[Eg-oversight-board] Election process, officer elections, and executive sessions

Wed Mar 23 15:09:38 EDT 2016

Quickly to answer Kathy's question.  The language I chose "in their first
ever EOB term" was supposed to indicate that returning members with
experience were exempt.  Though I now realize it should say "in the first
year of their first ever EOB term".  As to your argument about a
conservancy rep.... I could see that but I also think we have many people
with good relationships to the Conservancy so that shouldn't be a problem.

Happy to hear other thoughts....!

Oh, and Andrea, yes, that's a typo - Amy's should read 2017.

Grace

On Wed, Mar 23, 2016 at 2:59 PM, Chris Sharp <csharp at georgialibraries.org>
wrote:

> Andrea,
>
> Thank you for thinking of me here.  I'm actually planning to end my term
> on the EOB next month as scheduled.  Aside from the problem of finding four
> candidates, I don't see it as a problem to leave things as they are.
>
> Just my two cents.
>
> Chris
>
> On Wed, Mar 23, 2016 at 2:23 PM, Andrea Buntz Neiman <
> aneiman at kent.lib.md.us> wrote:
>
>> Remarks inline.
>>
>> I'd like to suggest something a little more structured, such as:
>> Election processes should begin 6 weeks prior to the annual conference or
>> April 1st, whichever comes first.
>> Nominations and voter registration shall be managed in weeks 1-3.
>> Week 4 shall be set aside for voting and Weeks five and six shall be for
>> new member notification and officer elections.
>> Newly elected officers will take office at the end of the Evergreen
>> Conference for that calendar year. If no Evergreen Conference is held
>> during a calendar year, office terms will begin and end at midnight EDT on
>> April 30.
>>
>>
>> I'm fine with this general outline, though given the occasional
>> cat-herding-like-ness of the group it may be better to have a full month
>> for nominations & voter registration.
>>
>> Does anyone have any thoughts positive or negative on election of
>> officers prior to the conference?  If no objections, do you have thoughts
>> on how we should structure voting for the chair, vice-chair, secretary, and
>> representative?  I would assume we would nominate and vote on each position
>> separately.  Maybe take nominations for Chair Monday am, vote Monday pm -
>> take nominations for Vice-Chair Tuesday am, vote Tuesday pm, and so on?
>> That would allow someone who ran for a position to run for another position
>> if they weren't elected to the first.  Or we could do all nominations and
>> then handle it via STV
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_transferable_vote>, RCV, or
>> Approval voting.  Thoughts?
>>
>>
>> I'm in favor of electing officers on this day-by-day basis.  Like Ruth
>> pointed out, since this is outside of the scheduled EOB meeting the
>> days/times/process of nominations and voting should be very explicit.
>>
>> In the past we've always voted for officers openly, this would be my
>> preference going forward (as opposed to secret ballot) though of course I'm
>> rotating off, so I'll defer more to those Board Members who are continuing.
>>
>> I would also like to toss out a few ideas that I'd like to hear feedback
>> on.
>>
>> How do you all feel about a proposal that members newly elected to the
>> EOB (e.g. in their first ever EOB term) may not be nominated to core roles
>> of Chair, Vice-chair, Secretary, or Conservancy Representative?  They can,
>> however, be nominated to serve as committee chairs.
>>
>>
>> +1 to this.  Worth spending a year figuring things out.
>>
>> Also, the Board has been called upon to appoint several new members when
>> elected members have resigned.  Personally, I find the Board appointment
>> process to be an issue as it has the potential to change the dynamic of our
>> elected board.  Would there be any interest in proposing a change to the
>> rules of governance to require special elections when a Board member leaves
>> with more than 6 months left in their term?
>>
>> This would require some additional language around the structure and
>> terms of special elections, but I wanted to see if the idea was compelling
>> before writing further language.
>>
>>
>> +1 to this as well.  We've been fortunate to have willing & able members
>> step up to fill vacancies but in the interest of representation I agree
>> that calling for special elections is better for vacancies of 6+ months.
>>
>> Lastly, I do think we need to add some language to the Rules of
>> Governance about how to manage the occasional executive session.
>>
>>
>> Yes, definitely.  I recommend that this language include the following:
>> the general reason for going into executive session (to discuss an issue
>> with counsel, to discuss an issue of a sensitive nature, to discuss a Board
>> Member's Code of Conduct violation, etc.) , the names of Board Members who
>> voted in approval of having an executive session, and the date/time of the
>> session.  I think it's also worth stressing that in the name of openness,
>> Executive Session will only be used in rare and extenuating circumstances.
>>
>>
>> There's one additional elections-related issue:  The cohorts have become
>> wonky.
>>
>> Chris was appointed to fill Shauna's vacancy, and she would have been
>> rotating off this year with Yamil, Chauncey, and myself as the last
>> 4-person cohort (3/2014 is when the Board voted to reduce to 9 members and
>> our cohort was elected in 2013).
>>
>> However, there was discussion here
>>
>> http://evergreen-ils.org/meetings/evergreen/2015/evergreen.2015-01-15-14.01.log.html#l-81
>> about grouping Chris in the cohort with Grace and Ben (rotating off in
>> 2017) but I'm not finding where/if that was officially voted on.
>>
>> Amy was appointed for the rest of Ben's term here
>>
>> http://evergreen-ils.org/meetings/evergreen/2016/evergreen.2016-01-21-14.00.log.html#l-372
>>
>> But governance page has Amy listed as rotating off in 2016 as well, which
>> must be an error; furthermore, within the EOB Rules of Governance, Ben is
>> still listed instead of Amy.
>>
>> Election communications have gone out with the language of "four board
>> vacancies" though, so, I'm not sure how to address this -- do we want to
>> have a quick email vote to confirm that Chris is part of the Grace/Amy
>> (Ben) cohort, and issue a correction to the community about open spots?  Or
>> do we allow the cohorts to remain wonkified?  Or a third way?
>>
>> I realize this is a little ticky-tacky but I think since we're hammering
>> out a lot of other details about elections, now would be the time to
>> straighten this out too.
>>
>>
>> Andrea
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Andrea Buntz Neiman, MLS
>> Librarian II, Public Services
>> Kent County Public Library
>> 408 High Street
>> Chestertown, MD 21620410-778-3636 x2115www.kentcountylibrary.org
>>
>> On 3/21/2016 2:01 PM, Grace Dunbar wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>> I promised to send out an email regarding EOB elections.
>> For starters, I want to provide a quick review of the voting process.
>> We are currently accepting nominations for the Board.  The deadline is
>> this Friday.
>> Like in years past, folks have to register to vote.  The deadline for
>> registration is this Friday and the link to the registration form is here:
>> <https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/EOB2016>
>> https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/EOB2016 . That list will capture the
>> email addresses we need to send the link to the election on OpaVote.
>>
>> This year, as it was last year, voting process is approval style (
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approval_voting).  You should vote for the
>> four candidates that you feel will best represent the community and the
>> project's interests.
>>
>> Last month I sent out an email that proposed we adopt an election
>> timeline that is something that has a little more specificity than can be
>> used year-to-year.  Right now the wording is, "Each year, the Board shall
>> promulgate procedures for nominating and electing new Board members."
>> (2.4d)
>>
>> I'd like to suggest something a little more structured, such as:
>> Election processes should begin 6 weeks prior to the annual conference or
>> April 1st, whichever comes first.
>> Nominations and voter registration shall be managed in weeks 1-3.
>> Week 4 shall be set aside for voting and Weeks five and six shall be for
>> new member notification and officer elections.
>> Newly elected officers will take office at the end of the Evergreen
>> Conference for that calendar year. If no Evergreen Conference is held
>> during a calendar year, office terms will begin and end at midnight EDT on
>> April 30.
>>
>> Does anyone have any thoughts positive or negative on election of
>> officers prior to the conference?  If no objections, do you have thoughts
>> on how we should structure voting for the chair, vice-chair, secretary, and
>> representative?  I would assume we would nominate and vote on each position
>> separately.  Maybe take nominations for Chair Monday am, vote Monday pm -
>> take nominations for Vice-Chair Tuesday am, vote Tuesday pm, and so on?
>> That would allow someone who ran for a position to run for another position
>> if they weren't elected to the first.  Or we could do all nominations and
>> then handle it via STV
>> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_transferable_vote>, RCV, or
>> Approval voting.  Thoughts?
>>
>> I would also like to toss out a few ideas that I'd like to hear feedback
>> on.
>>
>> How do you all feel about a proposal that members newly elected to the
>> EOB (e.g. in their first ever EOB term) may not be nominated to core roles
>> of Chair, Vice-chair, Secretary, or Conservancy Representative?  They can,
>> however, be nominated to serve as committee chairs.
>>
>> Also, the Board has been called upon to appoint several new members when
>> elected members have resigned.  Personally, I find the Board appointment
>> process to be an issue as it has the potential to change the dynamic of our
>> elected board.  Would there be any interest in proposing a change to the
>> rules of governance to require special elections when a Board member leaves
>> with more than 6 months left in their term?
>>
>> This would require some additional language around the structure and
>> terms of special elections, but I wanted to see if the idea was compelling
>> before writing further language.
>>
>> Lastly, I do think we need to add some language to the Rules of
>> Governance about how to manage the occasional executive session.
>>
>> I know I've tossed out a lot of ideas; I'd love to hear your thoughts on
>> any and all of them.
>>
>> Cheers!
>> Grace
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Grace Dunbar, Vice President
>> Equinox - Open Your Library
>> gdunbar at esilibrary.com
>> 1-877-OPEN-ILS  |   <http://www.esilibrary.com>www.esilibrary.com
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
>>
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>>
>

-- 
Grace Dunbar, Vice President
Equinox - Open Your Library
gdunbar at esilibrary.com
1-877-OPEN-ILS  |  www.esilibrary.com
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