Sunday, July 25, 2010

SAG election endorsement


I am endorsing Steve Dressler for reelection for Nevada SAG president.




I work closely with Steve at the national level. I appreciate the unseen and unheralded work he does for the branch. He is not the type to blow his own horn or to grandstand. In fact he lets others take credit for work done as a team or ushered through under his presidency.

I have walked picket lines with Steve Dressler, and met with other union leaders.

I am against the type of politics that has recently surfaced. 

An open Guild based on mutual respect, communication and supporting each other in our vital functions for the membership is what we need at this time and for the future. 

Those who know Steve know that his heart and his time is with the membership, and he knows from experience how high profile Guild service can take its toll.

I also respect the work done by each and every member of the Nevada Branch including the membership, council and officers, which includes incumbent President Steve Dressler.

I work with a team, and Steve Dressler is a key member of that team locally and as part of the national president and board alternate system.

We need someone to have the knowledge, background and drive to provide maximum support to the local and national executives, interact on a business level as an equal with board members who have been active for decades.

Steve Dressler is already doing that job, and can with your support continue to do so.

Steve knows the players in Hollywood, New York and the Regional Branch Division. He has built bridges as president that benefits our branch and our membership.

His ten years of service as president and decades of service on council, committees and sets, speaks for itself. 

I regret that he is the only Regional Branch Division President who sought their branch nomination to be denied a nominating committee endorsement. It was, as one member put it, "disrespectful" to Mr. Dressler. 

Steve Dressler most certainly deserves to continue to serve and represent the Branch.

With budget cuts there is minimal administrative support. We need to be the support for the executive and the union on the ground in Nevada.

Egos should not be involved. Steve Dressler is not about ego. He serves the branch and does so with an open heart and as a true servent of the branch.

Personal career, the interests in being in photographs with celebrities, or personal advancement need to be sacrificed for the good of the branch and the Guild.

Perception of personal gain, title or power is false. In fact work is lost, both under contract and day-jobs, due to active Guild involvement.

We need to work at the Chicago, New York, LA and national level of dedication, hours and knowledge. 

Knowledge, experience the ability to work well with and fully understand contracts, to take part in and contribute to key national committees and when serving as a national board alternate are no longer luxuries, but a necessary part of service at the branch level.

Anyone who serves must do so for reasons other than social, celebrity, or wanting paid trips to LA. 

I am looking toward the future of the branch and the union, well beyond when anyone reading this is involved.

It is not a club, or social organization, or a way toward career advancement.

The truth is that service on this union can and does, if done in honest ways and with the actual Guild policies, purpose and mission in mind, create a wall that damages career and position.

Council leaders and members need to be able to put aside loyalties to agents, casting directors,  and self interests or special interests, including their own career and income. This is not about playing up to celebrity or perceived power, but about honest unionism and understanding the history and need behind Guild policies, procedures and the tools the Guild uses in what for all of us has been a tough economy and changing production environment.

Steve deserves your support for another term as your Nevada SAG Branch President.

Please join me in supporting Steve Dressler for reelection.



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