QUALIFICATIONS & COMMENT
My name is Tom Bakos and I have been an FSA for 40 years including 5 years prior service on the SoA Board (2002 - 2005 and 2008 - 2010).
I have been concerned for some time with the changes unilaterally made in 2006 by leadership to exclude FSAs from the nomination process. The interpretation leadership has given to Article III, Section 1(b) of the SoA Bylaws is that an FSA's right to "make nominations" is nothng more than a "suggestion" sent to the Nominating Committee whiich the NC is free to ignore or reject. As a result, FSAs have absolutely no effective way to participate in the selection of soA leadership. Instead, they are allowed to vote only for candidates selected for them by the 9-member Nominating Committee.
Article VIII, Section 2(c): Amend Section (c) as follows:c) Leadership Development Committee. The Leadership Development Committee is responsible for nominations, elections and leadership identification and development. |
Article IX, Section 2: Amend first sentence of Section 2 as follows:The Nominating Committee is responsible for nominating receiving the nominations of candidates for election in accordance with SOA policies and may establish guidelines for conducting elections consistent with SOA policies. Article IX: ADD new Section 3 as follows: SECTION 3. Nominations. Candidates nominated by Fellows and who are eligible to serve per Article V, Section 3 will have their names placed on a ballot for election by the Eligible Voting Members. |
Intention Statement
It is the intention of these amendments to restore an FSA's right to "make nominations" (as provided for in Article III, Section 1(b) of the SoA Bylaws) such that the name of a candidate nominated for an office by an FSA will be placed on a ballot for election (or selection in the case of a runoff or primary election) participated in by all Eligible Voting Members for the office so nominated.
It is expected that the leadership of the SoA will act with integrity in establishing policies to apply these amendments and that FSA-made nominations will not be restricted, rejected, delayed, or deferred in their application in any unreasonable way. It is the intention of these amendments that all candidates for election will be treated with fairness and in exactly the same way with respect to how candidates for any particular office are presented to the Eligible Voting Members.
It is expected that the Nominating Committee will continue to serve to assure that at least a minimum number of candidates, per established election policies for each office, are presented to the Eligible Voting Members in the next election. A member of the Nominating Committee as an FSA may exercise his or her right to make nominations. However, candidates nominated by members of the Nominating Committee will be treated no differently than any other nominated candidate. In receiving nominations, the Nominating Committee will determine whether or not a nominated candidate is willing and eligible to serve, if elected.
At the SoA Annual Meeting
Pick up one of these ribbons at the Annual Meeting.
Attach it to your Name Tag to let other attendees that you support the right of FSAs to make meaningful nominations and DOUBLE DOG DARE the SoA leadershp to restore that right.