Feedback on Length of Board Member Terms

[awhip80Participant]

Wow! I’ve been out of the loop for a while. It is nice to see a thread in the forums with this much feedback!

Although I have never served as a board member, I have given the election an unsuccessful run a number of times.

First, I feel that the two year term is long enough. I, personally, would not have chosen to have my name on the ballet for any longer period of time. Given the responsibilities in life and family along with responsibilities necessary to keep the volunteer organization’s events afloat; it is my belief that the majority of those elected would consider two years long enough.

I believe that Hamfam, JimandLinda and hack1of2 have it right when they make the suggestion of regionalized volunteers handling the beginning to end running of WGA events throughout the year. This involvement by volunteers would give them a greater sense of ownership in the organization, which in turn should make the organization stronger and members more apt to run for election in the future.

So, with this thought, I do not believe the term limits have to change. I believe how the election is held should change. Somehow we need to split representatives into regions when the election is run. Similar to electing your own representative in a statewide election process. It is difficult for someone from a lower population density area to make a decision to run when they know that those from a higher population density area will most likely edge them out simply because of their location advantage.

I think the restructuring of the election and the BOD to better include the state as a whole; to have representation from all corners, is the first step that needs to be taken to make a stronger organization. This would give those elected more sense of ownership, which in turn could lead to a decreased turnover rate and more more people being interested in throwing their hat into the ring.

[ACME_WildCachersParticipant]

Thank you to everyone who gave feedback on this topic. The directors considered all you had to say and discussed the length of terms during our November board meeting. Opinions were similarly mixed to the feedback we received here. While most acknowledged that three-year terms would make things easier from a logistical perspective during transition periods around each election, there was also concern that a longer term might be a deterrent to those who would otherwise be interested in running for board positions. Given the relatively few interested candidates in recent years (last year a bit of an exception), we didn’t want to give nominees another reason to decline a nomination. We ultimately decided to stick with two-year terms by a vote of 5-4.

My comments are mine alone and may not necessarily reflect an official stance of the WGA Board of Directors.

[chevyoleParticipant]

Would love to see this reassessed

Please note: my comments are mine alone and may not necessarily reflect an official stance of the WGA Board of Directors.

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