Hello again fellow SolarCoin enthusiasts. I still have no power or internet at home so I have to post this from work (which I shouldn't be doing), so I will try to make it quick and tell you the story as it happened...
After the most recent board meeting, I went through a few days of serious reflection and decided I no longer wanted to be considered for a Board position when the Incorporation eventually happens. I sent an e-mail to Nick, Joe, Eric and Doug and I will share that e-mail with you below so you have full access to exactly what I said. About an hour after I sent the e-mail my power went out but I was able to use my phone for communication purposes. Nick sent me a private e-mail asking me to reconsider and he was very gracious and understanding of my position. Out of respect for his concern and intelligence, I agreed to delay public announcement of this for a few days. But now a few days have passed, and it's time I shared it with all of you.
I've pasted the contents of my e-mail below and I will add a few comments below that for further clarity. (I removed the e-mail addresses to protect privacy. That is the only alteration made.)
From: "Joely Balazs"
Date: Jul 5, 2014 12:15 PM
Subject: Withdrawing my name for Board consideration
To: "Nick Gogerty", "joseph. zitoli", "Eric Stetson", "Douglas Felmann"
Cc:
Good morning everyone,
I have decided to withdraw my name for Board consideration. There are multiple reasons for this, some of which I will highlight for you.
First and foremost, my personality type doesn't lend itself well to this sort of role. (see here
http://www.davidmarkley.com/personality/conceptualist.htm). I am an independent, free thinker and the controlled structure of a Board makes me feel trapped and that's not good for my spiritual health. I am forced to conform to traditional structures every day in my real job and I need my focus on SolarCoin to be that of an outsider, not an insider, so I can continue to enjoy it and be a strong supporter.
Secondly, I spend 40+ hours a week doing valuation on high end commercial real estate for the purposes of tax assessment. The position I hold is the highest technical position that can be held in terms of valuation with the Province and I am the first woman to have been awarded the title. I spend my days rooting out lies and calling out assumptions from wealthy property owners who try to say their property is worth less than market value because they don't want to pay taxes and they think I'm stupid enough to buy into their weak and fallacious arguments. Many of these people are incredibly disrespectful and most of them aren't that bright, to put it bluntly. They have a lot of money and therefore a lot of power. I am squeezed from both ends on a daily basis with those above me (also not that bright) who like to kowtow to this perceived power and my obligation to do the right thing and strike a fair assessment for the tax payers of this Province. It is a thankless job and I do it very well. But it takes a mental and emotional toll. I need to focus my energy there for the time being and can't afford to take on any role that requires an official stance and demands the appropriate amount of attention.
Finally, I spend far too much of my free time on SolarCoin. If I could afford to quit my day job and do this exclusively, I would. However, that isn't even close to being an option I can consider. I need to keep my priorities in line for the time being.
Looking back, I realize I should have taken more time to consider being on the Board. I was excited at the prospects of SolarCoin and the Mission (and I still am) but I understand now that I am not Board material, it just isn't in me. I will continue to be a huge supporter because my view of what we're trying to do here and why hasn't changed. It's just best if I participate as an activist volunteer than as a Board member.
I apologize for springing this on you now, but better now than later. This should give you time to find someone to take my place before Incorporation happens.
I will keep everything that's been said and done thus far in complete confidence but you should no longer include me in official "board related" e-mail correspondence. Obviously if there is any information or insights you'd like my opinion on, feel free to correspond with me, I'm not leaving SolarCoin.
Cheers,
Joely
PS: I would prefer to share the contents of this e-mail with the community so as to not cause any undue concern/drama and I will remove the Board member title from the Volunteer page on the wiki. I can do that later today or perhaps tomorrow once you've all had a chance to digest this. If you think it's best that I don't share this, please let me know. If anyone out there wants to know my reasons, I can share it privately with them rather than publicly with everyone. It doesn't really matter to me.
So that is that my friends. If any of you find this disappointing, I do apologize. But it’s important to remember that these efforts to change the world require all of us to contribute the best of ourselves within whatever capacity we have to contribute. Unfortunately for me, my “capacity to contribute” right now is frustratingly small given the external realities of my real life so I have to make my decisions based on all of the inputs, not just some of them.
On the plus side, I’m a helluva lot better at being an outsider and holding people’s feet to the fire than I am being an insider who just desperately wants to avoid the spotlight of being on a “Board” that doesn’t even exist yet
. If I could snap my fingers right now and have the Generator pool fully automated so that no centralized authority is in charge of anything, I’d do it. However, the technology to make that happen isn’t quite there yet, but it will come.
In the meantime, we are forced to put our faith and trust in the creators of this project and those they bring on board to help with the effort. Eric is doing a stellar job on that front. He is passionate about doing the right thing and I have a huge amount of respect for that. Nick also deserves applause as he has put more on the line than any of us because this was his idea and I am convinced his intentions are good. I was sad to see Doug resign but he also has his reasons should he decide to share them, I won’t comment on that only to say that I respect his decision as he came to it rationally and objectively.
With all that said, I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes and I won’t hesitate to make my opinions known if I feel they are relevant. I remain cautiously optimistic that SolarCoin goes in a direction that ensures the Mission as stated is kept front and centre and that those involved in the decision making are skilled enough to make that happen. These are exciting times and I intend to enjoy as much of it as I can.
