Proposed Bylaw Amendment Related to Petition Candidates
A proposed amendment to the Bylaws, supported unanimously by HoD leadership and the Executive Committee, would create a subsection (c) under Article II, Section 14. Under current Bylaws, a member of the Executive Committee (termed “officer described in Section 1 of Article II”) or a member of the Advisory Council could run as a petition candidate after the conclusion of their term. The term for the above offices and Advisory Council membership conclude on June 30, but a member desiring to run as a petition candidate has until October 15 to submit a petition with 50 approved signatures. This 3.5 month “window” creates a potential conflict of interest.
The conflict arises because the Executive Committee and Advisory Council determine the nominated slate of officers for each upcoming election. Any member(s) that participated in the nominating process should not be permitted to run as a petition candidate against the very slate they helped nominate. As an extreme example, a member could purposely nominate one or more inferior candidates with the intention of running as a petition candidate against them. Although this example is unlikely with the high quality of AAPG members, the Bylaws should be improved to prevent any appearance of impropriety.
The proposed amendment is as follows:*
ARTICLE II. OFFICERS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AND ASSOCIATION POSITIONS
SECTION 14. Limitations on Nominations and Honors and Awards
(c)Members serving as any of the officers described in Section 1 of Article II of these Bylaws, as the Chairman of the House of Delegates, or on the Advisory Council shall not be eligible to be a candidate for any of the offices described in Section 1, Article II, of these Bylaws in any election during such service or in the Association’s fiscal year immediately following the end of such service.
[strikeouts – deletions; underlining – additions]
The proposed amendment places the same restrictions on petition candidates as on nominated candidates, and I urge you to vote in favor of its passage.
*Editor’s note: The text of this proposed amendment is also included in the report of the C&BL Committee.