Alan Rosenberg Left Off SAG-AFTRA Ballot !!!!

July 15, 2013 | 07:22PM PT

Former SAG president was seeking delegate slot

Dave McNary  Film Reporter @Variety_DMcNary

(Exclusive)

SAG-AFTRA has kept former SAG president Alan Rosenberg off their first election ballot due to a mistake in his residency classification.

Rosenberg, who served two terms as SAG president between 2005 and 2009, told Variety that he was not allowed on the ballot as a convention delegate due to his being mistakenly listed as a New York resident. Rosenberg has lived in the Los Angeles area for the past two decades — and SAG required that presidents be members of the Los Angeles division.

Rosenberg said that union, which was formed 16 months ago after SAG and AFTRA members approved a merger, appears to have confused the New York address of his business manager with his own residence.

Rosenberg also said that he discussed the situation recently with SAG-AFTRA national exec director David White. “David told it was ‘absurd’ and probably due to a computer error,” he added.

SAG-AFTRA denied any impropriety in a statement from a spokesperson.

“Mr. Rosenberg has received multiple written communications explaining in detail the Los Angeles Election Committee’s ruling on this matter.”

“The national executive director has no role in deciding appeals presented to the election committee. All eligibility determinations are made solely by the elections committees which are comprised entirely of members. All candidates have been informed of the election rules. There is no special treatment afforded to any candidate regardless of their prior status in the union,” said the spokesperon.

Despite White’s assertion, Rosenberg said the elections committee decided against allowing him to run. Ballots are going out Tuesday and must be returned by Aug. 15.

“I would think that the union would want to make every effort to encourage people who have served in the past to continue serving the union,” he added.

During Rosenberg’s tenure, he led the self-described progressives in the Membership First faction — which gradually lost power as the more moderate Unite For Strength and its allies gained control of the board room with a strategy calling for merger.

Rosenberg said he’s concerned that he’s being excluded from the union due to his past opposition to those policies. He noted that past SAG presidents have not been invited to the most recent SAG Awards in recent years, during Ken Howard’s tenure as the final SAG president, as they were in the past.

“I’m a little paranoid that they stopped inviting the presidents out of concerns that me and other presidents like Ed Asner and Kathleen Nolan might say something against the merger,” he added.

Rosenberg had a role in the HBO series “Luck,” which was cancelled midway through its second season due to the deaths of several horses at Santa Anita during shooting. 

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Look, it’s a tad unclear who’s at fault here.  But, but, but….it should give us all a sense of comfort to know if the same thing had happened to Ken or Roberta the Elections Committee would have made the same ruling!    Ahhh…right?

Arl 

The Ol’ SAG Watchdog

Insight of the Day:  According to today’s LA Times. Other than the queen, only men appear on British currency.  Duh! Women have no interest in  getting their faces on money…..only their hands!!!!   

*photo selected by Watchdog