got elected because of what he did to Leroy Dubeck. This is the long history of his.
Let’s not forget the role of Don Schultz. It’s his idea to spend the money for the web editor and website designer without open bidding. These were his people. He did a lot for chess but he also made a lot of colossal mistakes. The worst is he turned on Susan Polgar and joined Goichberg. He sat back and allowed Sloan and others to trash her name and reputation while claiming he has nothing to do with it. Board members supposed to lead. If he can’t do that then get out so others can do the job properly.
You raise two good major concerns:
1. Financial report
2. Website issue
1. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why they are delaying the numbers.
2. Now that’s news to me. I had no idea they did not go through the bidding process. Smells like dirty socks here.