Path: uni-berlin.de!fu-berlin.de!news.zanker.org!news-peer-lilac.gradwell.net!not-for-mail From: "Barry Salter" Newsgroups: uk.net.news.announce,uk.net.news.config,uk.net.news.management Subject: RESULT - UK Usenet Committee Elections 2004 Followup-To: uk.net.news.management Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 14:59:30 +0000 Message-ID: Sender: Chris Croughton as Control Approved: Chris Croughton as Control Lines: 825 NNTP-Posting-Date: 30 Nov 2004 14:59:45 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 80.0.192.110 X-Trace: 1101826785 news.gradwell.net 222 control/80.0.192.110 X-Complaints-To: news-abuse@gradwell.net Xref: uni-berlin.de uk.net.news.announce:3260 uk.net.news.config:196737 uk.net.news.management:63417 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Result of Call for Votes UK Usenet Committee Elections 2004 Due to the continued prevalence of viruses and worms the harvest Usenet posts for e-mail addresses, all e-mail addresses in these results are modified to prevent this. Summary: The following people are elected to serve as Open Members of the UK Usenet Committee until December 2007: Molly Mockford Charles Lindsey Martyn Bailey (aka 'Mother') Voting closed at 23:59:59 GMT, 24th November 2004. Primary Votetaker: Barry Salter Secondary Votetaker: Jim Hill ======================================================================== Distribution: These results have been posted to the following newsgroups: uk.net.news.announce uk.net.news.config uk.net.news.management ======================================================================== The full results follow below in the following order: 1) Information on the Ballot 2) Results in Detail 3) Voter List 4) Counted Vote List 5) Votetaker's Comments 6) Voting and Appeal Information 7) Copy of Statements from the CFV ====================================================================== Information on the Ballot Voters were asked to rank the following candidates in order of preference: Molly Mockford Candidate A Paul Cummins Candidate B Andrew Hodgson Candidate C Martyn Bailey (aka 'Mother') Candidate D David Mahon Candidate E Charles Lindsey Candidate F ====================================================================== Results in Detail There were 112 vote emails received: 109 Valid and counted votes 1 Valid vote subsequently superseded by the voter 1 Invalid vote which remained uncorrected by the voter 1 Ballot request sent to the voting address The election was conducted using the Single Transferable Vote method of voting, with the count carried out under the Electoral Reform Society's 1997 (3rd Edition) rules. The STV analysis is as follows: UK Usenet Committee Elections 2004 Stage 1 Total Valid Vote: 109 Places to be filled +1: 4 So Quota = 109/4 Quota = 27.25 First Preferences: Molly Mockford : 50.00 Paul Cummins : 3.00 Andrew Hodgson : 3.00 Martyn Bailey : 11.00 David Mahon : 9.00 Charles Lindsey : 33.00 Molly Mockford ELECTED with 50.00 over quota 27.25 Charles Lindsey ELECTED with 33.00 over quota 27.25 Active Vote: 54.50 Places left +1: 2 Vote required for election now: 27.25 Stage 2 No candidates can be excluded, so we transfer the largest surplus Surplus of Molly Mockford Paul Cummins gets 2 papers. Andrew Hodgson gets 10 papers. Martyn Bailey gets 31 papers. David Mahon gets 5 papers. 48 papers transferred. Total Present Value: 48.00 2 papers non-transferable. Calculating transfer value: 22.75/48 Papers transferred at 0.47 Paul Cummins now has 3.94 votes. Andrew Hodgson now has 7.70 votes. Martyn Bailey now has 25.57 votes. David Mahon now has 11.35 votes. 0.19 votes non-transferable. Active Vote: 54.31 Places left+1: 2 Vote required for election now: 27.16 Stage 3 No candidates can be excluded, so we transfer the largest surplus Surplus of Charles Lindsey Paul Cummins gets 1 papers. Andrew Hodgson gets 6 papers. Martyn Bailey gets 15 papers. David Mahon gets 11 papers. 33 papers transferred. Total Present Value: 33.00 0 papers non-transferable. Calculating transfer value: 5.75/33 Papers transferred at 0.17 Paul Cummins now has 4.11 votes. Andrew Hodgson now has 8.72 votes. Martyn Bailey now has 28.12 votes. David Mahon now has 13.22 votes. 0.14 votes non-transferable. Martyn Bailey ELECTED with 28.12 over quota 27.25 ***Finished*** In grid format, this is expressed as follows: UK Usenet Committee Elections 2004 Number to be elected: 3 (from 6) Counted votes: 109 Quota for election on first round: 27.25 1st Stage 2 Stage 3 Pref T A T A 50 -22.75 27.25 27.25 Elect Molly Mockford 3 0.94 3.94 0.17 4.11 Paul Cummins 3 4.70 7.70 1.08 8.72 Andrew Hodgson 11 14.57 25.57 2.55 28.12 Elect Martyn Bailey 9 2.35 11.35 1.87 13.22 David Mahon 33 33.00 -5.75 27.25 Elect Charles Lindsey 0.19 0.19 0.14 0.33 Non-transferable 109 109.00 109.00 Totals Key to grid: Stage 2 - Surplus of Molly Mockford Stage 3 - Surplus of Charles Lindsey T = number of votes transferred at this stage A = votes for candidate after transfer ====================================================================== Voter List The following individuals supplied valid votes: Name Email ^Thunder^ Thunder#ukessex#org#uk {R} {R}#semolina#org Adam D. Barratt vote+ctte+20045#adam-barratt#org#uk Adam Price adam+usenet#pappnase#co#uk Alan LeHun UKvote#lehun#clara#co#uk Alastair alastair#bufflersholt#co#uk Alex D. Baxter alex-news#oenone#demon#co#uk Alex Holden envaabprag#alex-holden#co#uk Alex Monro alexm#pobox#com alexander mann alex#letmethink#co#uk Ali Hopkins fn62#dial#pipex#com Andrew McDonald andrew#mcdonald#org#uk Anthony R. Gold bigfoot#davros#org Bill Jillians Bill#Jillians#virgin#net Bob Eager rde42#spamcop#net Bob Scott bob#Bobandaileen#co#uk Brett Paul Dunbar brett#dimetrodon#demon#co#uk Brian Brian#bjforster#force9#co#uk Brian {Hamilton Kelly} bhk#dsl#co#uk Charles Lindsey chl#clerew#man#ac#uk Chris Croughton chris#keristor#net Cliff Hones cliff-voter#cliff#hones#org#uk Clive Feather thamesvalley#davros#org Clive Martin clive#cmartin#demon#co#uk Clive R Robertson comm2004#clive#org#uk Colin Rosenstiel rosenstiel#cix#co#uk Darren J Longhorn darrenlonghorn#yahoo#com Dave Hillam brillig#dsl#pipex#com Dave Johnson requiem#freeuk#com Dave Mason xcom2k04#broonzy#org#uk Dave Mayall dave#research-group#co#uk Dave Millard dave#focus3#uk#com David Mahon dmahon_vote_com2k04#amigo#co#uk David Uri daviduri#bigfoot#com Devi Jankowicz animas#ntlworld#com Dick Gaughan dickg#dickalba#demon#co#uk Dr John Stockton spam#merlyn#demon#co#uk Fearghas McKay fm#st-kilda#org Fishter fishter#fishter#org#uk fred fred#fredc#demon#co#uk gizbon gizbon#higs#co#uk Graham Drabble graham#drabble#lineone#net Grant xcom2k04#mason#sh hannah d. hannah#comp#leeds#ac#uk Iain iain#deepsea#force9#co#uk James Bentall james#bentall#net JBM jon#beasley-murray#manchester#ac#uk Jeff McGhie jeff#mcghie#me#uk Jim Crowther Don't_spam#crowfam#org#uk Jim Riley jimrtex#pipeline#com John Bean john#waterfoot#net John Dean john-dean#msn#com John Hall john#jhall#co#uk John Reid john#reid#jazza#demon#co#uk Jono Price j#d#price#205658#swansea#ac#uk Julie Brandon julie-votexcom2k04#computergeeks#co#uk kat kat#news#ntlworld#com Keith Lawrence adsl#perrydell#com Kevin Andreoli kevin#andreoli#co#uk Kevin Ashley k#ashley#ulcc#ac#uk Kim Andrews somerat#hotmail#com Lt. Cmdr. Jim jim#us-lot#org Marcus Houlden comm2004#nukesoft#co#uk Mark Goodge mark#good-stuff#co#uk Martin Ebourne martin#zepler#org Martyn Bailey (aka: Mother) m#101fc#net Matchstick matchstick#oofg#com Mike Fleming mike#tauzero#co#uk Mike Henry {$usenet-spamdump$}#mrtickle#demon#co#uk Mike Stanton mike#stanton#dsl#pipex#com Molly Mockford com2004#mollymockford#me#uk Nadeem bambi#sushi#co#jp Neil Matthews neil#chaos#org#uk Nick Odell themusicworkshop#ntlworld#com Owen Rees owen#rees#tesco#net paul {voter}#watman#clara#co#uk Paul Booth pabooth#grumpy#co#uk Paul Carpenter paul#pcserviceselectronics#co#uk Paul Cummins paulc#vlaad#co#uk Paul Giverin paul#giverin#co#uk Paul Harper paul#harper#net Pedt pedt#spamless#org#uk Pekka P. Pirinen ppp#pirinen#demon#co#uk Pete Fenelon pete#fenelon#com Pete The Gardener pete_the_gardener#hotmail#com Peter Duck pduck#zetnet#co#uk Peter Parry peter#wpp#ltd#uk Peter Robinson pmrobinson#gmx#net Peter Smyth psmyth#gmx#net Philip Powell philip#blencathra#org#uk Richard Clayton richard#highwayman#com Richard Letts richard-vote#illuin#org Robbie robbie#babblings#org#uk Ronan Flood ronan#noc#ulcc#ac#uk Scott Phase3#worldnet#att#net Stephen Diston Usenet#Diston#me#uk Stephen Watson stephen#kerofin#demon#co#uk Steve Walker stephenw#beeb#net Steven Clarke steve#clarke#org#uk Stuart Millington celec2004#vote#dsv1#co#uk Tez Burke burkesworks#lineone#net Thomas Lee tfl#psp#co#uk Tim Sharrock tim#sharrock#org#uk Tom Hughes tom#compton#nu Tony tony#darkstorm#co#uk Tony Walton tony#walton#sun#com Tony Wright adw#saska#demon#co#uk Tracey Gauntlett tracey#vlaad#co#uk Wm tcnw61#tarrcity#demon#co#uk The following ballot papers was rejected as invalid: Address Reason barryd#idunno#org Invalid STV ordering ====================================================================== Counted Vote List The guidelines for the UK Usenet Committee Elections stipulate that the votes of all voters shall be published in such a way that only the voter can recognise his/her own vote. The following votes were counted, listed in alphanumeric order of the Ballot ID: Candidate Rankings Ballot ID A B C D E F ================ ================ 02dcc8e46ffdb38e 3 6 4 5 2 1 04dc3c090dd2558d 1 6 2 4 5 3 08d493c7b6f87c03 3 - 5 4 1 2 092efa063b735f55 1 6 4 2 5 3 0b6e12ee2f6fdb21 3 - - - 2 1 0cdd352f577e06c8 - - - - 1 2 0e35db058ea1adf8 2 - - 3 - 1 16917f1673b33b7e 2 4 6 5 3 1 1859bb6de451e2fe 1 - 2 4 3 5 18e2a626c651a728 2 6 3 4 5 1 1cfd8f0370bcb452 2 5 4 3 6 1 1e3350ede549ac45 4 - 3 - 2 1 1f06bbcc8002c07e 2 4 3 1 6 5 1f1119f7d532303c 2 6 4 3 5 1 286121944ab87097 2 - 4 3 - 1 2a8e212951ffb900 1 - - - - 2 2c90cbb4814ba10c 1 6 4 2 3 5 2d8f639054c68f5c 3 5 4 1 6 2 2e71e45dda354d96 1 - 4 2 - 3 310aa6894ab491ee 1 6 5 2 4 3 335dde4947df07f6 2 - 1 - - 3 35055068ae9f12f7 2 5 4 3 6 1 35f01e7dc72a1e2a - 3 2 - 1 - 38c46755c155e399 1 6 4 2 3 5 3c507e37b1d174a7 1 5 4 2 6 3 3d47b0e3fd5c6d69 4 5 6 1 3 2 3f275ebb1eea5cb4 1 6 3 5 2 4 41926a09f4288ed8 3 5 4 6 2 1 4b18acbdb5153bea 2 6 5 3 4 1 4fc2f76d63a69ea3 1 6 3 2 4 5 5000caab6c06ba62 1 6 5 4 3 2 53a0e3c912765bb6 2 6 3 5 4 1 543a1538307eb954 1 6 4 3 5 2 5577cf7f684f5631 2 - 3 1 - - 5637f121288ef840 1 6 5 2 4 3 56e7b08e02206099 5 2 4 6 1 3 57e5f158f15c897b 1 5 2 4 3 6 58efc231a9bdfd90 1 6 5 2 4 3 597a25a236bb9588 2 6 4 3 5 1 5a0a4f4de4c35778 1 - - - - - 5e86c637f11c8760 2 6 4 3 5 1 5f5ac7d066f74629 1 6 4 2 3 5 5fb0ec9a6dd73edf 1 5 2 6 3 4 6322a741d5ea1aae 1 - 3 4 5 2 643bb91c6764f175 1 3 - - - 2 6705d7f4d294a615 4 - 1 - 2 3 675a8339d24ac7d2 4 6 5 1 2 3 6811da2c1b796294 2 - - 1 - 3 6a140ad8ffbc7f3b 4 6 2 3 5 1 6bd2ab54ba96a974 1 - 3 2 4 5 6d99cbfc79aa01be 5 6 3 4 2 1 73031c19e2c8be4e 1 6 4 2 5 3 73e74a8ef319dffe 1 6 2 3 4 5 74c2a89521c56e05 3 - - - 2 1 774afa6e143bac9a 1 5 4 3 6 2 7c6fca57eeb3d5a2 1 - 3 2 4 5 7c7b4afda2247c60 1 - 3 - - 2 7fa7db47e2e2d8b5 1 6 4 3 2 5 810294600ef74f5c 1 6 3 2 5 4 818a865c0b58c9bb 4 6 5 2 3 1 86c056f048e5a93e 1 - - 2 - 3 87a7d177d876c401 2 3 5 4 - 1 89d08128bc3488a7 2 6 4 5 3 1 8abdf4789e099583 2 6 5 3 4 1 8c13d54d5327b26b 1 6 4 3 5 2 8db0c32000c4b37b - - - - 1 2 8ee285e89456234f 1 6 4 2 3 5 8fa7556b247eaf24 2 - 3 5 4 1 8fbcc476bf0091df 5 6 4 1 2 3 904fac24c1007f4d 1 - - - 2 3 a8c6f68a96f6229e 6 1 4 5 2 3 a9a913720fb81a8c 1 - 3 - - 2 abe431493805b4c1 3 1 5 4 2 6 aed4fdf0b97b1485 1 6 5 3 4 2 aeee3ed1cc6d6410 2 - 5 3 4 1 aef7f948c83db2e3 5 3 4 1 2 6 b08941b020bf1557 1 6 5 3 4 2 b1326cde673ccfe1 2 6 3 4 5 1 b235d7c14f7772cd 2 - - 1 - - b818c47e05bd7305 1 - 3 4 2 - b8a03ec583f8fe41 1 5 4 2 6 3 bbfa2e2a35d601ff 1 6 4 2 3 5 c436c7173178a6fe 3 6 1 2 4 5 c449a7e5c2b2375d 1 6 4 2 5 3 c73406909234cbac 2 5 3 4 6 1 c7c6d9a2728f5e71 2 6 5 4 3 1 c90c6ee893384026 2 - - 3 - 1 cbe419619e2cd58d 1 5 3 2 4 6 cc49143c44f308fc 1 6 5 2 4 3 cc4f85b334148a21 2 6 5 4 1 3 cca851ab4c5651ec 3 6 5 4 2 1 cd07a965e9d69027 1 - 3 2 - 4 cee98b9250771f43 5 2 4 6 1 3 d3ef62a9f8e4d229 1 2 6 4 3 5 d72baa3a62e18222 2 1 4 - 3 - d7f1427d72d8ca6f 1 6 3 4 5 2 d827d418abc38980 1 4 5 3 6 2 d8727143ba4dad7a 1 - 3 2 - 4 d9b1b36a16df472b 1 6 4 2 5 3 db4183502d951561 2 6 4 1 3 5 dca7b9feb1a182b8 3 6 2 5 1 4 de123b630a90e903 2 - - 3 - 1 e71d1c8cc9422b9b 2 - - 3 - 1 e74c953a8bbe3516 1 - 3 4 - 2 edf9b03bf3524ec6 3 4 5 6 2 1 f344b682284561b6 3 6 5 2 4 1 f369983d8693f795 2 6 5 1 4 3 f37cc27962d0bd43 - 2 - 3 1 - f7c221ddadd2096d 1 - - 3 - 2 If you wish to check that your vote has been correctly recorded, your Ballot ID can be found on your ballot paper and your acknowledgement. It should be noted that the Ballot IDs were issued randomly, and the sequence here does not match either the order in which ballot papers were requested or the alphabetical sequence of voter names or email addresses. ====================================================================== Votetaker's Comments Barry:- I'd like to begin by thanking Control, something so few people think of doing. In this case, thanks are due for getting the 1st CFV posted within an hour of me sending it to him. This has to go down as one of the simplest Committee Elections of recent years, save for the original primary votetaker being removed as a result of comments he made during the Nomination phase. Fortunately, this did not affect the running of the CFV, apart from my being "promoted" to primary votetaker, and Jim coming on board as secondary. Wanting to learn more about the inner workings of STV, I opted to do a manual count as well as using eSTV v1.40, supplied by the Electoral Reform Society. Not surprisingly, both counts came out with exactly the same results. Validation of voters was, on the whole, easy as most of those who voted are unn* "regulars". There were a few names that I didn't immediately recognise, but those were also verified relatively easily. One particular vote, however, caused alarm bells to ring. This was not, I must stress, due to the preferences expressed within the voter's ballot, but because their most recent (indeed, only) posts to Usenet had been made in early 2002 and they claimed to be the partner of one of the candidates. In a normal CFV, I most likely would have discarded both votes as attempted multivoting and let the Committee decide on the resulting appeal based on the evidence available. The Committee Elections are not a normal CFV, and as one of the parties involved was a candidate, I thought it would be prudent to seek further information prior to making a decision. Accordingly, after discussion with other members of UKVoting, it was decided that the best option would be to attempt to phone the voter to confirm their existence and whether or not they cast the vote in question. This was done on my behalf by Alex Holden, using a phone number which is available from the BT Directory Enquiries website. The result of this call was enough to satisfy me that the voter did exist and that they had submitted the queried vote, which I duly acknowledged in the normal manner. Jim:- Barry stepped up to primary votetaker at short notice and has conducted a model election. Aside from monitoring, nothing was required of me. ====================================================================== Voting and Appeal Information This vote was conducted by neutral third party members of UKVoting. UKVoting is a group of independent votetakers who count votes on CFVs in the uk hierarchy. The rules under which this vote is taken are posted regularly to uk.net.news.announce or can be found at the following URL: The UKVoting web pages can be found at There is a five day discussion period after these results are posted to uk.net.news.announce. Allegations of irregularity should be sent to the committee via email to: control (at) usenet (dot) org (dot) uk. ====================================================================== (The information in this and the following section is a copy of that provided in the CFV) Elections: There are currently 3 Open Vacancies DEFINITION OF OPEN CLASS OF MEMBERSHIP Any participant in the uk.* hierarchy qualifies as a candidate in the Open class. Application Requirements Any participant in the uk.* hierarchy qualifies as a nominator for the Open class. Any individual may nominate a maximum of three candidates. Each candidate must receive four nominations. The nominators must confirm support for their candidate(s) by replying to an email from the votetaker. If a candidate fails to attract four confirmations from their nominators by that deadline, they will not qualify for this round of elections. If candidates wish to supply more than the minimum four nominators, they may do so. The first four qualifying confirmations received from nominators will be announced by the votetaker as the official nominators for each candidate. PERSONS RESIGNING FROM COMMITTEE Alan Ford Charles Lindsey Who have served their respective terms Andrew Gierth Who was selected by lot from himself, Geoff Berrow and Thomas Lee. ================================================================= CANDIDATES: 6 nominations have been received. The committee has 3 vacancies and therefore an election will be held to fill the 3 vacancies. A list of the candidates is below (in application order). Candidates: Molly Mockford Candidate A Paul Cummins Candidate B Andrew Hodgson Candidate C Martyn Bailey (aka 'Mother') Candidate D David Mahon Candidate E Charles Lindsey Candidate F Please find below details of the people who nominated each candidate (Name & Email Address) and a short statement from each candidate: =================================================================== Candidate A Name : Molly Mockford E-Mail: com2004 (at) mollymockford (dot) me (dot) uk Nominators Name : Chris Croughton E-Mail: chris (at) keristor (dot) net Name : Pedt Scragg E-Mail: pedt (at) spamless (dot) org (dot) uk Name : Adam D. Barratt E-Mail: usenet+nom04 (at) adam-barratt (dot) org (dot) uk Name : Dick Gaughan E-Mail: dickg (at) dickalba (dot) demon (dot) co (dot) uk Statement: I arrived in uk.net.news.* in 1998, and found the whole process of the management of the hierarchy fascinating and compelling. For the last four and a half years I have been a member of UKVoting; my motive in applying was to do something for uk.* Usenet in return for the enjoyment I received from it. I had intended to stand for Committee next year, but under gentle pressure I have reconsidered and am putting my name forward now. I am not standing with any kind of axe to grind against the current Committee, but rather in the hope of being of some benefit. Although communications in general, as well as liaison between Committee and UKVoting, have greatly improved recently, there is still plenty of room for further improvement, and I would like to work towards this end. =================================================================== Candidate B Name : Paul Cummins E-Mail: paul (at) vlaad (dot) co (dot) uk Nominators Name : David Mahon E-Mail: dmahon (at) amigo (dot) co (dot) uk Name : Dave Mayall E-Mail: david (dot) mayall (at) ukonline (dot) co (dot) uk Name : Peter Smyth E-Mail: psmyth (at) gmx (dot) net Name : Dave Mason E-Mail: cummins (at) broonzy (dot) org (dot) uk Statement: I am a Training Officer, currently working within the Jobcentre Plus NEW DEAL programme. I have been a regular participant in the UK hierarchy since around 1999, with a 6 month break at the end of the year 2001. I make no bones about my reason for standing for the committee. Increasingly, the management of the UK hierarchy has been descending into personal insult, ad hominem, dissembling and fraud. It is time to step above personal issues, and consider not what the benefit to the individual would be in any circumstance, but the benefit to the hierarchy as a whole. Since returning to usenet a little under 2 years ago, I have tried (and have not always succeeded) to avoid the errors I made in the past, admit my mistakes, and robustly challenge actions by Committee Members and UK Voting which do not seem to be in the best interest of the UK hierarchy. If you select me as a committee member, I will offer my judgement, my diligence and my experience freely without complaint. Thank You =================================================================== Candidate C Name : Andrew Hodgson E-Mail: andrew (at) hodgsonfamily (dot) org Nominators Name : David Mahon E-Mail: dmahon (at) amigo (dot) co (dot) uk Name : Paul Anderson E-Mail: {voter} (at) watman (dot) clara (dot) co (dot) uk Name : Derek Hornby E-Mail: derek (dot) hornby_uk (at) btopenworld (dot) com Name : Chris McMillan E-Mail: chris (dot) mcmillan (at) ntlworld (dot) com Statement: My name is Andrew Hodgson, and I currently pay for all this Internet stuff by working for a medium sized financial company in rural Herefordshire as an IT Support Technician/jack of all trades. I am also heavily involved with the local PCC (as secretary) and am the training officer for the local bell ringing district. As someone who has been reading UK newsgroups for over 7 years, I feel strongly that I can put something back into the community by becoming a committee member and help shape the future of the UK hierarchy. =================================================================== Candidate D Name : Martyn Bailey (aka 'Mother') E-Mail: m (at) 101fc (dot) net Nominators Name : Molly Mockford E-Mail: uce2004 (at) mollymockford (dot) me (dot) uk Name : Chris Croughton E-Mail: chris (at) keristor (dot) net Name : 'kat' E-Mail: kat (dot) news (at) ntlworld (dot) com Name : Brian Hamilton Kelly E-Mail: bhk (at) dsl (dot) co (dot) uk Statement: Although very serious about what I do, I don't generally take myself too seriously. I've been dossing around usenet since the early 90's and feel uk.* provides a good model which other hierarchies may do well to observe.I'd welcome the opportunity to be a part of the development of uk.*, but I cannot necessarily guarantee to bring a depth of experience, skill or technical understanding to the role if elected. I will endeavour to be fair, just and balanced in any decisions I'm required to make, wherever possible representing the views of a broad and diverse community in a way which is inclusive, objective and democratic. I reserve the right to speak my mind in as direct a manner as I see fit at the time, and also reserve the right to be wrong, change my mind upon reasoned argument and to apologise when (not if) I screw up, misinterpret or misunderstand what may or may not have been said. I have no particular axe to grind and have no time for irrational intolerance or petty personality politics. =================================================================== Candidate E Name : David Mahon E-Mail: dmahon (at) amigo (dot) co (dot) uk Nominators Name : Anthony R Gold E-Mail: panix2 (at) ahjg (dot) co (dot) uk Name : Bob Eager E-Mail: rde (at) tavi (dot) co (dot) uk Name : Alastair Mackintosh E-Mail: alastair (at) bufflersholt (dot) co (dot) uk Name : Fearghas McKay E-Mail: fm (at) st-kilda (dot) org Statement: I have been a participant in the uk.net.news.* newsgroups and on usenet in general for quite some time now. I have proposed several RFDs and seen the process of group creation in action. As well as being an end user, I also administer two news servers and have been a member of UKVoting - the organisation which conducts votes for the uk.* usenet community - since 2000. I continue to believe that the most important thing the committee has to oversee is striking the correct balance between ensuring that popular groups are easy to create whilst avoiding the creation of unnecessary or poorly named groups. If elected, I'll do my best to strike that balance, and on any issues that come up along the way I'll try to be fair, let you know what I think - and why. =================================================================== Candidate F Name : Charles Lindsey E-Mail: chl (at) clerew (dot) man (dot) ac (dot) uk Nominators Name : Richard Clayton E-Mail: richard (at) highwayman (dot) com Name : Paul Booth E-Mail: pabooth (at) grumpy (dot) co (dot) uk Name : Graham Drabble E-Mail: graham (dot) drabble (at) lineone (dot) net Name : Paul Harper E-Mail: paul (at) harper (dot) net Statement: Yes, I have been on the Committee a long time (since it was founded, in fact). However, that gives me the advantage of being able to recall all the battles and precedents from the past - "We already dealt with that issue back in 1999" sort of thing. I have also been involved in a lot of the spade work. I am the keeper of the www.usenet.org.uk website (and hence of the texts of the charters). I am Deputy Control, and have actually acted as Control for a longer period than some of the proper holders of that post. I am happy to continue to wield that spade, but it is hardly practicable to do so from outside of the Committee. There is far too much bickering and animosity on UNNC and UNNM. I try to keep out of it (and behind the scenes to cool it down), which is why you will not see me posting so much. If I can contribute constructively to the debate, especially on some technical matter, then I do so. Otherwise, I try to hold my peace (and would urge others to do likewise). -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG-v1.2.4-(GNU/Linux) Charset: noconv iQCVAwUBQayK12OfGXkh8vHZAQHbLQP/RN52f42uiAtJfkSjeLwVlOpGDAdgcfdY +ZpcPsmhaRD+p6gAdqOeIFRqeb9tX5gzqEFXxTPf60HBdlfQCnli8PmbT0Z15iLU +gsDwMaRrXji80Nhe3DaUHB+YA0XgiLEX27dAuxip1olvzoPrGUucNqbB256TED8 SXY8XVH6Is8= =04Dr -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----