As to the meeting Thursday, was it worth it? From my stand point, the answer is yes. Yes, it was ugly and for that I'm sorry, but I do feel it was necessary. The issue was about open and fair elections. The bylaws could be interpeted differently by different people. One way could be to make the nominations and elections restrictive so as to promote certain candidates and exclude others. Another way would be to have an open and inclusive process. Sorry, but I chose the latter. I tried to stop this long before the meeting. When I heard the nominating committee was all board members, I started wondering. Then, I was told the committee was not taking outside nominations from the members. Then, I heard there would be no nominations from the floor in the Nov. meeting. I then went and brought my concerns to light. I wanted to avoid what happened last year. I was assured everything would be fixed. Then, the newsletter and a posting was made on this web site that again raised my concerns. I again was assured that nominations would be open. I was told by another(at those two tables up front) that they would make a motion to open the elections. As for those two tables, I knew there was trouble when I first laid eyes on them. As it turns out, there was a meeting the night before to figure out to handle this situation. They chose to have a strict bylaw interpertation and go against what had been done every year before. That,s why and when it got ugly. Now, it may seem that it was all for nothing. No one was nominated when it was opened up. The one person that I was told wanted to be on the ballot and was denied, was said to have been asked and declined. I have now been told by that person that they said to a nominating committee person that they in fact did want to run. So what does this all mean and where do we go from here? Two present board members and two past presidents told me after the meeting that they would work with me to change the bylaws to avoid this happening ever again. Was it all worth it? I say, yes.

By Bill H.