homepage - board of directors - 2009 election - candidate forum - laurence gibson
2009 Election Candidate Forum:
The Candidates
Laurence Gibson's responses to the 10 questions of the candidate forum:
Candidate responses were limited to 150 words per question.
What leadership positions have you held in the Sierra Club, and what have you accomplished in those positions?
At the group level I have been Chair of the El Paso Regional Group since 1999, subsequently also serving as Outings Chair and Newsletter Editor. Perhaps our greatest achievement is working for and winning a national Environmental Justice Site designation for El Paso. We have also been active in working with city and state legislators, for their election and on our most passionate issue, keeping the ASARCO smelter closed.
At the Rio Grande Chapter I have been an ExCom member and Chapter Secretary since 2002. As secretary of a strategically important chapter active in litigation, New Mexico legislation/lobbying, and politics as well as conservation issues, I have endeavored to produce accurate minutes, promote collegiality within the committee, and to be available at all times for minute citations.
What needed skills or abilities will you bring to the Board of Directors: A team player? Conflict resolution experience? Financial expertise? Technology/communications? Other? Be specific.
As a concertmaster and chamber musician I know the importance of listening to others. I also believe in consensus and after 40 years as a university professor think I know something about collegiality. I would bring an element of geographical diversity to the board as a long-time border resident and chair of a border group. My backpacking avocation and 25 years of outings leader experience could add perspective and balance.
A lot has changed in the last 6 months—President-elect Obama's victory, the unprecedented economic crises, the number of people energized by the election. How should the Sierra Club view its role in this changed environment?
We should be able to move quickly and confidently now that we have a “green light” from the electorate. Our challenge is to maintain focus and energy as folks tend to relax now that the country is in more environmentally friendly hands. One of the great ironies is that our membership and gifts tend to grow with the election of environmentally insensitive leaders and wane as folks’ confidence grows with good change.
Please comment on the question of the Club engaging in business partnerships, including the Club's recent experience in cause-related marketing with Clorox Greenworks line of household cleaning products?
Our greatest asset is our good name, Sierra Club. The moment folks can say that we were bought, by anybody, no matter how “clean,” we lose that exalted status we’ve enjoyed for so many years. We become the Consumer’s Digest instead of the Consumer’s Reports. We become a commercial enterprise.
What is your experience with outings, and what do you see as their role in the Club?
Went on my first SC outing in 1969, began leading outings in 1984. To this day I still treasure “getting out” as a religious experience. John Muir’s principle of radicalizing folks to “preserve and protect” still resonates with me today. I’m just naive enough to believe that principle still can work in today’s modern society. As a small-group leader in a relatively isolated border area which really has more in common with New Mexico than Texas, I’m conscious of how different our outings-support needs are from mega-groups in more wealthy populous areas. I’d like to encourage “different strokes for different folks” within the SC’s bureaucracy.
In the spirit of One Club, what do you see as the proper relationship of staff and volunteers to each other and to the mission of the Club in 2009 and beyond, and how would you improve the connection between National Sierra Club operations and grassroots leadership?
This relationship is a delicate symbiotic balance. I am definitely a grassroots guy who believes that we should have a pyramid-shaped structure in order to remain stable and vital. As a group and chapter volunteer I rely heavily on the resources in San Francisco. These resources must be adequately staffed in order to respond to folks “upstream” as well as us “downstream” volunteers.
On the other hand, I’m well aware of how inept we volunteers can sometimes be. We may have the passion and inspiration but we definitely need staff help to execute. At the highest levels my ideal is leadership with a vision tuned to the passion of the grassroots…a bit like the symphony conductor listening to his players and shaping their creations into something larger than the sum of its parts.
Our region folks are very responsive but we need more face-to-face between grassroots and national.
What is your experience with grassroots organizing? What do you see as the key differences between 20th century grassroots organizing and 21st century grassroots organizing?
The Rio Grande Chapter was privileged to be one of the first Leadership Development Project sites with Marshall Ganz. This year-long training taught us many important lessons. Although the internet is certainly a fine tool, in my opinion there is and will be no substitute for knocking on doors, tabling, and social events where folks can form relationships. We are so desensitized to media that they have become much less effective now. The media may serve to get us into the ballpark. But after that in my humble opinion, person to person, face to face is what it’s all about.
What is your vision of ways to finance the Club's Chapters, Groups, and volunteer structures in the next 2, 5, and 10 years? Would you support mechanisms such as national-chapter fundraising partnerships, new types of grants, allocation of funds based on non-demographic criteria, or general assistance in outside fund-raising? Suggest other ways. Please be specific.
It appears that national is well underway with financial planning under Treasurer Joni Bosh. The Rio Grande Chapter has done well because we are quite active and the Sierra Club’s name is still quite meaningful to donors in New Mexico. I feel that fundraising is a responsibility of each level of the club, with each level having an obligation to support its component entities. Generally speaking, it is the “big fish” that National courts, the large regional donors supporting Chapters, and the Groups getting what they can locally in addition to chapter help and dues subvention.
The Club is undertaking work to bring more youth and diverse cultures into our membership and leadership. What specific strategies would you advocate to accomplish this?
Our El Paso Regional Group has had a fine Inner City Outings component for years. They are planting seeds which will hopefully sprout into new generations of environmentalists some day. Our Albuquerque staffer founded an innovative “No Child Left Inside” program which will hopefully bear fruit over the years. There is a definite challenge involved in crossing over to non-traditional cultures. In my university work, our approach has been open enrollment. We have a seemingly endless supply of graduates who are the first in their families to graduate from college. There is a socioeconomic barrier to outings for many who associate being on foot, sleeping outdoors, and eating basic food with poverty. That will take generations (and prosperity) to change.
How effective are the Sierra Club's publication and electronic communication tools and which ones do you read or use?
I’m so busy administrating I only read Sierra magazine, the chapter newsletter, and our group newsletter, which I write. I use Helen in a basic manner, Wild occasionally, and am quite frustrated that Ansel comes only in hard copy….weeks later. Clubhouse is a beautiful thing if I have extra time.