USFS President Hershberger was involved with WSF from the start

[Visaliakid]

Jon Jackson has detailed USFS President Ron Hershberger's involvement in the formation of the WSF. In a letter posted originally to a private skating email list and reposted today (with Mr. Jackson's permission) on the skatefans mailing list, Mr. Jackson details Mr. Hershberger's role in the WSF and addresses the issue of trust with him.

A link to this letter is available at Blazing Blades Blog (http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=kwantifiable).

[Mel On Ice]

um, so what if he has? That would only encourage me to vote for him as he is willing to be an instrument of change.

[loveskating]

Jon Jackson has detailed USFS President Ron Hershberger's involvement in the formation of the WSF. In a letter posted originally to a private skating email list and reposted today (with Mr. Jackson's permission) on the skatefans mailing list, Mr. Jackson details Mr. Hershberger's role in the WSF and addresses the issue of trust with him.

A link to this letter is available at Blazing Blades Blog (http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=kwantifiable).

I don't get it...this is all Ron Jackson writing TO Herschberger, and even that is not clear really because he posts to someone else and claims to be copying his own correspondence...he doesn't produce anything bY Herschberger?????

In any event, this is all scuzbag sleezo stuff.

The issue for WHOEVER is in charge remains one of:

the rules,
the judges and
the quality of skating ... (i.e. for one thing, skating has progressed to the level where many skaters are highly capable...so we do not that often have performances like that of Torvil and Dean with Bolero, where everyone can agree. This has occurred in all sports, not just skating.)

Also, one of the issues is that skating is an international sport...and some seem to be against that...I think it has to remain international in the context of a global economy, and anyone who stands opposed to that will ultimately sooner or later simply be washed away by the spontaneous developments economically.

So whatever "perfect" human being winds up in charge, the issues will remain the same for some time.

[Skatewind]

People who don't come across as trustworthy themselves are probably not the best choice to editorialize their views on the importance of trust.

[dr.frog]

People who don't come across as trustworthy themselves are probably not the best choice to editorialize their views on the importance of trust.

What, exactly, has Jon Jackson done that makes you doubt his trustworthiness? He was a person with an important position and big future in skating officialdom -- and he gave it all up in order to do what he thought was right. What he did took both guts and integrity. A lot of other people in the USFSA were willing to give lip service to reform, but when push came to shove, they weren't willing to put their money where their mouth was.

[loveskating]

What, exactly, has Jon Jackson done that makes you doubt his trustworthiness? He was a person with an important position and big future in skating officialdom -- and he gave it all up in order to do what he thought was right. What he did took both guts and integrity. A lot of other people in the USFSA were willing to give lip service to reform, but when push came to shove, they weren't willing to put their money where their mouth was.

What did he do that you speak of?

If referring to his role in the SLC scandal, that did skating no good, to the contrary; some people I know consider the whole thing a glorified publicity stunt that worked for a few weeks for television ratings but backfired to be very destructive of skating in the US.

As for careers ruined, more than a few people have been deamonized and humiliated before the entire world, accused of dreadful crimes that include jail time, including Marina Anissina, a very, very great skater, so Mr. Jackson's problems just don't seem to be so egregious to me...lots of people get fired.

[Skatewind]

Where Stands the Federation? (http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4099/is_200407/ai_n9436393)
She says she was never consulted or informed about the lawsuit against the ISU until after it was filed. She says she thought the WSF would be organized under the laws of Switzerland, as indicated in its constitution. She was surprised when she found out it had been incorporated in the U.S.

"The first time I ever heard that my name was included as a director of a corporation based in Nevada, the USA WSF, was from a document that was submitted in August 2003 by the ISU as evidence in the disciplinary proceedings against Sally Stapleford, Ron Pfenning, Jon Jackson, Britta Lindgren, Jane Garden and Donald McKnight," Bianchetti Garbato says. "While I had agreed to be the acting vice president of the World Skating Federation, I was not an officer, director, agent, employee, representative, founder or other interest holder in the WSF based in Nevada. I was never asked for my agreement to be listed as a director of that corporation, nor was I informed of it."

She directly contacted the secretary of State of Nevada to see her name is removed from all WSF references.
"Those hopes and plans may have been misunderstood. The risk of that was increased when actions were taken by another organization based in the USA having the same name. I am unaware of any instance in which the USA organization ever used my name. I understand, however, that it did list certain personas as its own promoters who were identified with the effort to create a Swiss association. The confusion which that caused has led me to give formal notice that my name not be used in connection with either organization."