The Ballot Confusion

If this is the first post you are reading, please use the table of contents in the column and start at the very first entry. This is one of the last posts for this blog; the only things I expect to post next will be information on my open houses this upcoming weekend, and to answer any email questions I receive at dimestorestudio@gmail.com.

Unfortunately, Honest Ballot made a little boo-boo. For reasons that haven't been explained. I was left off the ballot, in spite of emailing my bio and nomination form as per instructions the morning of June 8th. When I did not see my name or my bio in my packet, I called Honest Ballot and spoke with Linda Gibb, who checked her email and found my submission was indeed received the morning of June 8. She seemed genuinely flustered that it was overlooked. I told her I still wanted to be on the ballot, as I had submitted everything at the proper time. 

I also spoke with Artie and a member of the Board. Between the three, the only solution was mailing a new ballot that would supersede any earlier ballot if you bothered to submit it. In other words, if you have already voted but now want to change your vote, the new ballot replaces the old one. There will be no change of election date to allow people to submit the new ballot in fair time, nor will old ballots be automatically disqualified and new ones required.

Of course, if someone hasn't yet voted with their ballot, they should just disregard the old ballot and just use the new one.

At least that's what I understand. And I am now clearly at an unfair disadvantage as a result. We should be receiving the new ballot and bios on Thursday - I hope. Some who already voted might ignore the new one for days, or throw it away, not caring to look at a new candidate, and thinking its more of the" same old same old".

That means that you, the owners, only have a limited time to help my campaign if you believe that I would make a strong, efficient, and creative addition to the Board. I ask that if you have taken the time to look at my candidacy at Shore Towers, and like what you see, please reach out to other owners and encourage them to look at my website, and learn about the value I can bring to this building. Of course, if you haven't voted yet, just please make sure to get your ballot in on time.

I can only do this with your help. And please remember, if you are using a mail-in ballot, to mail it in no later than Saturday morning so it will be here in time, or drop it off in person before the meeting on Tuesday. As a result of Honest Ballot's honest mistake, there is only a day and a half for people to mail their ballot.

Chances are I will only be disappointed as a result of this SNAFU. But maybe I am wrong - and the owners in this building care about the direction the Board moves for the future, and are willing to work quickly to help. I know that if I was on the ballot from the beginning, or the first ballot invalidated and a second ballot required, there would be true parity and fairness in this process, and I would have a fighting chance. But that's already in the past, and the only way to move forward is to ask owners who like my platform to advocate on my behalf.

The question is - are you, an owner in Shore Towers, willing to look at a new candidate with innovative ideas, and potentially change your first vote? One option - come and meet me on Saturday. I will be posting times and places tomorrow. If you can spend the time to come meet me, speak with me, and talk about the issues, please bring your second ballot. If you want to change your vote, you can simply leave it in the ballot box in the front at that time.

UPDATE/CORRECTION: This was posted on Wednesday the 17th, the day before the new ballots were received by owners. I had not had time to look at the new ballots until Tuesday morning the 22nd due to a very busy schedule. After reading the instructions, I realized that I have been in error, and the solution appears to be a single proxy ballot that needs to be submitted. If that is indeed the case, I believe I my level of fairness with the other candidates has been raised. My apologies for relying on information that was not yet finalized, and my apologies for not double checking the facts when the new ballots came in.