What is the Nominating Committee (NomComm) and what role does it serve?
The Nominating Committee shall be elected by the membership for a one-year term. The Nominating Committee shall be composed of at least five (5) persons.
The Nominating Committee shall recommend and review nominations. It shall publicize the list of candidates, prepare the ballot, conduct the elections, tabulate the votes and announce the results. Elections for members of the Board of Directors shall be done in the store itself and/or by mail, to allow for maximum participation of the membership. The vote shall be taken over a period of at least one full week. f. Members of the Nominating Committee shall be ineligible for nomination.
Selection of Nominating Committee
At the Fall Membership meeting, candidates for the Nominating Committee are nominated by another co-op member, including someone on the current or any former NomComm (or they can self-nominate) who is not seeking a seat on the Nominating Committee. Once the slate of Nominating Committee candidates is final (a bylaw-mandated minimum of 5 is required), a request can be made to accept the nominees by acclamation (thereby accepting all of them via one show of hands).
The Nominating Committee serves the entire membership by putting forward a slate of candidates they have met with and who have followed the rules of application.
The Nominating Committee strives to conduct a fair election that allows all approved candidates an equal voice and does not favor any candidate over another. While serving on the committee, Nominating Committee members must refrain from campaigning for candidate(s) or participating in petition campaigns or forums that might be, or be perceived as being, associated with individual candidates or issues. This can include conversations where others are trying to ask you who to vote for because you’re on the NomComm, so be mindful.
While serving, they must act in the interests of the entire membership (and even the non-member shoppers who make up a majority of Sevananda’s sales) as a whole rather than of a specific interest group and therefore must not bring their recommendations of candidate(s) to any group or individual.
Nominating Committee members should commit to serving on the committee until it is dissolved (one year) to avoid unduly burdening the remaining members and endangering the integrity of the election. If a committee member does not follow these rules (and any others agreed-upon by the committee itself), as well as the Code of Conduct they can be removed by a majority vote of the Nominating Committee.
The committee members can also have no conflicts of interest in the greater success of Sevananda as a cooperative and a business, including, but not limited to, any legal actions against Sevananda Cooperative. There a commitment letter later in this manual for all NomCom members to sign.
Current Nominating Committee
| Damali Cruz |
| Sandy Dwyer |
| Felton Eaddy |
| Chris Smith-Hale |
| Abdullah Muqtsaid |
| Zola Peek |
| Brian Sherman |
NomComm Contact :
nomcomm2012@sevananda.coop
Dates for NomComm nominations/elections
NomComm Orientation Date & Notes
Election
Elections for members of the Board of Directors shall be done in the store itself and/or by mail, to allow for maximum participation of the membership. The vote shall be taken over a period of at least one full week. See nomcomm manual for process details.
What is the Board of Directors and what does it do?
The Board of Directors is the representative ownership of Sevananda. It is composed of nine people, all members of Sevananda, elected by the general membership, each of whom serves a three-year term. Directors guide the co-op towards the members’ vision through carefully written policies. The Board also supervises the General Manager, and is involved in strategic planning, financial oversight, membership linkage, and community outreach.
What are the requirements for running?
Directors must be members of Sevananda in good standing with their membership payments. Once elected, directors must sign a Commitment Letter and publicly disclose any potential conflict of interest. As for personal qualifications, experience in any of the above areas is useful, but not a prerequisite for directorship. More important are: ability to learn quickly; organizational skills; willingness to work closely and cooperatively with the other directors, since decisions are all made by consensus; commitment to providing the time and energy necessary to accomplish the Board’s objectives and fulfill the three-year term.
For more information on qualifying as a candidate for the Board of Directors or the Elections process, review the Board Candidate Packet
Candidate Packet deadline: March 1, 2012
Candidate Orientation – (TBD)
Candidate Statement Deadline: March 1, 2012
Election Tabulation Results PDF provided and posted to website one week after election.
