The Pacific Division members who signed the 2006 petition were informed on Feb. 17, by our Secretary-Treasurer, Anita Silvers, that our petition will be voted on at the annual business meeting in Portland (which is Thurs., March 23, 2006, noon-1:00, Pavillion). The Executive Committee has decided that, because our petition proposes a mechanism and direction for revising the By-Laws, our petition does not need to be announced to the membership in advance of the meeting and, at the meeting, its approval will require a majority vote but not a 2/3 majority vote. Also, we've been told that, if approved, the EC is committed to commissioning a professional parliamentarian to prepare the language for revising the by-laws, which will then be voted on at the 2007 annual business meeting.
While we are pleased that our petition will be discussed and acted on at the upcoming meeting, we've requested that it be announced in advance to the members even if this is not required (or that an agenda for the meeting be circulated in advance), so that members can decide whether to participate in the business meeting. We've been told that the EC is looking into the cost and feasibility of doing this, but (as of this writing) we have not heard whether an agenda or announcement will be circulated prior to the meeting.
Given that our objective is to allow members to participate in the governance of their organization, in part by keeping them informed of the ways they can do so, we hope that the Pacific Division Executive Committee will find a way to announce the petition and other votes that will take place at the upcoming meeting. In the meantime, we encourage members to circulate this information on their own to other potentially interested members.
Respectfully, Laurie Shrage
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