Basenji Club of America

Announcement

Carrie Jones has resigned as BCOA President. Beth Straub has moved from Vice President to the office of President.  Pam Geoffroy has been approved by the Board of Directors and accepted the office of Vice President.

BALLOT 2013-18 APPROVED

SUBJECT: Replacement of Vice President

Postmarked March 20, 2013

Effective March 29, 2013

Circulated in accordance with the BCOA By-Laws.

With the resignation of Carrie Jones as 2013 President (March 4, 2013), Beth Straub (2013 VP) will automatically fill the vacancy in the office of President for the remainder of 2013.

Please send your vote on approving one candidate as Vice President of the BCOA for the remainder of 2013:

Pam Geoffroy [MA]

Midge Greenlee [FL]  

BCOA By-Laws

Article III- Board of Directors

SECTION 4. VACANCIES. Any vacancies occurring on the Board or among the offices during the year shall be filled until the next annual election by a majority vote of all the then members of the Board; except that a vacancy in the office of President shall be filled automatically by the Vice-President, and the resulting vacancy in the office of Vice-President shall be filled by the Board.

Pam Geoffroy-Approved: Auerbach-Comment: After reviewing club precedent, previous vacancies have been filled by the person getting the next number of votes for that position, whether officer or Board, when there was another candidate for that year.], Curby, J. Jones, Siekert - Comment: [The BCOA Bylaws clearly define how a Presidential vacancy is filled.  All other vacancies are filled by the Board.   Bulletin Board research through the last 5 (five) BCOA Board resignations show a clear precedent.  Precedents which has been the Board picking the next highest vote count either from the vacant office runner ups (if applicable) or director pool (if applicable) of the previous election results.

1988-89 - Barbara Camp (Pres) resigned, Sandy Bridges (VP) moved to Pres., Linda Ehlers, was appointed VP.  Linda was the top runner up for the office of VP in the 1988 election for the 1989 term.

2005-06 - George Woodard (Pres) resigned, Sal Wuornos (VP) moved to Pres., Karla Shreiber (Dir.) appointed to VP.  2006 Board ran uncontested, no VP runner up or Director runner up to pull from.  2006 Board went to the last contested election (2004 election for 2005 term) and appointed Andrew Sawler to Director.  Andrew tied with Carrie Jones for the 7th Director spot but lost in the ensuing run off. 

2008-09 - Wanda Pooley (Dir.) resigned, Brenda Phillips was appointed Director.  Brenda was the top runner up for Director in the 2008 election for the 2009 term.

2009-10 - Sue Joyner (Dir.) resigned, Tonda Curry was appointed Director.  Tonda was the top runner up for Director in the 2009 election for the 2010 term.

2011-12 - Carol Webb (Dir.) resigned, Jackie Jones was appointed Director.  Jackie was the top runner up for Director in the 2011 election for the 2012 term.

I always advocate following the rules and will look to the rules for guidance on how to proceed.  In the absence of clearly defined rules, I will look to precedent for guidance; Precedents outline the best way to solve a problem without giving any Board an opportunity to purposely change its complexion. Precedent shows the 2013 BCOA Board should be giving first right of refusal for the position of VP to Pam Geoffroy.], Work-Comment: [We already have Midge’s expertise on the Board. Pam had the 2nd highest votes for VP.   Simple as that!]

Midge Greenlee-Approved:  Ketz, Pooley-Comments:  [Among those of us on the 2013 elected Board, Midge Greenlee is the perfect choice to fill the vacancy of Vice-President.  As she is already an elected official, this transition to the VP position simply makes good sense.  Midge is highly respected in the basenji community; has dedicated many years promoting the best interests of the BCOA and the breed; her experience of 10 years as BCOA President will benefit not only the new President, but all of us.  Midge is fair, thoughtful, and a peaceful negotiator.  A responsible Board should make the decision to fill the vacancy by taking into account all the qualifications a potential candidate has; Board members should NOT make such an important decision based solely on the past election results to consider the candidate that lost the VP election. The membership was quite clear about its choice.  This is an important position to fill and all care and thought should be given to what is in the best interest of the BCOA and to respect the By-laws. Moreover, I personally believe it is important to have a fair and balanced BCOA Board and by appointing Midge to the VP spot, this will create a smooth transition in order to move forward on the Club's behalf.]