Running for office right now is a dicey proposition. You ask the same questions I ask myself. Am I up to the task? Can I make a meaningful contribution to solving the ANA’s financial and legal problems? Do I have the time and energy and the “smarts” needed to oversee a multimillion-dollar corporation?

    My experience with the ANA governors goes back more than three decades.

I began covering their meetings as a journalist in 1977. My experience as an elected governor goes back to 1999. In this past decade, I have served three terms and part of a fourth, and, under the bylaws, I’m eligible for two more full terms. This experience puts me on at least an equal footing with other Board members.

    The task at hand is to restore confidence and get our Association back on track. The task would not be easy, even with a normal economy. This means we have to work harder, continue to tighten our belts and explore every possible new revenue source. A lot of what needs to be done is unpalatable for veteran ANA members and governors for a variety of reasons.

    The current Board, as well as previous Boards, have had lengthy discussions about the Summer Seminar, admission fees to the Museum and our national coin shows, as well as the costs of serving as mediators for non-members. These and other topics will be on the table for the old Board to implement, but the new Board will have plenty of problems to work on.

Regardless of who is elected, every governor will be faced with problems that they wouldn’t otherwise want to solve, even if they were paid handsomely.

    The next Board will sacrifice time and money to serve the members and the Asso­ciation. I have enough time to be able to successfully serve you.

I’m known as “the AnswerMan.” I will freely admit that I don’t have all the answers for our current problems, but I’m willing to work at it.