Why We Are Running
We 4 candidates are running by petition in order to change the current direction of the Board majority on a number of key issues. Our slate would restore many of the key principles for which the Sierra Club has stood: wildlands protection, strengthening the grassroots chapter and groups rather than imposing a corporate top-down structure, supporting outings, including Inspiring Connections Outdoors (ICO) and chapter-level outings; and eliminating secrecy in Club board of directors decisions.
We are running as a "slate" rather than individually because we will need all 4 of our collective voices to legitimately lift up the diverse grassroots values and voices of the Sierra Club.
We are running as a "slate" rather than individually because we will need all 4 of our collective voices to legitimately lift up the diverse grassroots values and voices of the Sierra Club.
Five Specific Objections to current BOD leadership by Grassroots Volunteers:
"I've been very disappointed in the direction the Board and the National organization has taken. I feel there is a movement to restrict what local chapters and groups can do by a movement to centralize too much. I feel there has been a disastrous de-emphasis on the importance of local outings. I sense that Sierra Club membership is declining significantly." - Bill Armstrong
1) Wresting Control of Decision-making and Funding Away from Chapters:
Purporting to be strong advocates of Chapters and Groups, at the same time wresting control of Club priorities and funding away from them through staff takeovers of decision-making, as evidenced in the recent “Structural Assessment” process, and 2021 Board of Directors Resolutions:
(a) Structural Assessment Process
(b) 2021 Sierra Club Board of Directors Resolutions, Board Minutes: May 22, 2021:
(Example: "The Board resolves that the Sierra Club begin a multi-year transition of Chapter Director administrative management from chapter executive committees to Sierra Club staff with professional training, experience, and accountability in these areas.”)
2) Demanding "Ideological Conformity" and Punishing Those Who Do Not Conform:
Professing to be a democratically run organization, yet demanding “Idealogical Conformity” and lockstep loyalty to the Board, branding those who do not conform “not a team player”. (e.g. A majority of Sierra Club Board members passed a resolution to add articles in the ballot materials that would tell members how they should vote -- urging them to vote for 5 of the 6 NomCom candidates--while denying the petition candidates and equal opportunity to communicate with voters in the election.)
3) Alienating Legacy Donors:
Alienating multi-decades volunteer activists through word and deed which has resulted in a verifiable loss of long-term revenue for the Club as these members are removing Sierra Club from their estate plans. E.g. See Guy Saperstein, former President of Sierra Club Foundation, announcing the withdrawal of the Sierra Club from his substantial estate.
4) Silencing the Voices of People of Color Who Disagree:
Proclaiming to be a voice for “People of Color” and yet not hesitating to censor those voices when they express an opposing point of view. (See resolutions of “admonishment” against Aaron Mair and Chad Hanson between September 2021 and January 2022.
5) Disparaging the Service of Long-time Volunteers:
Disparaging the volunteer time commitment to the Sierra Club by our volunteer leaders by asserting their positions were “built via relationships tied together by tenure, and privilege.” https://community.sierraclub.org/sites/default/files/Structural%20Assessment%20
Structural Assessment, Adapting Key Roles, page 11, paragraph 1.
"I've been very disappointed in the direction the Board and the National organization has taken. I feel there is a movement to restrict what local chapters and groups can do by a movement to centralize too much. I feel there has been a disastrous de-emphasis on the importance of local outings. I sense that Sierra Club membership is declining significantly." - Bill Armstrong
1) Wresting Control of Decision-making and Funding Away from Chapters:
Purporting to be strong advocates of Chapters and Groups, at the same time wresting control of Club priorities and funding away from them through staff takeovers of decision-making, as evidenced in the recent “Structural Assessment” process, and 2021 Board of Directors Resolutions:
(a) Structural Assessment Process
(b) 2021 Sierra Club Board of Directors Resolutions, Board Minutes: May 22, 2021:
(Example: "The Board resolves that the Sierra Club begin a multi-year transition of Chapter Director administrative management from chapter executive committees to Sierra Club staff with professional training, experience, and accountability in these areas.”)
2) Demanding "Ideological Conformity" and Punishing Those Who Do Not Conform:
Professing to be a democratically run organization, yet demanding “Idealogical Conformity” and lockstep loyalty to the Board, branding those who do not conform “not a team player”. (e.g. A majority of Sierra Club Board members passed a resolution to add articles in the ballot materials that would tell members how they should vote -- urging them to vote for 5 of the 6 NomCom candidates--while denying the petition candidates and equal opportunity to communicate with voters in the election.)
3) Alienating Legacy Donors:
Alienating multi-decades volunteer activists through word and deed which has resulted in a verifiable loss of long-term revenue for the Club as these members are removing Sierra Club from their estate plans. E.g. See Guy Saperstein, former President of Sierra Club Foundation, announcing the withdrawal of the Sierra Club from his substantial estate.
4) Silencing the Voices of People of Color Who Disagree:
Proclaiming to be a voice for “People of Color” and yet not hesitating to censor those voices when they express an opposing point of view. (See resolutions of “admonishment” against Aaron Mair and Chad Hanson between September 2021 and January 2022.
5) Disparaging the Service of Long-time Volunteers:
Disparaging the volunteer time commitment to the Sierra Club by our volunteer leaders by asserting their positions were “built via relationships tied together by tenure, and privilege.” https://community.sierraclub.org/sites/default/files/Structural%20Assessment%20
Structural Assessment, Adapting Key Roles, page 11, paragraph 1.
Our Platform
sc_board_petition_candidates_platform_5dec21.pdf | |
File Size: | 27 kb |
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* The current majority on the Sierra Club Board voted to eliminate the longstanding rights of elected chapter Executive Committees regarding hiring and overall employment decisions for chapter staff. This needs to be reversed.
* Lately, the current Board majority has been conducting most of its meetings in closed sessions, where no records are kept, which undermines the transparency that we need in a volunteer-led Sierra Club.
* The Sierra Club is raising tens of millions of dollars every year for wildlands protection, including natural climate solutions (protecting forests, wetlands, and other habitats so they can absorb more CO2 from the atmosphere), but is only spending a minor fraction of these funds on these issues. Solicitations regarding imperiled wildlife, such as wolves, mention hunting laws but often fail to address habitat destruction from logging and other resource extraction activities. We need to greatly increase our funding allocation for these issues so we can protect biodiversity and advance natural climate solutions, including our 30x30 goals (protecting at least 30% of US wildlands by 2030), while increasing access to nature for communities.
* The current Sierra Club leadership has made some troubling compromises recently that undermine our stated goals and values and exacerbate climate change and pollution impacts to communities, including the promotion of the Infrastructure bill, which included numerous environmental rollbacks (e.g., elimination of environmental analysis for new oil/gas pipelines across most federal lands, and elimination of environmental analysis for many new commercial logging projects on federal lands) and enormous subsidies for the fossil fuel, forest biomass, and logging industries. The Sierra Club must advocate for our values, and promote protection for wild places and major funding for expansion of community and rooftop solar, not provide green cover for environmental rollbacks that undermine climate solutions and billions in subsidies for polluting industries that compete with solar and harm the environment and communities.
* The current Board majority promoted inaccurate and misleading attacks on the Sierra Club's founder, John Muir. These attacks should be rescinded. Also, the behavior of Board members around this topic (particularly aimed at those Board members and volunteers seeking to set the record straight) has been very public and alarming to many of our Chapter and Group volunteers. This behavior must stop as well.
* We need more support for outings, including Inspiring Connections Outdoors (ICO) and promoting/advocating outings for all people. In particular, we need to support volunteer-led chapter outings, without undue interference from national Sierra Club. Outings are central to the Sierra Club’s mission but have not been properly supported in recent years.
* The Sierra Club must “walk the talk”. The current Board majority often talks about equity, inclusion, and diversity, and the importance of grassroots volunteer leaders. However, in practice, the current direction of the Board has too often undermined these important goals and values. This needs to change.
* Lately, the current Board majority has been conducting most of its meetings in closed sessions, where no records are kept, which undermines the transparency that we need in a volunteer-led Sierra Club.
* The Sierra Club is raising tens of millions of dollars every year for wildlands protection, including natural climate solutions (protecting forests, wetlands, and other habitats so they can absorb more CO2 from the atmosphere), but is only spending a minor fraction of these funds on these issues. Solicitations regarding imperiled wildlife, such as wolves, mention hunting laws but often fail to address habitat destruction from logging and other resource extraction activities. We need to greatly increase our funding allocation for these issues so we can protect biodiversity and advance natural climate solutions, including our 30x30 goals (protecting at least 30% of US wildlands by 2030), while increasing access to nature for communities.
* The current Sierra Club leadership has made some troubling compromises recently that undermine our stated goals and values and exacerbate climate change and pollution impacts to communities, including the promotion of the Infrastructure bill, which included numerous environmental rollbacks (e.g., elimination of environmental analysis for new oil/gas pipelines across most federal lands, and elimination of environmental analysis for many new commercial logging projects on federal lands) and enormous subsidies for the fossil fuel, forest biomass, and logging industries. The Sierra Club must advocate for our values, and promote protection for wild places and major funding for expansion of community and rooftop solar, not provide green cover for environmental rollbacks that undermine climate solutions and billions in subsidies for polluting industries that compete with solar and harm the environment and communities.
* The current Board majority promoted inaccurate and misleading attacks on the Sierra Club's founder, John Muir. These attacks should be rescinded. Also, the behavior of Board members around this topic (particularly aimed at those Board members and volunteers seeking to set the record straight) has been very public and alarming to many of our Chapter and Group volunteers. This behavior must stop as well.
* We need more support for outings, including Inspiring Connections Outdoors (ICO) and promoting/advocating outings for all people. In particular, we need to support volunteer-led chapter outings, without undue interference from national Sierra Club. Outings are central to the Sierra Club’s mission but have not been properly supported in recent years.
* The Sierra Club must “walk the talk”. The current Board majority often talks about equity, inclusion, and diversity, and the importance of grassroots volunteer leaders. However, in practice, the current direction of the Board has too often undermined these important goals and values. This needs to change.
ArticlesAt The Sierra Club, A Fierce Dispute Over Founder’s Legacy Continues: An internal fight over John Muir’s racial views, and what to do about them, has roiled the Club’s board and led to the sanctioning of two members – By Jimmy Tobias, Huffington Post, 18 November 2021.
Sierra Club threatens to censure board members who spoke to press in defense of John Muir – by Jimmy Tobias – in Endangered by Jimmy Tobias (19 Oct 2021). ‘It’s just wrong’: Internal fight over Sierra Club founder’s racial legacy roils organization An internal battle over the allegedly racist views of the Sierra Club’s founder erupted in public view. (Politico, August 11, 2021, updated August 16, 2021) “Open Letter Regarding Reluctant Renewal of Sierra Club Membership” by Ron Good (September 10, 2021). Long-time member and former staff member explains his discontent with the Club’s smear campaign against its founder. Letter objecting to Sierra Club’s “hatchet job” against John Muir, by Guy Saperstein, former Sierra Club Foundation president. (September 14,2021, July 20,2020). |
LinksOff-site links do not constitute an endorsement by the slate candidates.
“The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us ... The trees wave and the flowers bloom in our bodies as well as our souls, and every bird song, wind song, and tremendous storm song of the rocks in the heart of the mountains is our song, our very own, and sings our love.”
- John Muir |
Sierra Club 2022 Election Timeline