Annually, MSBO members are asked to vote for the candidate(s) who they believe should serve MSBO on the Board of Directors of our organization. The candidates who agree to run for the Board and who take their time to go to Regional Groups and MSBO committee meetings to introduce themselves to you are volunteers. I hope you will give them the thoughtful consideration of listening to them. Please take the time to vote for the candidate(s) who you feel will not only express views similar to yours but who you believe will best serve the organization as a whole.
How does someone become a Board candidate? What process is used to determine the candidates on the ballot? How does someone express interest in and become a candidate for the Board? Does the MSBO Board determine who the candidates for the Board will be?
First of all, the rules that govern who the candidates for the Board are can be found in the MSBO Bylaws. Amendments to the Bylaws take a two-thirds vote of the membership at the Annual Meeting. So, the current Board does not determine the rules for determining who the candidates will be on the ballot.
Second, the Bylaws state that the “Nominations Committee” which reviews candidates for the Board “... shall consist of the first five (5) most recent MSBO Presidents willing to serve on the committee.” The Nominations Committee must complete their work so that “The nominations shall be announced to the membership ... at least thirty days prior to the annual meeting.”
The chair of the Nominations Committee is the “Immediate Past President” of MSBO. Next year, unless something changes, I guess that would be me.
Third, believe it or not, not all MSBO members would want to serve or can serve on the Board. Nominations for the Board are brought to the attention of the Immediate Past President who “shall obtain written acceptance from all candidates whose names are being nominated prior to any announcement to the membership.”
Fourth, any candidates who are interested in running for the Board may submit a nominating petition to the Immediate Past President with, “at least thirty active member signatures ... on or before December 1.” Personally, I am not aware of any candidate that has gone through this trouble.
Finally, how does the Nominations Committee determine who is actually on the ballot? Well, to tell the truth, since I have never been on the Nominations Committee, I don’t know all of the details. I have never sat in on those meetings or participated in those conference calls.
Still, I have had the pleasure of talking to Past Presidents about this. I cannot speak for all of the Past Presidents, but from what I know the Nominations Committee has thoughtful deliberations as they consider candidates for the Board. Some of the considerations that I have heard being considered are:
Who is currently on the Board? How many males, females? Are their any representatives from Transportation or Maintenance or other support areas? Are there any members from metro-Detroit or Northern Michigan or West Michigan? How many ISD or local district members are on the Board? What MSBO committees or study groups has the nominee participated in? Has the nominee presented at MSBO conferences or regional groups? Has the nominee been a President or Board member of his or her regional MSBO group? How many names should we place on the ballot? How many nominees are there?
In conclusion, the process of becoming a nominee for the MSBO Board is governed by the Bylaws of the organization. If you are interested in that process, please consider volunteering for the Bylaws Committee. As President of MSBO, it is my privilege to serve with the current members of the Board. As a member of MSBO, it is also my right to cast my ballot for the candidate(s) who I think will best serve the organization as a whole.
The candidates who take the time to run for the Board deserve your listening ear. But more importantly, I hope you believe they deserve your time and consideration. Please vote in this year’s MSBO Board elections. This year will be the second year in which voting for the Board will take place on-line and before the conference. Information on voting will be sent out in April before the conference.
As you know, I always include some musical thoughts in my articles. It’s not everyday that you read the words of Alice Cooper in an MSBO newsletter. So, this has to be a first:
“We're gonna win this one, take the country by storm,
We're gonna be elected,
You and me together, young and strong,
We're gonna be elected, elected, elected,
Respected, selected, call collected,
I wanna be elected, elected...”