Checking in on Alka Jarvis’ Promise to Reform TAG 176 Elections

Remember the insane US TAG 176 election last year? The one that ensured outgoing Chair Alka Jarvis got her hand-picked co-author, Paul Palmes, elected as her replacement, despite the fact that he fibbed a bit on his resume? And how she never bothered to mention her relationship with Palmes to the TAG members? The one where I ran for Chairman position even though I’m not even a member, but instead on my qualifications of “having played tag since age 4”? The one where the TAG leaders shut down all email conversations between its own members, ostensibly to ensure they couldn’t communicate about who to vote for?

Yeah, that one. Remember when, afterwards, Alka Jarvis promised to pursue election reform, but only after the election? Specifically, when — in October 2015 — she wrote this:

In the past few weeks we have seen an increase in emails from TAG members regarding the approval of ISO 9001 FDIS and the leadership election.  From these emails, we realize there is a need to update the TAG procedures to provide clear guidance and procedures for the approval of FDIS, nominations and campaigning.

Please know that we are committed to revising the TAG procedures to address the gaps that have caused some of the recent conflict.  There are also plans to recommend revisions to the ANSI procedures. With this said, we appreciate your passion and dedication and look forward to your continued participation in the TAG.

So how are we doing? How far along have Jarvis and Palmes come on their election reforms?

Sources inside TAG 176 say that absolutely nothing — as in nada, zip, zero, zed — has been done, of course. I’ve confirmed that the ANSI procedures have not been touched, nor have any additional conversations been held on the matter. Palmes and Jarvis have taken a “never talk to Chris Paris” policy, so there’s no point asking them, although you certainly can just by clicking here.

The question now is whether the TAG rank-and-file will continue to accept being lied to by their leaders, such as Jarvis and Palmes, and continue to nod their heads like plastic dogs in the back of taxis, or finally demand some accountability from their leadership. Without election reform, the TAG will be permanently entrenched in the cronyism and profiteering we see from its current leadership, ensuring the US never has a proper role at the ISO table, and that the entire collection of US industries are never properly represented.

To see the simple rule changes that need to happen, just click here.