The September General Meeting is quickly approaching and our Nominating Committee, chaired by Petra Fischer, has been busy soliciting possible candidates for four of our board positions that come up for election.  The positions of Commodore, Senior Vice-Commodore, Vice-Commodore: Member Services, and Vice-Commodore: Planning are the centre of our attention for this year. 

I am pleased to report that the Nominating Committee has been able to cover all four positions, however, the call for candidates for those positions have resulted in a single candidate for each. Over the past few years, members have given me feedback that, when the issue of a single candidate for a particular position arises, we find that the candidate does not have the opportunity to address the members present at the meeting so that they can hear and see for what they stand. Candidates are simply installed into their position and then asked to speak. To some, that seems to be the reverse of what should happen.

Robert's Rules of Order never refers to the word "acclamation".  Rather, it refers only to "election" to be held according to the by-laws of the various organizations. Our by-laws state that the definition of "election" is to vote by a show-of-hands or by a formal paper vote and not simply "acclamation".

To rectify this, the Board has approved a two-part procedure whereby the Nominating Committee Chairperson will invite all candidates, including incumbents, to address members for no more than three minutes and that a vote be taken in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order. In the case of a single candidate running for a particular position, the Chair will ask whether a show-of-hands would be appropriate and, if challenged by a member from the floor, a paper ballot will be used. With multiple candidates for a single position, the traditional paper ballot will be used. In short, all candidates will address the members followed by a vote.

Having said all of this and, as Past Commodore with elections in my portfolio, I invite any potential candidates for these four positions to continue to consider running in this election. Contact a member of the Nominating Committee. You may still be nominated from the floor. I believe that it is always better for our Club's future to have multiple candidates for our Board and, if you are considering getting involved in a position of responsibility sometime in the future, I would encourage you to contact members of the Board or the various Committee Chairs and put your name forward.