2006-07 House of Delegates
Having missed the House of Delegate meeting and, in fact, the entire Houston Convention, due to hospitalization for open heart surgery, it has been a bit difficult to focus on HoD affairs, but now is the time.
I expect a very active schedule of business leading up to the Long Beach Convention. First and foremost, we expect the report of the Committee on Dues Structure to be rendered in October 2006. This will create significant activity in order to reach an agreement as to what Constitution and Bylaws Committee, plus the serving HoD Executive Committee are prepared to recommend before the 2007 Long Beach HOD annual meeting.
In addition, I would like to turn our attention to a serious problem that plagues the Houston Delegation, and the European Region, and perhaps others of which I am not aware. During a significant growth spurt in the Houston Geological Society and Houston AAPG membership in general, the delegate count got dangerously out of sync. In one of the three years there are 17 elected candidates, the next year there are 6 and the following year there are 33 elected candidates. Too many qualified folks are passed over during the “6” year, and it is nearly impossible to find 33 to 45 qualified people for the last year. The European Region shares many of these same problems. It has been discussed in the past, but we must find a way to rectify this untenable situation.
Additionally, I very much want each candidate for Active Membership to the AAPG to undergo as consistent set of investigative criteria as possible prior to recommendation to Tulsa. I am concerned that some applicants have very little done to ensure that the credentials presented are valid. This may require the establishment of certain Regional Boards or Section Boards to deal with applicant credentials, in such areas where it is difficult to acquire either sponsors or delegates to review applications.
Committees will begin to be formed as soon as possible, so that we can have a full nine months to deal with our opportunities and problems. Much will be required of the HoD, and I expect it to perform as effectively and efficiently as it has been so prone to do in the past.