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Sierra Club CEO Carl Pope and 'old guard' want to maintain control

In contrast to the grassroots reform wing of the Club, the so called 'old guard' takes a bureaucratic rather than an activist approach to environmentalism. In their GroundswellSierra web site they brag that: "Unlike the trio of outside candidates, we have collectively sat through thousands of hours of Sierra Club meetings over the years." (emphasis added) Endless meetings don't protect forests and streams. Action does.

'Old guard' board members and the CEO have repeatedly resisted the members' right to establish policy by initiative and have put up a host of roadblocks. In 1999, they even tried to pass a measure that would have increased, by a prohibitive 250%, the number of signatures required to get a member initiative on the ballot. The membership defeated their misguided proposal by a two to one margin.

Perhaps worse from the grassroots perspective, the 'old guard' and Sierra Club CEO Carl Pope too often overrule actions taken by local activists. Local leaders, not the central office, know how best to protect their local resources.

Above all, this group of directors and the CEO seem most committed to perpetuating their control of the Sierra Club in one election after another. They have been very successful in continually bringing term-limited friends back onto the board after only a year of absence.

This year, old guard candidates include Nick Aumen, Jan O'Connell and Lisa Renstrom. Michael Dorsey is also considered to be part of this faction in terms of failure to protect democracy within the Sierra Club.

Old guard board members and their supporters have placed three fake candidates in the March election. As documented in Richard Lamm v. Larry Fahn, signatures were collected for three candidates (Morris Dees, Barbara Herz and Phillip Berry) for the sole purpose of using their ballot statements to attack legitimate Petition Candidates. Old guard Director Robbie Cox was a central figure in this effort. Others old guard directors including Chuck McGrady support the groundswell website which attacks strong Petition Candidates unfairly.