2018/2019 MORE Board of Director Elections – Candidate Bio’s and information
Voting is open for the following MORE Board of Director positions for 2018 / 2019 term from December 15 – 24, 2017.
- President
- Vice President
- Treasurer
- Director of Communications
Please review the volunteer applicant’s bio’s and cast your vote by December 24, when the polls will close. It is important you vote as it is a requirement of our by-laws and shows support for our volunteer candidates. Please vote only once. Results will be announced late December.
VOTE at the bottom of this page…
2018/2019 MORE Board of Director Candidates
President: Ernest Rodriguez
I would like to be considered as a candidate for President of MORE for the 2018 – 2020 term.
I am running for another term as president of MORE to continue organizational programming, advocacy, riding and community building efforts. Organizational programming for regional training, continued development of family riding programs for women and kids. In 2018, I’d like to see regional training for trail building to lower the bar for entry into volunteerism for building trails, maintenance and leading rides. We’ve learned the value of co-liaisons for trails and can benefit to holding training sessions regionally for more members to attend and become part of our great volunteer teams.
One of the key factors for mountain biking advocacy is consistency in our ask and personnel. We have built a great rapport with land manager creating value and a reputation for building quality sustainable natural surface trails and need to continue enabling and supporting local volunteers to expand our network. It’s exciting to plan new trails in the Frederick Watershed, Patuxent River State Park, Bacon Ridge, Bull Run and Patapsco State Park.
The Discovery Ride series have proven very popular as have been our Facebook and meetup rides for beginners. I look forward to supporting volunteer lead skills clinics and epic exploratory rides. It’s really exciting to see so many women and kids enjoying natural surface trails and the inception of NICA in MD and continuing work of NICA and Trails for Youth.
I’d like to continue building our inclusive community of mountain bikers who give of their time, energy and funds to build and maintain natural surface trails for all to enjoy. Bringing community together to balance our social interaction with advocacy, leading rides and building/maintaining trails is important to me.
Your favorable consideration and vote are appreciated.
PS: If you have a passion for mountain biking, please let me know and I can help connect you with a volunteer opportunity.
Vice President: Rob Lowe
I’m running as a candidate for Vice President for the next MORE Board term.
I’ve served as VP for the previous 2 years but have more to learn about how the club works especially in areas of Advocacy, Fundraising and Communications.
I regularly lead rides on Thursday at Wakefield. I assist with Trailwork Days at Wakefield and other local parks. I also am on the Trail Tread Program for Wakefield, I race as part of Team Bikenetic for the last 3 years in both MTB and CX. As a team we support MORE thru donations, trailwork and rides lead by our Sponsor Shop with their support.
In the past I’ve also served 5+ years as Ride Coordinator, Summer Picnic Organizer and Assistant Organizer. I’ve been a member since moving back to the area in 2007.
I look forward to continue to help the club grow in membership, trails and activities.
Vice President: Bob Caverly
I have been a member of MORE since at least 2000, which means I have a pretty good sense of the club’s history – I remember the “old forums” and all their associated excitement – good and not so good. In short I’d like to recapture the vibrancy and spirit of “the good ‘ole days” – but I’m not naive enough to believe we can or should go backwards! I have been the co-liaison for Schaeffer Farm for more than 10 years now. I have led more rides than I can remember and I have been part of the MoCo Epic committee since the very first event. This has given me specific and relevant experience with the things MORE needs to be focused on – building and riding trails and having fun!
MORE has evolved into an incredibly effective advocacy organization – and it is critical that work continues, but in order to grow the club to the next level and be able to continue that work we need to grow membership. That means making a lot of people want to belong, and I believe that means we need to recapture that spirit of fun and adventure on the trails, not just meeting in land manager offices. To that end I will work with the rest of the Board, liaisons, and ride leaders to expand our ride programs and draw people out for MORE led events. These do not have to be big formal events like the MoCo – but ask around about the Halloween ride at Schaeffer if you need an idea! Or the sMOREs rides and ice cream!
There are also some key policy and fiscal decisions facing MORE in the coming months. Our current contract with IMBA expires soon and whatever we do, it is going to be a different relationship – the question is how different and what will define that new relationship. A big part of that decision, I believe, also requires a serious look at the direction IMBA is taking on public policy issues – we need to make sure their efforts are still in line with the core values and goals of MORE. I do not have a definitive answer yet, and I will not promise I know all the solutions – I can promise to look at ALL aspects of the problem; inform the membership as quickly and completely as possible; solicit input from the membership; and not exclude any options until they have been deemed unacceptable by both the board and the members. I know a lot of folks were not happy with the recent testimony by IMBA on HR1349, myself included, but there is a lot of speculative and anecdotal information out there right now. I will do my best to weed out the “fake news” and present the full facts, so we can reach a truly informed consensus.
Finally, I guarantee I will NOT make everybody happy all the time – but I will guarantee an honest, open attempt to make as many as possible happy most of the time.
Treasurer: Mike Hillstrom
I would like serve as Treasurer on the MORE Board of Directors and bring my passion and experience to the organization. I have been a mountain biker for 10 years and want to do my part towards protecting, maintaining, and expanding the trail network I am fortunate enough to enjoy. I graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in Accounting and Finance, with a minor in Environmental Economics and Policy. Since then I have worked in the accounting industry for almost 4 years, and specialize in exempt organization tax accounting. Serving on the MORE board would be an incredible opportunity to support the goals of the organization and help ensure the long term success of its mission. I look forward to working with all members of the community in continued membership and sponsorship growth, and utilizing my professional experience in operating a transparent, sustainable, and efficient organization.
I also want to ride some bikes and build some trails.
Treasurer: Adam Wegner
I am running for Treasurer to give back, support and promote off road biking in the DC area and beyond. In a nutshell, my professional and philanthropic background, combined with my strong interest in off-road cycling, make me an ideal candidate for the MORE Treasurer. A few notes about my interest:
- First and foremost, I am a a DC native and avid cyclist. While I primarily mountain bike, I also road bike and commute to and from work by bike. I’m on a bicycle pretty much every day. I’m very familiar with the growing number of outstanding off road trails in the greater DC area.
- For years I have been an active member and supporter of many bicycling organizations, including MORE/IMBA, WABA and Rails to Trails. In particular, with regard to MORE/IMBA, I am committed to promoting the responsible expansion of mountain biking trails and networks locally and globally.
- I am an experienced business attorney who has also served as a chief financial officer of a high growth company, as well as Treasurer of a non-profit organization, both with complex and large budgets. I also have served as corporate secretary for many organizations. I recognize and appreciate the complexity of the issues for a local chapter of a global organization. I’ve participated in many associations, even forming them and serving in leadership roles. Here is a link to my professional background.
- I support MORE’s strategic plan, and believe I can add tremendous value to further advocacy and partnership initiatives.
- I like to hang out with cyclists. Who else would spend a week riding across Colorado this summer in the San Juan Hut-to-Hut system.
Treasurer: Mike Stoll
Having previously served as the MORE Treasurer and relocating back to the DC area in January, I would be interested in running once again for this position.
I’ve recently been living in Colorado where I have been volunteering with Roaring Fork Cycling, whose focus is getting kids on bikes in the valley as well as supporting the local high school’s participation in the Colorado NICA league. Speaking of NICA, I spent a brief period of time on their Board as well as they were looking to expand on the East Coast. I was excited to see my home state of Maryland recently granted a league.
Professionally I have been working in independent schools the past 13 years running the finance and operations side of things. I will be starting as the Director of Finance at the Sheridan School starting mid-January.
The potential of getting back on board, pun intended, with MORE is exciting as I know there are quite a few exciting challenges on the horizon.
Director of Communications: Jonah Myers
Jonah Meyers has been serving as a volunteer with the MORE Board of Directors for the last two years, helping maintain the organization’s finances and fundraising. Most recently, he’s guided the organization’s response to IMBA’s decision about H.R. 1349, the bill to allow mountain bikes in Wilderness areas. Jonah has a Bachelors in anthropology and Masters in public policy from the University of Maryland, College Park and works in philanthropy and nonprofit advocacy. He co-founded OA DMV, the Outdoor Alliance’s regional network of outdoor recreation member organizations for the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, and successfully lobbied Representative Don Beyer to co-sponsor the Recreation Not Red Tape Act, federal legislation to streamline outdoor access across federally managed public land.
Jonah is interested in improving the organization’s communications with members about our initiatives and hopes we can use communications to increase turnout at trail work days, host and feature group rides and social events and improve our advocacy efforts at the local and state levels. You might see him riding Patapsco, Frederick or some of our network’s other great trails when he’s not working or volunteering.
Director of Communications: Steve Harper
I am running for the Director of Communications open board member position.
I recently retired from the U.S. Foreign Service after over 20 years working around the world. Over the last seven years I have been focusing on communications and legislative affairs. My most recent position have included being the deputy director in the communications office (Press, Social Media, Legislative and Outreach) for the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the Department of State. I’ve worked in Europe, South Asia, Africa and South America.
My mountain biking experience is more limited – I only really started about a year ago. Since then I’ve managed to break ribs, get Lyme disease, two concussions and a broken collar bone. I’m currently the trail liaison for a new set of trails in the Severn Run Natural Environmental Area.
Why am I running? I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it, but after I saw the IMBA testimony opposing the legislation to open wilderness areas to mountain bikes I realized that I had to. I’ve read the testimony, the bill (very short) and the explanation on the IMBA website. It doesn’t make sense. As someone who has experience in communications it seems to me that they had other reasons (maybe good) that they aren’t willing to share.
If elected I would represent mountain bikers – period. I understand that we may need to partner with other interest groups, but MORE and IMBA should speak for us. We can and should work with others, but must remember that this organization that we support with our money and time is for mountain bikers. I will say that I believe that we need to do a better job of supporting new people and I’m also a board member for the Maryland NICA league that’s forming – mountain biking in middle and high school. We should keep beginner in mind – both young people and adults who are interested.
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