2017 Nominations Committee Undergoes Change
BY LARRY HODGSON
GWA has reworked its bylaws to bring them in line with 2017 standards. Some of the changes affect the way we nominate candidates for the GWA Board of Directors.
In the past, for example, the board named a single chairperson for the Nominations Committee and that person often had the heavy responsibility of carrying out much of the work on their own. From now on, the immediate Past President will serve as chair of the Committee and all National Directors who are not up for election will serve as committee members. If the National Director is running for election, a regional director who is not up for re-election will serve on the Committee in their place. As a result, this year’ s committee is:
Larry Hodgson, Past President C. L. Fornari, National Director Region 1 Kate Copsey, Regional Director Region 2 Diane Blazek, National Director Region 3 Brie Gluvna Arthur, National Director Region 4 Bill Johnson, National Director Region 5 Jacqueline Soule, Regional Director Region 6 Ken Brown, National Director Region 7 longer automatically move up. This will allow candidates who feel they have the characteristics of a good association Secretary or Treasurer to run without having to eventually ascend to the President role, which they may not want.
Previously, it was necessary to have two nominees for each position— Regional Director, National Director or officer. This has caused problems, as it sometimes proved difficult to find two candidates for each slot. From now on, the board feels that the Committee should still look for two candidates for each position, but failing that, one candidate will be acceptable. Voters always have the opportunity to write in a candidate’ s name.
A Call for Nominations was released February 1. Visit the GWA website for more information.
ARE YOU INTERESTED? We encourage our members to become involved in GWA, and if you’ d like to participate as a director in this year’ s election( to be held in June and July 2017), please let the Committee member for your region know of your interest. And if we approach you asking for your participation, please give the opportunity your full
consideration. We’ d love to have your help.
We’ re also looking for suggestions for candidates for Secretary, Treasurer and Vice-President.
HOW THE BOARD IS ORGANIZED
To get involved, it helps to understand the hierarchy. There are two Regional Directors for each of the seven GWA regions. They serve a two-year term and can serve two consecutive terms, then must take a year off. The primary responsibility of the Regional Directors is to develop programs and serve the needs of the members in the region. When the National Director is unable to attend a Board meeting, a Regional Director may attend and vote in his or her place. If you want to run for National Director, you will be expected to attend Board meetings, serve as a liaison to a committee and report to the Board of Directors or Executive Director. A National Director serves a threeyear term.
If you’ re interested in becoming an officer or recommending someone for that role, note that the Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary need to have served at least one three-year term as a National Director or at least two two-year terms as a Regional Director before they are eligible. An officer’ s term is two years. I hope to see your name among this year’ s candidates.
Finally, many thanks to Denise Schreiber for her hard work as chair of the 2016 Nominations Committee.
Larry Hodgson is President of the Garden Writers Association Foundation, Past President of the Garden Writers Association and a freelance garden communicator and garden tour guide.
PHOTO COURTESY LARRY HODGSON
SUCCESSION PLAN ALTERED
Tradition had it that newly elected Secretary would move up at the end of their two-year term to Treasurer, then Vice-President, President and Past President. This was a minimum, 13-year engagement and a major stumbling block for many potential candidates who could not ensure their availability that long. The board has decided to abridge that. The only new position from which the winning candidate will automatically ascend without election will be the Vice-President, who will move up unelected to President and Past President, thus a six-year engagement.
From now on, the officer positions of Secretary and Treasurer will be subject to re-election every two years and those in place may choose to submit their names for re-election after the initial two-year engagement. They will no
John Boggan poses GWA members( from left) Sandy Feather, Alexa Haller, GWA Membership Director, Maria Ungaro, GWA Executive Director, Kate Copsey, Region II Director and Denise Schreiber, Region II National Director at 2017 MANTS, January 11-13 in Baltimore. This year, MANTS management placed the GWA booth on one of the main aisles for maximum exposure. Record-breaking pre-registration made this year’ s one of the best-attended shows on record.
PHOTO COURTESY KIRK BROWN
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