SierraScape September 2011
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CANDIDATE STATEMENTS

Executive Committee (ExCom) members meet once per month to authorize club actions and assist activities of other Eastern Missouri Group (EMG) members.

There are seven voting members on the ExCom. Three persons will be elected, each to fill a two-year term. Voting instructions are given on the ballot (see page 6).

The following are statements by candidates for the ExCom, listed in alphabetical order.

     Toni Armstrong

I have been active in the Eastern Missouri Group of the Sierra Club for about 30 years. I have served various roles within the club: Outings co-chair for 10 years, Chair of the Alaska Lands committee, Operation Clean Stream coordinator, and Outings leader.

The EMG has been an effective leader in protecting the environment from stopping the Meramec Dam to the passage of Prop C (clean energy bill) in 2008. To continue this important work we need to recruit and activate new members. I want to reach out to young potential members via Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. I believe there is an interest in environmental issues in our college students, youth and families, I want to tap into that interest and enthusiasm. I want to explore how we can modify our monthly meetings to intrigue and involve more people. I have watched over the last 30 years the graying of the EMG, currently most our active members are 50+ years old. My goal is to lower that average age to make the EMG a more vital and viable club.

     Rob Polzin

My name is Rob Polzin, I am 21 years old, and a student at Saint Louis Community College-Meramec. Last year I was the treasurer of the Outdoor Club at Meramec, and helped plan and manage club camping trips and fundraisers. While in high school I was a member of Envirothon, an ecology-based volunteering and competitive group. I have also participated in Missouri Stream Team cleanup projects on the Meramec and Missouri Rivers. I enjoy hiking the trails and forests in the St. Louis and Central Missouri region. My idea of a good time is to explore the shoreline and streambeds of nearby lakes, rivers and streams. Ask anyone in my family or circle of friends and they will tell you I have always had a passion for the outdoors and for nature. From this position with the Sierra Club, I would hope to energize, excite and inspire a wider circle of people in my age group to engage and participate in the protection and enjoyment of the nature that surrounds us.

     Henry Robertson

I'm finishing my fourth term on Excom. I also serve at the Chapter (state) level on Excom and as Energy Chair. In my spare time I often represent the Club as an attorney with Great Rivers Environmental Law Center.

We face two major challenges here at EMG. The first, you'll be shocked to learn, is financial. The lemonade business has soured (sorry), and we're going to need new fundraising tactics. In the short term, we've done some belt-tightening. For one thing, we've cut back from six paper newsletters a year to two—so make sure we have your email address so we can keep in touch.

The second challenge—one that never ends—is getting more (and younger) members involved. While we continue to wrack our brains, we'd love to hear any ideas you might have.

Serving on Excom is a way for me to give back in return for being able to do what I care about in the name of an active, effective organization. But I won't mind if you vote me out for someone younger.

     Ken Schechtman

I am a lifelong activist committed to the notion that change does not happen unless ordinary people join together and demand it. Environmentalists have been doing so for decades, and anyone who considers the clean air bill or our many reborn streams and lakes must marvel at the successes, even as we battle for all that is yet to be won and for all that is currently being stolen.

I have been Vice Chair of our Executive Committee for the last eight years and am an active member of our Political committees. I am also a Washington University Professor who brings to the Club a dedication to environmental ideals, a scientist's measured analysis of issues and, most important, an abiding commitment to an effective results-oriented Club that lets no one forget that we did not stand by and watch.

As a hiker with a reverence for nature, I have an obligation to Missouri's forests and to our wild and special places. As an advocate, I have authored dozens of published op-ed articles over many years. As a citizen, I have been a long-time activist in numerous progressive causes. And as a parent, I can do nothing less than fight for the planet I will one day leave behind. I hope you will again offer that opportunity.