Northeast Ohio Group

 www.neosierragroup.org

December, 2024

 

Executive Committee Ballot

Please select no more than 6 candidates to serve 2-year terms beginning January 1, 2025. The executive committee meets monthly to consider and approve the use of funds, formation and responsibilities of committees, positions on issues, and endorsements of candidates for public office. The meetings are open to the public and occur at a location and time established by the committee. Currently the NEO Sierra Club conservation and executive committee meetings occur on the first Wednesday of each month using Zoom from &:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Once elected, the new executive committee may change the meeting arrangements.

 

The deadline for voting is Dec 31, 2024. Thank you for electing the leaders for our organization.

 

If you are able to contribute financially, consider making a donation using this link or the Donate button on our website home page.

 

VOTE for the Northeast Ohio Sierra Club Executive Committee using this linked ballot. 

 

Candidate Statements:

Grace Ciptak

I have been a member of the Sierra Club and a volunteer with the Northeast Ohio Group for over 30 years. Since 2011 I’ve also had the privilege of serving on the Executive Committee as Treasurer of the Northeast Ohio Group. I would like to renew my term as Treasurer so that I may continue to use my financial management skills to support the conservation efforts of the Northeast Ohio Group. My business qualifications are: CPA/MBA, with 30+ years experience, both in industry and the non-profit sectors. 

On a personal level, I am committed to doing all I can to reduce the impact of climate change, and understand the importance of encouraging others to join me in making the small, everyday choices that will reduce our carbon footprint.

 

 

Jane Halbedel

My first meeting with NEO SC was August of 2006. I was in Pittsburgh for a Blue Green Alliance [BGA] training event where BGA formalized the relationship between Sierra Club and United Steel Workers ensuring their mutual cooperation in pursuit of optimal environmental protections. Soon I became NEO’s Air Toxins chairperson and group representative at Ohio Chapter meetings in Columbus. I provided NEO with summary reports for seven years.

My areas of interest and concentration continue to be hazardous toxins, climate change, and impacts and environmental threats affecting Lake Erie. I have attended many lectures, seminars and conferences over the years. I have been able to regularly support fellow Sierrans with information that I have obtained over the years, a responsibility I took very seriously. I have studied climate change and related science, and the status of Lake Erie for nearly fourteen years. I will continue to bring forward insights on these critically important issues. My experience ranges from information gleaned from Sierra Club retreats and Midwest conferences; water seminars held in Toledo, and in various collegiate settings in Cleveland and surrounding areas.

 

Gabriela Kaplan

Gabriela D. Kaplan, MD, has been an active member of the Sierra Club for over 30 years. Currently, she is a member of the N.E. Ohio Sierra Club’s Executive Committee and chair of the  Health and Population committee.

Gabriela is a Board-Certified medical Doctor, Diplomate in Diagnostic Radiology – Imaging and Neuroradiology. Gabriela was trained and became part of the teaching staff of Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York. She was a Fellow and a lecturer at Johns Hopkins Hospital.   Years later, she completed a fellowship in Magnetic Resonance at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Dr. Kaplan was on the staff of University Hospitals in Cleveland.  

Gabriela is a passionate environmentalist and activist. Her pioneering work led her to create the international think-tank LIFE WATCH GROUP, which has received international acclaim from global leaders and experts for sharing practical solutions to achieve world sustainably. https://lifewatchgroup.org/

Gabriela is currently writing a book on the prevention of many human diseases. She points out that most of the top causes of disease and death in the USA are preventable, something medical schools won’t teach! Her book illuminates the profound interconnectedness between our dietary choices, disease, and the economic burden these cause, which ultimately will lead to the destruction of our environment unless we urgently join to avert these.

Gabriela’s work has earned her a position in the Medical Advisory Board of the Center of Nutritional Studies since 2023. She has given many lectures including: UNESCO in Paris, the United Nations, Kenya Africa; USA Lecture on Health and environment, and Mexico Medical School. She has also received awards including a WHO’S WHO Marquise, Lifetime Achievement award.

 

Michael Melampy

I have been a member of Sierra Club since the mid-eighties and have served the NEO group in various capacities since the early 90’s. I have been chair or co-chair of the Northeast Ohio Sierra Club Rainforest Committee since its inception way back in the nineties. Currently, I am a member of the NEOSC Executive Committee and the Ohio Sierra Club Political Committee.

I am interested in serving on the NEO Executive Committee because I feel an obligation to better support the NEO Sierra Club and the State Chapter as the Sierra Club reorganizes itself within Ohio. I am dedicated to pursuing Sierra Club initiatives, especially those dealing with international conservation efforts and climate change. To be successful with those initiatives, we must recruit more activists and become more effective at communicating about Sierra Club goals. I pledge to work hard to both recruit and communicate.

 

Charlie Mitch

I value serving on the Executive Committee of the Northeast Ohio Group because of the opportunities for grassroots activism organized by the Sierra Club. I like to engage with the intersection of environmental issues and politics, which led to my serving as the Chair of the Ohio Sierra Club Political Committee. I see the necessity of developing a clean energy policy as critical for Ohio to thrive in a future dominated by the reality of climate change.

I am also interested in issues of environmental justice and equity and the impacts on communities in our region that have historically suffered the most from air and water pollution perpetrated in the name of economic growth.

 

 

Dennis Michael Plank

Please vote for me to be on the Sierra Club Northeast Ohio Group Executive Committee. I have been a Sierra Club member since 1988. In the past I have worked on the Wetlands, Human Rights, Population, Political, and Outings Committees. This year I staffed the NEOSC table for Earth Day at the West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church and networked with many activists and other groups. Also, I have been on a lot of outings into nature. 

If elected I will continue to work on the goals of the Sierra Club:

1. To explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the Earth.
2. To practice and promote the responsible use of the Earth’s ecosystems and resources. 
3. To educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment. 
4. Use all lawful means to carry out these goals.