FOG Officers Recalled; Schwarzenegger Not to Run

 

Apparently inspired by political events in the state of California, the entire board of directors of Friends of Guinea recently launched a successful petition campaign to recall itself from office under the assumption that actor Arnold Schwarzenegger could be induced to run for election as president of the organization. As explained by Membership Director Megan Wilson, “We thought that by bringing his high public profile and considerable personal fortune to bear on Friends of Guinea, Arnold could help us build on past successes and take the organization to the next level of development. Besides, unlike the United States, we have no constitutional obstacle to a foreign-born person becoming President.”

However as in the California recall campaign, those who initiated the Friends of Guinea drive were not able to maintain control of the process. Contrary to their expectations, Mr. Schwarzenegger has not so far been induced to throw his hat into the ring. Contacted for an official response in his Sacramento office, the Governor said: “What? Who is this? Can’t you see I’m busy here?”

Arnold with newsletter editor Woody Colahan

Brian Farenell, Advocacy Director of Friends of Guinea, said, “At first I wasn’t too concerned. I felt sure that, if Arnie bowed out because of his new job, we could get Sylvester Stallone. He’s not governor of anything yet, I don’t think.” The Stallone plan seems however to have been no more fruitful than the Schwarzenegger initiative. Contacted at his home in Beverly Hills, Mr. Stallone’s commitment was ambivalent at best. Informed sources quoted him as saying, “Friends of...what?”

Marilyn Pearson, Director of Listserv Administration, undertook simultaneous back-channel negotiations with the staff of Hillary Clinton. However, as Pearson ruefully admitted, “As soon as she understood I was not talking about ‘Friends of Bill,’ the receptionist hung up on me.”

Not all members of the FOG board have entirely washed their hands of the organization. Jody Sites, Financial Officer, commenting on his announced intention of running for the same office again, said: “Ouch! Let go of my arm! That hurts! Ow! Okay, okay! Uncle! I’ll do it! Just let go!” Stallone partisan Brian Farenell, on his continuing as Communication Director, said: “What! I never...wait a minute, let me see that...I thought Steph said ‘Remuneration Director’.” Some FOG members-at-large were also reported willing to re-enlist in their current positions. Woody Colahan, Newsletter Editor, had this to say: “Lansana Conté is my political inspiration. I’ll be dipped in #@%& if I’ll quit my job before he quits his.”

Stephanie Chasteen, the former volunteer who has guided the organization since its inception and presently serves a dual role as Secretary and Director of Web Administration, downplayed the sense of an impending crisis. “I don’t know what you guys are talking about. We have an election every year to renew the board. It’s in our bylaws. Honestly.” Chasteen went on to outline the situation: “The last year as secretary has been great, and I feel I've accomplished a lot. Now I think it would be good for me to serve as Membership Director, and help out with that position.

I'm also leaving the Web Admin position open for someone else. Brian Farenell is leaving his position as Advocacy Director but is willing to take on the job of Communication Director which means he will be even busier than before. Jody Sites relented and agreed to continue to serve as Financial Officer. Marilyn is doing a great job administering the Guinealist listserv on the one hand and the various GPS parent listservs on the other, and is willing to continue.

Woody wants to keep doing the newsletter until he gets it right. Brian has agreed to take over the vacant post of Communication Director, but that means he will leave the post of Advocacy Director so we need to find someone to step into his shoes there. Megan is super-busy with grad school and Cherif is getting married. I’ll be taking over for Megan in membership but we need somebody to take over for Cherif in Projects.”

Stephanie warmed to her subject as she outlined the Projects position. “Cherif Diallo has been incredibly dynamic as projects director and has initiated a lot of great stuff. We want someone in that position who can continue to field project proposals, establish project priorities and generally coordinate all of our projects efforts. It should definitely be someone with projects experience and experience on the ground in Guinea. Cherif was ideal but the right RPCV could also do the job.”

Projects Director is an important position in Friends of Guinea because that person has some of the most direct influence on FOG’s impact on the ground in Guinea. The Projects Director has help, too: “Five members-at-large work with the Projects person,” according to Chasteen. “Steph Mullen as Health Projects Member-at-Large advises, researches, and coordinates on health related projects. Helen Thouless does the same for education-related projects. We have similar member-at-large positions open in environment-related projects and small-enterprise related projects. These are excellent opportunities for volunteers to remain involved with the kind of work that made their Peace Corps experience so meaningful. In addition, Anne Redmond has a special member-at-large position coordinating the fundraising for the Girls’ Conferences, which are probably our biggest project initiative. She does an awesome job.”

She also described the activities of the Advocacy Director, saying, “The Advocacy person has to keep their finger on the pulse of policy needs in Guinea by staying in touch with FOG members, Peace Corps/Guinea and local and international NGO's working in Guinea. Then they coordinate with FOG board members and others on the development and implementation of a yearly Advocacy Action Plan, throwing FOG’s weight behind the selected lobby efforts in cooperation with PC/Guinea, PC/DC, NPCA, Guinean ministries and NGO’s. It’s very important work because it has to do with managing the moral capital of the organization.”

The other major positions needing to be filled for the coming year are Secretary and Director of Web Administration. As noted, Chasteen has been both for the last year. “Basically what I do as Secretary is to maintain FOG records and keep minutes of meetings, as well as coordinate Board meetings and elections. It’s not rocket science (although it does take an ability to be organized and keep track of things) and Nancy Fleisher and Marilyn Pearson help out a lot. Of course, I’ll be there to hold the hand of whomever takes over next year.”

FOG’s website was recognized by the NPCA this past year as “Best Country-of-Service-Group website.” The web administrator mostly updates the webpage as necessary, keeping information current and responding to occasional requests for changes or additions from the rest of the board. Here again there is help from member-at-large Scott Sackett, who maintains the online directory of Friends of Guinea members. Obviously some experience with web-development techniques is necessary for this position, although on the other hand Guinean experience is not important.

One anomaly of FOG’s organizational structure is that the group has neither a president nor a vice-president. Asked whether this represented a extreme commitment to democratic inclusiveness and consensual decision-making, Steph said, “We tried but we couldn’t get anyone to take the job. Then it seemed like we got along just fine without a president so we don’t worry about it anymore.” She noted that FOG might find it necessary to name a president as the group moves closer to filing for 501(c)(3) status but “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Chasteen said that Friends of Guinea was farsighted enough to avoid the possibility of lawsuits due to the use of obsolete punch-card type voting machines in its upcoming election. "No hanging chads for us. All members will receive an electronic ballot by email and will vote by email between November 15 and November 21. If they are not currently on our email list, they should please contact us and provide us with an email address that we may use for the board election as soon as possible. We also hope people will consider serving in one of the open positions. Of course, all positions are open. Just because someone has been nominated to a particular office doesn’t mean someone else cannot equally run for the same job."

She continued, speaking earnestly but with a twinkle in her eye: “Friends of Guinea is holding its annual elections from Dec 1- Dec 7. We need especially to fill the positions of Projects Director, Advocacy Director, Secretary and Web Administrator. There are also several member-at-large positions where people can serve in a smaller role. All positions are open to nomination, and nominees need not be FOG members, although if elected they will need to join the group before they can take up their post. Anyone can get more information on the positions and the people involved by going to our newly-updated elections webpage at http://friendsofguinea.org/elections2003.shtml. If they are interested in serving in some capacity, I hope they will contact us at [email protected].”