2018 Beal Responses

2018 Christie Responses

2018 Coy Responses

2018 Margeson Responses

2018 Smith Responses

2018 VonJouanne Responses

Candidate Statement – Ron Beal

Dear Umpire Brothers

It has been my honor to be an umpire in the NBUA for the last 9 years.  I am running for the NBUA Board this year to serve as your representative. I want to have an open ear to the Association. 

I was the NBUA Rookie of the Year in 2009 & was promoted to B tier in my 2nd year. I umpired in AZ and GA for 9 years before joining the outstanding NBUA. 

I would use my extensive experience to represent your interests on the Board. I also offer my business experience as a Manager in dispatch for the Matheus Lumber company in Woodinville. 

I will do my best to make sure the NBUA remains the Premier Umpire organization in the Northwest.  

Candidate Statement – Allen Christie

It is hard to believe I’ve been on the Board of Directors for five years but it has been a quick, interesting and challenging five years.  In each year, I’ve had the opportunity to participate in many discussions on a wide variety of issues and make decisions to keep NBUA healthy and prosperous.  There is rarely an easy answer to most issues but through thoughtful consideration of the facts, I feel your current board has acted in the best interest of the association and the membership. The times are constantly changing and it takes people with flexible thinking and a willingness to adapt to keep this organization at the top while holding true to its core beliefs and methods.  I have a strong sense of history (context) and a desire to make things better (content).

During the last five years I have actively contributed my time and energy to the Recruiting and Retention Committee (2014-2016), Election Committee (2015 and 2017), Training Staff (2015-current), Evaluation Staff (2012-current), and have served as the Secretary for the last four years.  Last year was a particularly challenging year as the association dealt with a financial dilemma with a customer.  Instead of taking a hard line with the customer that some people endorsed, your board worked in the best interests of the association to resolve the issue and come out of the ordeal in better shape.  I am proud of my contributions to this solution and proud of the way I executed my responsibilities to arrange for and moderate a respectful special meeting of the association.  I have a good grasp of how things work in this association yet I am open to new ideas, not afraid to take on new work, adapt my thoughts to the times and change my ways of doing things as necessary.

When I ran several years ago, I stated that I wanted to maintain the good work of previous directors and improve the functionality of our umpire association.  I think I have done that and, if re-elected, I will continue to do so.   I value the friendships I have with other members of NBUA and I care a lot about the health and well-being of the association.  With your vote, I hopefully will be able to continue to serve you and ensure the health and vitality of NBUA.

Candidate Statement – Gary Coy

I’m running for election to the NBUA board of directors because I believe YOU (The Membership), deserve better than what you have recieved over the past several years from your board and to give you a choice.

Candidate Statement – Hank Margeson 

In considering whether to run for another term to serve the membership on the Board of Directors, a sitting member should ponder whether they’ve contributed to the betterment of the association or held it back.  I think it is safe to say the past couple years have been eventful and while the ride has been bumpy at times, in the end the association has moved forward and the general membership is better for it.

We were able to navigate a very challenging fiscal situation as a result of a major business partner’s failure to remit payment in full.  Rather than panic and burn bridges in an effort to collect what we were owed, we instead forged a better working relationship while holding them accountable to pay us off with interest.  A difficult lesson to learn, but from the abyss we grew professionally as an association.  We now have contracts in place with all of our large business partners, many other smaller partners and collect in advance from every other customer.  Slowly but surely the NBUA is achieving a paradigm shift while also extracting higher game fees for our members.

I am especially proud of the implementation of the dynamic weekend surcharge in 2018 as well as the significant increases in game fees paid to members for higher intensity competitive games.  Looking forward, if reelected, by goal will be to ensure that our contract extension with Puget Sound Senior Baseball includes significant game fee adjustments, reflective of the level of skills required to manage those contests.

Finally, one other goal I had for the past term was to ensure that the Board memorialized the multitude of informal tasks and duties carried out over the course of a year.  This was a prime reason I sought an outside process audit of the Board, our Accountant and the Association.  Upon receipt of the auditor’s report, I led by example in documenting the processes for how to complete the annual High School Regionals and Finals recommendations to the WOA and I drafted the inaugural Assignor responsibilities document that was recently incorporated into the Policies and Procedures update.

Over the next two years, my goals will be to continue to professionalize this association at all levels, creatively recruit and train outstanding new umpires, foster a sense of camaraderie to increase our membership, make it easier for members to access their increased earnings, identify and challenge the next generation of NBUA leadership, and elevate the stature of the NBUA in District 2 as well as within the WOA.  Wearing the NBUA cap is an accomplishment and we should all be proud to represent our association.  I would be honored to continue to represent you as a member of the NBUA Board in 2019-2020.

Candidate Statement – Earl Smith

Hello fellow NBUA officials,

I have considered volunteering on our Board for a few seasons now. In 2018 I was invited to participate in our membership evaluation process. I look forward to continuing with maturing into that role. We know that sports officials are becoming the precious few. We are facing both recruitment and retention challenges. Part of our passion for officiating is to see how far our efforts can take us, and to what level. I have used my evaluations as a motivation and they have helped me mature. The officials who took the time over the years to share constructive criticism have helped in that process and it is my intent to give back to the association. If we don’t give back, there may be a day when there isn’t anyone to give back to. I hope to continue to play a role in the evaluation process, and would like to say thank you for your consideration.

Respectfully, 

Candidate Statement – Henry VonJouanne

I am honored to be considered for an NBUA Board of Director position.  I believe the NBUA is a great organization – perhaps one of the best such associations in the country – and it is filled with great people.  I am proud of our association and the quality of the product we place on the field.  As an NBUA official, I am proud to know that I walk onto the field with a partner who loves the game, loves to officiate, wants to be there, and wants to improve. 

My goal as a Board Member is simple:  to fully and enthusiastically support the NBUA mission.  That is, “We deliver the highest quality service to our customers by umpiring all games to the best of our ability and with fairness to all participants via state of the art training and evaluation and demonstrated examples of inclusion.”  The NBUA has – in my opinion – always separated itself with a strong training program – so I believe our excellence and “highest quality” starts with training.  And I believe the training starts with emphasis on the basics:  superior rules knowledge and superior mechanics knowledge.  Of course, this begins with the formal pre-season classroom and field training, but extends to the mentorship program and the important and valuable pre-game and post-game discussions.  A strong comprehensive training emphasis should fully convince every member that our organization strives to support their improvement as an umpire – and their eventual promotion as a result.

What qualifies me to be a Board Member?  Not one thing – but a collection of experience and skill from my past roles as 1) an Air Force Instructor Pilot, 2) an Aerospace Engineer, and 3) a Manager of Aerospace Engineers and Technicians.  As a helicopter Instructor Pilot, I was responsible for developing and teaching the ground-school and flight curriculum.  I learned the age-old truth that instructing is the best way to learn.  As an engineer, I was expected to develop systems in a systematic manner – driven by facts and data – while also leading with energy and passion.  As a manager, I have penned seven good rules to follow:  1) it is impossible to over-communicate, 2) in all ways, be completely honest and overt in your actions – no agendas, 3) from this day forward, always do the right thing, 4) make mistakes, 5) learn from your mistakes, 6) the most important job you’ll ever have is the job you have now, and 7) sweat the details – really understand the facts – before making a decision.  These rules are certainly not rocket-science – but they have served me very well and I intend to hold myself to these rules if elected to the NBUA Board of Directors.

Finally, if elected to the NBUA Board of Directors, I pledge to be an outstanding advocate for the greater organization.  Thank you for your consideration.