Well We've all been wrong.  The AFA DOES have elections.  There was a
problem with recent AFRs due to a management company whose services have
been terminated.  As I said I would write to the AFA about the elections and
this is what came back... I was asked to remove the personal email address
as all email should go directly to [log in to unmask]
 
I guess I am as guilty as anyone of not knowing MY responsibilities...
 
bill killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://www.zenferret.com/
mailto:[log in to unmask]
 
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 11:29:06 -0400
>From: Sally Heber
>To: zen and the art of ferrets - bill and diane <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: "elections" and the AFA
>
>Hi Bill -
>As per the AFA bylaws and as any member should be aware of via the AFR, the
>AFA Board of Directors are voted in by the membership.  Therefore, every
>single member has the opportunity and the 'duty' to take part in the
>elections.
>
>AND, any member who wishes to take part in the Board of Directors has the
>opportunity to do so.  The only requirement for this is that they have been
>an AFA member in good standing for 3 months.  Not a very difficult
>requirement.
>
>So, I don't believe there is anything stopping any member from taking part
>in the election process of in the actual running of the AFA.
>
>As a matter of fact, the AFA has run numerous advertisements in the AFR to
>get people to sign up for some of the Board positions and the results have
>always been the same.  Either there is no response at all or there are 1 or
>2 people inquiring and no one volunteering for the positions.  Right now, I
>believe there are several positions open and elections are coming up so
>anyone who wishes to make nominations for any of the Board of Directors
>positions, not just the open ones, is encouraged to do so.  The nominations
>are to be printed in the May/June AFR and there will be a period of time
>that more nominations can be submitted.  The following AFR (July/Aug) will
>have the voting ballot in it.  This is the same process that AFA has done
>each and every year of its existence.
>
>As indicated in last year's AFR, there are one or more Executive Committee
>members who would like to turn the reins over to someone else and serve in
>a more advisory capacity.  This leaves positions that will need to be filled
>on the Executive Committee too.
>
>This information about elections and voting for the AFA is easily accessible
>and a short summary is sent to each new member so it appears folks didn't
>do any research before 'assuming' they didn't have voting privileges.  Just
>like with this country's voting system for elected officials, AFA has seen
>very few people who take the time to exercise their priviledge to vote.
>
>From past experience, I have to agree with your observation.  It has been
>very difficult finding people willing to do the work in the first place and
>rarely does AFA have the luxury of having a full ballot where there are
>more than one person running for a Board position.  AFA could accomplish
>even more if there were enough volunteers to cover each of the positions
>and if there were enough volunteers to work with the committees who need
>more 'person-power' to accomplish some of the tasks.
>
>Anyone wishing to participate is asked to contact AFA at 1-888-FERRET-1 or
>[log in to unmask]
>
>Sally
[Posted in FML issue 2274]