Fellow ACFA North Central Region Members,

ACFA is fortunate to have three long-time members competing to be ACFA’s President for the next three-year term. Each would bring his or her own set of skills and leadership approach to the position, and my choice reflects my assessment of those skills and managerial styles, based on serving on the board with two of the candidates and attending board meetings with all three, as the former head of ACFA’s rules research committee.

In my opinion, ACFA needs a leader who has the experience, vision, and drive to move ACFA forward. In addition, I believe ACFA needs a leader who takes care to get the details right, whether it’s communicating with the membership, proposing changes to ACFA’s rules, or digging into the complexities of genetics questions.

That’s why I endorse Doug Blackmore for ACFA President.

Doug understands our aspirations and challenges as exhibitors and show managers. In his 25 years in ACFA, he has served as a club officer, show manager, entry clerk, ring clerk, master clerk, and exhibitor, in additional to being a genetics committee member and an allbreed judge.

Doug gets things done for ACFA. He was the one who worked out the detailed budgets for Central Office that helped ACFA climb out of our financial hole.

Doug is conscientious. For example, when he first joined the ACFA board, Doug studied the minutes of the past three years’ board meetings so that he would be aware of recent board deliberations and prepared with the knowledge to represent his region. He applies this same attention to detail to all board matters, looking at the facts and considering each side of questions before the board, before making his recommendations.

Doug listens and respects others’ points of view. For example, as a member of the Maine Coon breed committee, he participated respectfully in the debate about the white spotting factor and supported the majority’s decision, even though it differed from his personal view.

Doug is committed to ACFA, and whatever role he is in, he’ll be a tremendous asset to ACFA, as he is now as First Vice-President. However, the ACFA President has visibility and leverage that no one else has. As ACFA President, Doug can do more for our association than he could do in a supporting role.

In sports, seasoned coaches put the best players in the most important positions. As George Plimpton wrote in Paper Lion, when you have to make a crucial first down, you give the ball to your best back and call his best play. When a music director plans a concert, he or she puts the best performers out in front as featured soloists. And when an organization needs to move forward with well-thought-out, well-executed plans, the best possible candidate should be at the head of that organization.

That person is Doug Blackmore.

Sincerely,

Glen Newton
North Central Regional Director
www.acfanorthcentralregion.org