Emily O'Brien on her fixed gear.

UMCA President Joe Jamison announced the appointment of Emily O'Brien as the Elections Commissioner for the Board of Directors.

Jamison wrote: " The Commissioner has the responsibility of seeing that all rules established by the Committee on Board Elections (COBE) are understood and followed by everyone involved with the election including the nominees, directors, officers and the general membership."

The Elections Commissioner is the UMCA's equivalent of a County Clerk, someone with no stake in the outcome of the election who manages the process and implements the rules. The Commissioner reports to the President and will serve through the end of the 2008 election, after the election of new Directors is certified.

O'Brien served on the Committee on Increasing Voter Turnout and increasing participation in the election is a high priority for her.

The responsibilities of the Commissioner include:

1. Responding promptly to all inquiries from the membership regarding the election and, when appropriate, refer inquiries to the COBE and/or an Officer or Chair.
2. Taking care of all communications to and from the prospective candidates.
3. Distributing candidate materials to the COBE.
4. Scheduling COBE discussions by teleconference and/or e-mail to select the nominees.
5. Working with nominees to share information with the membership, for example, receive the nominees statements and ensure that they are published in the magazine and on the website.
6. Utilizing the recommendations of the Committee on Increasing Voter Turnout and other methods to increase members' voting.
7. Monitoring campaign activities and reporting problems to the COBE.
8. Writing periodic reports to the Board.
9. Writing periodic reports to the membership for the website and magazine.
10. Monitoring preparation and mailing of the ballot to the membership.
11. Monitoring receipt of ballots and tabulation of ballots.

O'Brien is also a professional musician and plays Baroque flute and recorder. She rides her fixed-gear Raleigh Professional to concert venues.

O'Brien qualified for RAAM on her fixed gear at the Furnace Creek 508. Afterwards she wrote: "What possessed me to ride my fixed gear for over 500 miles? I like my fixed gear. I like the steady feeling of the momentum keeping my feet going around, the connection to the bike, the control over the rear wheel and awareness of the road that a fixed gear gives me. In particular I like the position and ride characteristics of my 1974 Raleigh Professional. I have done all my longest rides on my fixed gear, and I take my fixed gear on the vast majority of my rides because I think it's more fun that way.".

E-mail Emily    elections @ ultracycling.com