Hello, my dear Ohio CCs, PCs, and SCs,
I would like to bring your attention to the following issue that calls for our support.
USGenWeb has an elective Advisory Board who can make important decisions that effect how
USGenWeb is run and how you run your web sites. The board members are elected by you and
me, and are supposed to be our representatives.
However, they can only be removed from office at the end of a lengthy term (one or two
years). If they are not planning to run for reelection, or if they calculate that divisive
issues will be forgotten before that time, they do not have to listen to you and me if
they don't wish to, and they can make decisions that have little relation to our
expressed opinions. In particular they can ignore the USGenWeb bylaws or engage in other
behavior which is illegal or unethical.
But as the bylaws are currently written, there is no way to remove our representatives
from office before the end of their term! Such a a right of citizenship, called recall, is
available in many states, including Arizona, California, Georgia, Wisconsin, and OHIO. It
is also written into the bylaws of many other membership organizations. And it should be
available here in USGenWeb, too!
Whether or not you are aware of recent actions by the board, and whether or not you are in
favor of or opposed to them, at some point now or in the future you may wish you had the
power to remove your representative from office IMMMEDIATELY and not wait until the end of
their term.
A bylaw amendment providing the power of recall to USGenWeb citizens appears below. It is
currently being discussed and voted on by numerous other state GenWebs. In order to appear
on the USGenWeb ballot in July, it must be supported by at least five states. I hope that
Ohio will be one of those states.
Please review the amendment below. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
While I know the amendment is not perfect, it is too late now to change it, so we will
have to vote for or against it as written. Subsequent amendments are, of course,
possible.
Thanks for taking the time to review this amendment and expressing your opinion,
S R C A
cott obert ranston nderson
phssra(a)physics.emory.edu
USGenWeb Coordinator,
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/oh/county/guernsey/
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ARTICLE XVII RECALL
SEC. 1. Recall is the power of the members to remove an elective officer
for violation of rules or confidence.
SEC. 2. (a) An Advisory Board Secretary shall be elected at the beginning of
every Advisory Board term, or when another Advisory Board Secretary has
resigned, quit or is unable to perform the duties of the office. The
Advisory Board Secretary is to be a non-voting member of the Advisory Board.
The Advisory Board Secretary is to be chosen from USGenWeb Members who are
not members of the Advisory Board. The Advisory Board Secretary shall keep
minutes for all Advisory Board meetings, which will be posted to the
National website.
(b) Recall of an Advisory Board Member is initiated by delivering to the
Advisory Board Secretary a petition alleging reason for recall. Reasons for
recall are to be limited to: violation of bylaws, improper handling of
information or legal/ethical violations.
(c) A recall petition will consist of one or more e-mails containing the
names and e-mail addresses of those in favor of recall. This petition must
be verified to determine validity.
(d) A petition to recall an Advisory Board Member (including the National
Coordinator, who is also an Advisory Board Member) must be signed by voting
members equal in number to at least 20 percent of the last vote for the
office. Any Advisory Board Member may be recalled, but only by their own constituents.
The Advisory Board Secretary shall maintain a continuous count of the petition signatures
certified to that office, and deliver a report to the Advisory Board and inform the
constituents in question if there are enough
signatures to force a recall vote.
SEC. 3. (a) An election to determine whether to recall an Advisory Board
Member and, if appropriate, to elect a successor shall be called by the
National Coordinator, or Election Committee Chairman if there is one at the
time, and held not less than 30 days nor more than 50 days from the date of
certification of sufficient signatures. If the National Coordinator is
unable, and no Election Committee is seated at the time, the Advisory Board
Secretary shall call for the election and insure all constituents of the
Member subject to the recall action are notified.
(b) In the event of a proposed recall action against an Advisory Board
Member, nominations will be taken to immediately fill the position vacated
if the recall vote is successful. The member being recalled is not eligible
for this nomination.
(c) If the simple majority vote of those voting on the question is to
recall, the Member
is removed and, if there is a candidate to replace the Member, the candidate
who receives a plurality is the successor. If the recall action fails, the
Advisory Board Member retains their position, and the election for a
successor is declared null and void.
(d) Votes in recall elections are subject to verification by either the
Advisory Board Secretary or Election Committee, if there is one.
SEC. 4. The Advisory Board Secretary shall provide for circulation, filing,
and certification of petitions, nomination of candidates, and the recall
election.
SEC. 5. If recall of the National Coordinator is initiated, the recall
duties of that office shall be performed by the Advisory Board Secretary or
Election Committee Chairman, if there is one.
SEC. 6. An Advisory Board Member who is not recalled shall not have another
recall action initiated against the member until six months after the
election.
SEC. 7. Terms of elective offices provided for by this Article, commence
immediately following the election, and shall last until the term of the
recalled Member expires.
SEC. 8. In the event of conflict between any Other Articles of the USGenWeb
Bylaws and this Article, this Article shall take precedence.