Open Letter to West End
Residents
May 22,
2012
Dear West End Residents,
As many of you know, we held the West End Citizen’s
Association annual elections last week at our bi-annual General Membership
meeting. We had a strong turnout of 186
residents who came to vote and to hear a presentation by Susan Swift, Director
of Community Planning and planning department staff.
For those of you who couldn’t attend the meeting, I thought
it would be helpful to provide a recap of the election as well as introduce you
to the new officers.
As in years past, our election process followed the exact
format of previous elections. Below is a
quick outline of the three month process we use to identify and elect new
officers:
1. Nominating
Committee: We begin the process in March
with the establishment of a Nominating Committee. At that time the request goes
out into the community calling for parties who are interested in serving in an
officer role. This notification is
provided by email to the listserv and posted on the website (www.weca.us).
2. Approval
of Slate: At the April meeting the
Nominating Committee presents the slate of officers they have identified as
interested and willing to serve. At that
time a motion is made to accept the slate.
This year the slate was approved unanimously. The candidates are listed
in the WECA newsletter which is hand-delivered in advance of the meeting to
every household in the West End.
3. The
Election: Per our bylaws, the
election takes place at our Spring General Membership meeting. Relying on Robert’s Rules of Order, we
present the slate, call for nominations from the floor and conduct a voice
vote.
The WECA approved slate contained the
following nominations:
- Noreen Bryan – President
- Vicki McMullen – Vice President
- Dennis Cain – Treasurer
- Jan Balkam – Recording Secretary
- Jacques Gelin – Corresponding
Secretary
This
year, in addition to the WECA nominated slate, there was an alternate slate
that was presented. This slate had 4
officers nominated from the floor during the election:
- Robin Nelson Corridon – President
- Marian Hull – Vice President
- Daryl Newhouse – Treasurer
- Tom Weko – Recording Secretary
There was no one nominated for Corresponding Secretary.
There were no other nominations from the floor.
The vote was taken by voice.
Each slate was presented individually and those who wished to vote for
that slate were asked to stand, say “aye,” count off and then sit down. The process was repeated for the next
slate. The final vote tally was 132 for
the WECA nominated slate and 32 for the alternate slate.
Congratulations to Noreen, Vicki, Dennis, Jan and
Jacques! Each of these officers has a
long history of involvement in WECA and has devoted countless hours in engaging
the City, residents and outside businesses/institutions. Their contact information is provided on the
WECA website so please be sure to contact them if you have any questions or
comments about issues that affect our community.
After a short break, our speakers for the evening – Susan
Swift- Director of Community Planning and Development Services, Jim Wasilak –
Chief of Planning, Clark Larson GIS
Specialist, Bobby Ray - Principal Planner, Craig Simoneau - Director of Public
Works, and David Levy , Chief of Long Range Planning and Redevelopment
presented a status update of projects scheduled to be built in and around the
Town Center and answered questions from the audience. The meeting ended at 8:30 and our next meeting is scheduled for
early September. Minutes from the
meeting will be available on the website once they are approved.
Questions about the Election: As a side note, some residents have raised questions
about the election process. There were
two main issues raised: 1. how could residents have learned more about the candidates
and 2. why was a voice vote used.
1. Candidate
Information: The alternate slate
chose to nominate their candidates from the floor, during the election. Making nominations from the floor is allowed
and is perfectly acceptable. However
these nominations happen during the actual voting process which precludes campaigning
by any candidate. A better process would
have been for the alternate slate to have contacted the Nominating Committee in
advance. At that time we could have made
arrangements for a candidate’s forum or to circulate information. As
it was, I only learned about the alternate slate through a forwarded email and
a posting on Rockville Patch 2 days before the election. Not a lot of
time to incorporate a candidate’s debate –especially when senior City staff were
already scheduled to make a presentation.
2. Voting
Procedure: There was also a question
about how we conducted the vote. WECA is
an open organization and all votes have historically been taken by voice. Secret ballots have never been used. That is
not to say that we cannot change the method by which we take votes in the
future, but the idea should be discussed as a meeting agenda item, researched
and voted upon. It is not appropriate
to ask for a change in voting procedures at the meeting where the voting will
happen. It takes time to figure out a
new process to make sure everything is well thought out. Our rules do not require a written ballot. When a paper ballot was suggested from the
floor at the last minute there was a loud collective groan throughout the
membership. There was no warning, no
provisions, no pre-approved ballots, few pens or pencils, no room, and a
potential huge delay.
The election is not the time or place to reinvent the
process that has been successfully followed for years and is well known to and
anticipated by members.
Now that the election is over, and
my term as President officially ends May 31st, I wanted to take a
minute to thank all the people who have donated their time, energy and
abilities to serving WECA. In addition
to the five Officers just elected, WECA has 47 Block Captains who are your
local “representatives.” They attend
meetings, serve on committees and deliver your newsletter. In addition we have several committee heads
who follow specific issues, put the newsletter together, manage our
listserv/website and coordinate our block captain lists. We had a “Meet Your
Block Captain” social event at last year’s Spring General Membership meeting
and a large number of residents turned out to enjoy Carmen’s Ice Cream,
participate in the election and meet the Mayor and Council. We will continue to plan events to foster
engagement with WECA and the West End
community. If you’re interested in serving as a Block Captain or on a
committee, please contact Noreen Bryan at president@weca.us.
I have been involved with WECA for almost 10 years and have
seen up-close the important role in the organization has played as our
neighborhood evolves. The West End is an incredibly vibrant and dynamic community
which makes it a very desirable place to live.
Our location, schools and strong sense of community will continue to be
draws as Rockville
moves into the next economic growth cycle.
I hope you will find the opportunity to come to a WECA meeting, learn
about some of the issues we’ll face going forward and add your voice to the
conversation. I may be passing the baton
to Noreen, but I’ll still be coming to WECA meetings and remain involved in the
activities of the organization. Hope to
see you there!
Susan Prince
President
