New Jordan Board Members

Post by the Hawthorne Hawkman, image from the JACC Flash NoMi blog.

Earlier in the week, I wrote a post about the somewhat scary fact that Farview Park has a board showing 24 L3SO's in the area.  Around that time, the Jordan Area Community Council held its annual dinner and elected new board members.  I announced those changes on my Twitter feed, and since the aforementioned story was at the "top of the fold" on my blog, it became the place where an anonymous commenter began asking some good questions about the JACC elections.

Well, in the interests of what I call "threadiquette," or keeping things on topic so that in the months or years ahead they can be found more easily, I'm switching those questions and comments to a post dedicated specifically to the JACC annual dinner and board elections.

The first question and answer, as well as a comment that was made (but not published under that thread) appear after the jump...

What do you mean when you say board positions approved unanimously by acclimation? Was there a vote, or did they get the position by adjusting to the climate? I've never heard that method of voting.

October 28, 2010 11:54 PM

 

The Hawthorne Hawkman said...

Slight typo on the tweet. It should have read "acclamation" with an a in the middle, not an i. In the case of the JACC board elections, there were more seats available than there were applicants to fill them. In cases like this, the voting body can vote on each member individually or vote by acclamation (sometimes called voting by unanimous consent, which was how John Hoff was elected to the Hawthorne board under similar circumstances). A vote by acclamation is also typically (I'd have to check Roberts Rules of Order to see if this is true in all cases) done with little or no discussion. The idea is that if everyone's going to be elected anyway, let's just get it done quickly. If any person present feels that one or more of the candidates is so unqualified that that person should not even be on the board, then they can vote and try to persuade others against a vote by acclamation.

October 29, 2010 8:53 AM

 

Anon 2:18 AM (presumably the same anonymous commenter):

So in other words, if someone wanted a seat on the JACC board, they were welcome to it.  The voting was just a formality because everyone was unopposed.  That happens a lot in some organizations.

Hawkman response:

Yes and no.  JACC has their own way of selecting board members that is perhaps a bit more stringent than neighboring organizations.  Although given what they've been through, it's quite understandable.  Under their guidelines, I don't think someone could have just stood up at the meeting and expressed a desire to be on the board.  That being said, there are still open seats on the JACC board and eligible applicants are encouraged to contact Jordan and request an appointment.  (Most, if not all, neighborhood organizations allow vacant seats to be filled between elections by board appointment.)

And I would contend that even though the voting was just about guaranteed to elect all of those applying, it was still something more than just a formality.  If anyone had objections to an individual's capability to serve, they could have voted on each candidate individually, or requested that all candidates except _____ be voted in by acclamation.  No one in attendance voiced such concerns, however.