In February I told Bill Lee that I was not going to run because I was having too much fun being a modeler. That seems to have allowed some legal but immoral activity surrounding the nominations in District VIII. Those actions did not and should not have happened because they clearly indicate that those candidates are more interested in their own power than the future of the AMA.

I feel that the leadership of a $10 million dollar organization should have significantly higher ethics than was demonstrated by two of the candidates who are on the ballot have shown. I made that opinion known to more than one person on the Nominating Committee before the meeting on 12 July. I was embarrassed for the AMA EC who were among the victims of this low moral activity when the ballot was set and took action accordingly. The Nominating Committee hands were tied and they acted within the confines and scope of the rules in place now. I suspect that those rules may change based on the actions of most of the candidates in District VIII.

My write in campaign is an attempt to move the AMA from a few who seem to feel they own the organization to something more resembling a democracy. One of the two folks who has tried to corrupt the nomination process hides from the public and has yet to even try to explain his action and it is clear he expects to be elected since he is the incumbent. Meanwhile the other brags about how he tried to use the system to improve HIS situation rather than discuss how his immoral action would have helped the AMA.

Sorry folks, neither individual represents the morality we need running the AMA. I have expressed this opinion everywhere I can and have yet to find other AMA members who disagree with me on that point.


If you agree, please write my name and AMA number in on your District VIII AMA ballot.

Jim Branaum AMA 1428