[Fmpro] Update: 1, 250 signatures now required for independent ASCAP Board candidates

[Mark Northam]

While ASCAP celebrates surpassing the 300,000 member mark, the ASCAP Board
can celebrate the fact that the wall they've erected to prevent all but the
"chosen" people from even getting on the ballot, much less elected to the
ASCAP Board of Directors, has gotten even higher.

1,250 signatures from voting members are now required for an independent
candidate not chosen by ASCAP's "nominating committee", working in secret of
course, to even get on the ballot. In 2002, the number was 25. Of course,
1,250 signatures from voting members is a practical impossibility for all
but perhaps the wealthiest of ASCAP Members, a fact the board must be aware
of. 

They must be popping the corks in Lincoln Center - more members, more money,
and even less of a chance of anyone not "chosen" even getting on the ballot,
much less elected. One can only marvel at the way the ASCAP Board  has
managed to design and maintain a system that rewards themselves personally
by keeping their board positions protected. While in many organizations a
larger and more diverse membership means more opportunity for members, at
ASCAP it means exactly the opposite when it comes to the board elections.

Best,

Mark Northam