Greetings All: My name is Don Kelly and I proudly stand for election to the leadership of USGenWeb. I am a member of USGW for ten years and maintain three county websites. In the past I served as a State Coordinator. After that I was on the AB three years, first as CC Rep then as SC Rep. I know how things work at the highest level and I respect all points of view and will listen and be fair and even handed with everyone. I am proud of everyone who has pitched in with their skills to grow this project. Finally, I contemplate no large changes during the upcoming term.

My Family KELLY FAMILY Please meet my family, my wife Irene on the right, from the left daughters Tracy, Angela and Tawnya and grand daughter Shyanna Alexander. Please meet Aidan (Little Fire in Gaelic) Callaghan, son of Angela Callaghan. He is every bit a ball of fire, and pure joy to us all.

What is ahead?

We could cover a lot of subjects here, but no one wants to read twenty pages. In summary, we have ongoing business being completed by the AB as we speak.

There are new measures dealing with handling grievances to soon be voted upon by the members. Though not perfect, I support the process because it gives voice to all coordinators, whether special projects, state coordinators, county coordinators or city coordinators. I recommend a vote of YES on this process.

We may have copyright issues to deal with during this term. To help new coordinators we speak of  a Help Desk, similar in function to Help Desks at the state levels, where questions of copyright can be asked and answered by specialists.

It is important that material posted to USGW websites meet three tests, be what they own, or what they have permission from the owner to post, or the material they post is in the public domain.

From time to time we revisit old discussions about incorporating as a tax exempt status, similar to what some state projects have already accomplished. At this point the pulse of the project (majority of input) suggests we are not ready for that big step.

Now we have to select our candidates and get out the vote. I would like to see 100% participation in the voting process this year.

As always, my door is open. Ask me any question you want and I will give you the best answer that I can. ocollaugh@comcast.net

Thank you all again..............and let's pitch in and have another great year of growth.

Don Kelly, candidate for NC