Background:
Bylaws may be boring to most of us, but they exist to ensure that a group functions according to agreed-upon rules. However, Paul seems to consider them a minor nuisance. Twice since becoming LocSec he has either dismissed them or ignored them:
Waiver of Date for Board Meetings
At the first Board meeting after DeDe's resignation, the Board waived the requirement in the bylaws which determines the date of each board meeting. It was inconvenient for Ken Silver, and we certainly should never let those pesky bylaws invonvenience us.
The Nominating Committe Report
Then came the Nominating Committee... in a marathon discussion (summarized in the September 2005 Mensagenda, pages 30-31) Paul presented his nominations to the NomComm. A motion to appoint was made and passed, and then it was noted that this motion violated the bylaws. The motion was rescinded and additional motions made. The final motion ratified the timetable laid out in the Board Meeting minutes; this timetable made it clear (as do the bylaws) that the NomComm's list of candidates is to be published on October 15th. But check the emails below for what really happened:
From: "Daphne" <bythepen@yahoo.com>
To: "DeDe T." <dedet@baldwin-telecom.net>
Sent: Sunday, October 16, 2005 12:14 AM
Subject: Re: Candidates
> Hi Dede,
>
> As Paul mentioned, the announcement wasn't to go out until
> after midnight today. Yesterday, rather. I just sent the
> information to Paul, and my understanding is that it should
> be up on the website within the next day or two.
>
> Thanks,
> Daphne Riordan
>
> --- "DeDe T." <dedet@baldwin-telecom.net> wrote:
>
>>
>> The candidates were supposed to announced today. It's
>> already almost 5 pm. Could you please let the membership
>> FINALLY know what is going on?
>>
>> DeDe Tredinnick
From: GKAndersen@aol.com
Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2005 23:46:25 EDT
Subject: Re: Fw: Candidates
To: dedet@baldwin-telecom.net, poppoppj@visi.com, mabbey@comcast.net, kasilver0934@yahoo.com, bill@conlan.com, marianb@copper.net, bythepen@yahoo.com
Since when does the local secretary give instructions to the Nominating Committee? The committee is appointed by the board -- from then on it is the committee's responsibility to follow the procedures outlined in the bylaws, and is beholden to no one except the membership as a whole.
Also, the date for release of candidate names was Friday, October 14, not even the 15th. Look at a calendar yourself and count out the 60 days. And no, 60 days does not mean approximately 2 months, it means 60 days. A violation of the bylaws has occurred. Let's be more careful in the future.
Gordon Andersen
In a message dated 10/16/2005 11:23:20 AM Central Daylight Time, poppoppj@visi.com writes:
Daphne Riordan, chair of the Nominating Committee, reports the following members are accepted by the Committee as candidates for elective positions on the Minnesota Mensa Board:
Local Secretary - Paul Jensen, Jane Gmur
1st Vice-Secretary - Karen Cyson
2nd Vice-Secretary - Mary Abbey, Connie Morris
Recording Secretary - Marian Bystrom
Treasurer - Chris Harbron, Celia Andersen
Petitions for current and additional candidates may now be submitted to the Nominating Committee through November 1st, 2005. These will be verified, and candidate acceptance will be reconfirmed for all candidates.
Final NomCom report of verified and reconfirmed candidates is due on November 2nd.
Candidate statements are limited to a maximum of 500 words, and are due to the Mensagenda Editor on or before November 8th, 2005.
Bill, please post this to our Web site.
Thank you.
Paul Jensen
LocSec
