Proposal Calling for Elections

[admin]

The Committee to Reform MUFON recently sent a proposal to the BoD calling for elections to be held to allow the members to choose the Board members. It was written in a very polite and unconfrontational manner. There were a total of 39 people who signed their names to it.

Personally I thought there was about as much chance that an egg would jump up and do a hula dance as the Board members would willingly give up their power. It seems that I was right.

Within days after the proposal was submitted the threats and intimidation began as the BoD tried to force people to remove their names from the list "or else." That was both typical and predictable.

It is this type of heavy-handed totalitarian control that is causing the problems at MUFON in the first place. Any time anybody complains the BoD tries to use threats and intimidation to force them into silence. I don't suppose it ever occurred to them to actually listen to what the people are saying. If they would address the people's concerns instead of just trying to shut them up than maybe they could fix some of the problems and put an end to the complaints.

I guess listening is too difficult for them. All the more reason why they should be removed from power.

I will post the proposal as soon as I am able to.

[starshipdisaster]

This coming from the board of a "volunteer " based organization. Makes me wonder who is really pulling the strings of the board, and who holds the purse strings?

[admin]

Here it is! A formal Proposal to the MUFON Board calling for elections in MUFON

Talk is one thing. But this is a blueprint—a blueprint for how MUFON gets from where it is to where it needs to go. Where MUFON is now is we have a Board of Directors that appoints itself. What we need is a Board of Directors that all the 2900 members of MUFON have voted on and elected.



On June 19th a group of 37 MUFON members emailed the formal Proposal below to the 9 members of the Board of Directors. The Proposal is a plan for how MUFON can move to a Member-elected Board. Since the Proposal was mailed, the number of signers has increased: 91 MUFON Members have now signed, names shown below.

The Proposal originated with the Committee to Reform MUFON, but it is bigger than just the Committee. And it needs to be bigger still. Please read the Proposal and consider whether you would like to be an additional signer. The names of all new signers will be forwarded to the MUFON Board in 10 days.



ID Clifford Clift responded to the Proposal with a note saying it would be voted on at the Board meeting at the Irvine Symposium on July 29th. But we know it will be “voted on” before then. Before the members of the Board get to the Irvine symposium, they will already have made up their minds. That means that if you agree with the Proposal it is very important that you email or telephone the members of the Board now urging them to vote in favor of the Proposal. A list of the members of the Board and their email addresses appears below following the Proposal.



What’s in the Proposal?

The Proposal calls for election of the 9 members of the Board of Directors, including the International Director, as well as the Director of Investigations. It calls for 3 year staggered terms in which 1/3 of the Board would be elected each year. All 2900 members of MUFON would be eligible to vote in a secret, mailed-in ballot. Qualifications for candidates are specified. Nothing in the Proposal prevents any current member of the Board from running for election.



The Proposal makes clear what everyone in MUFON already knows: that changing MUFON’s Article of Incorporation to provide for a member-elected Board is easy to do and would not change MUFON’s tax-exempt, non-profit status. Furthermore, prior to 1982 the MUFON corporate charter DID provide for member-election of the Board. An elected Board was the original intention of MUFON’s founder, Walt Andrus.



Please read the Proposal

If you agree with the document, we urge you to make your views known to the Board of Directors. If you wish to add your name to the 91 people who have already signed, hit reply to this email and let us know. We will submit all the new Proposal signers to the MUFON Board in 10 days. Here is the Proposal:


TO: MUFON Board of Directors: Clifford Clift, Tom Deuley, Tom Whitmore, Jan Harzan, Marie Malzahn, Chuck Reever, Rob Swiatek, Robert Wood, John Schuessler

FROM: The following 91 Members of MUFON: Steve Arsenault, Roslyn Aubuchon, Steve Bass, Marsha Barnhart, J.R. Bertram, John Bodin, Kevin Botelho, Hal Brandenburg, Dennis Briefer, Larry Bryant, George Bucho, Frank Burchardt, Debbie Butler, John Calman, Cathy Carignan, Marilyn Carlson, Anthony Caruso, Pat Ciuffreda, Matti Colan, Don Colclasure, Richard Csuk, Brian DeFiore, Margaret DeFiore, Chris tine Dickey, Paul Dickey, Nancy Doty, Steve Doherty, Elaine Douglass, Ben Eden, Melvin England, Don Flickinger, Walt Foster, David Galindo, John Geiger, Sandalio Gonzalez, Paula Gorgas, Cindy Gutierrez, L. Chris Hager, Joel Henry, Rob Hicks, Fredric Hissong, Lorna Hunter, John James, Pat Jump, Bob Krieckhaus, Karl Kuykendall, Barbara Lamb, Barbara Landa, Larry Larmen, Chris Licht, Marion Lovett, Barry Lutsky,

Michael Mace, Bill May, Julie May, Bill McNeff, Tom Maher, Larry Mencotti, Michael Menkin , Vince Migliore, Darcy Moehring, Mike Mougan, Torre Nelson, Mary Oliva, Roger Peacock, Sam Polk, Michelle Poolet, Bill Reed, Joel Rencsok, Richard Richardson, Joe Roam, Mark Rubinger, Phillip Schliem, Frederick Schwartz, Morgan Sierra, Janet Smith , Marlee Spendlove , Ron Spicer, Chuck Tappan, Margo Temple, Klaus Thiel, Richard Tuminello, John Turner, Mike Ward, Laura Weisser, Margaret Wilson, Kristen Winslet, David Wisbey, Terah Woodcock, Loraine Morgan, John Yates

DATE: June 19, 2011 (date of original submission to the Board)



RE: Proposal for a change in MUFON operations to provide for the election of the Board of Directors, the International Director, and the Director of Investigations, through vote of the Membership


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In its capacity since 1976, the MUFON Board of Directors (BOD) has provided inestimable service to MUFON. The members of the current BOD, and your predecessors, have wisely safeguarded the Mission of MUFON and steered the organization into the 21st century.

The leadership provided by these Boards has brought MUFON to levels of achievement not seen in previous decades, and it is that growth in MUFON’s capacity that has called forth this proposal outlining a more encompassing method of choosing a BOD, International Director, and Director of Investigations via election by the Membership. Today, the Membership of MUFON has the capacity and the desire to choose the leadership of the organization, and MUFON will be well served if the Board of Directors provides that vehicle for the aspirations of the Members. The past method of choosing officers has served MUFON well, and we ask you to consider whether from this point forward MUFON will be best served if the leadership is chosen via election by the Membership.

In characterizing MUFON, we note the extraordinary seriousness with which many Members approach their roles in MUFON/ufology, marked by sacrifice, commitment, and long tenure. We note it is the Members who provide the greatest part of MUFON’s operating funds, some $160,000 annually. It will be to MUFON’s advantage in the years ahead to capture the energy of this commitment by fostering a culture of upward mobility so all Members know their efforts can potentially take them to the top of the organization.

We believe a Member-elected Board will build morale in MUFON and commitment to the organization. Equally important, choosing a BOD via election by the Membership will confer upon an elected Board the prize of legitimacy—and the advantages of that are obvious.



This proposal in summary

This is a proposal to change the Articles of Incorporation to provide for the election of a 9-member Board of Directors, the International Director, and the Director of Investigations, with 3-year terms for each of these officers. We propose that candidates for these positions be generated from the Membership of MUFON and voted upon by the full Membership.


An elected Board was the vision of MUFON’s founder Walt Andrus

Article 8 of the old Articles of Incorporation in effect from 1976 to 1982 reads:



ARTICLE 8: The business of the association shall be transacted by 3 trustees to be elected by the members of the association [i.e., the Members of MUFON].

This provision reflects Walt Andres’ original vision. It was his aspiration that the leadership of MUFON be elected by the Members of MUFON, but in those early, leaner years that did not prove possible. ‘We just did not set up the mechanism for voting,’ Walt will tell you today. Accordingly, in1982, an amendment to the Articles of Incorporation providing for the present method of choosing the Board was adopted in keeping with the realities of those times.

Nonetheless, Walt never relinquished his desire to have an elected leadership, and during the late 1980s Walt held a number of elections in which the Members of MUFON voted for members of the Board of Directors.

In 1988 and 1989, and possibly in other years, Walt Andrus conducted elections for Regional Directors who then served on the Board. Nominations were submitted by state directors and any Member of MUFON who wanted to run for Regional Director/Board of Directors submitted their name.

In the spring of 1988 Walt conducted an election for Central Regional Director. MUFON Members from 19 states voted on a ballot enclosed in the May issue of the MUFON Journal. In the Director’s Message in June, Walt announced that “George Coyne was seated on the Board of Directors after his election to the position of Central Regional Director by popular vote of the Members in the central states.” George Coyne was at that time the state director of Michigan and, according to Walt, he had “served as assistant chairman of the very successful and professionally managed MUFON 1986 UFO Symposium in Michigan .”

In the spring of 1989 Walt held another election, this time for Eastern Regional Director/Board of Directors. “Every Member is encouraged to vote,” Walt wrote in the Director’s Message, “since this is your opportunity to select the person you feel will best represent the eastern states on the MUFON Board of Directors.”

In May, Walt announced that the state director of Florida had won the election after “receiving more than half the total votes cast” and would be “representing the eastern region of states on the Board of Directors for the next four years.”



Note how Walt cultivated upward mobility. Middle management in MUFON was a stepping stone to the Board of Directors, as was performance in the organization.



As we review the history of the 1976 Articles, the issue of MUFON’s lack of compliance with those Articles also arises. Since the 1976 Articles called for election of the trustees by the members, and since no elections were actually held, that means that the pre-1982 Board, as well as subsequent Boards, were not in compliance with the Articles as required by Texas law, and this Board inherited a flawed authority. This creates an underlying legal weakness in the Board’s authority to act, a weakness which could be actionable, contracts could be challenged, etc., but which would be remedied and the vulnerability removed if this Board fulfilled the mandate of the 1976 Articles. That is a further reason for changing the Articles and providing for a Member-elected Board at this time.



A Membership-elected Board is part of the history and aspirations of MUFON, it is what today’s Members want, it will confer public legitimacy on our organization’s governance, and it will bring MUFON into proper legal alignment with the earlier articles. Today there is an opportunity to realize these benefits and we hope the Board will take advantage of it.



Elements of the transition


The transition from the current method of choosing MUFON’s BOD to a Member-elected Board will involve several steps:



1. An amendment to Article 8 of the Articles of Incorporation

2. A change in Article 6, Section 2 of the By-laws and other sections

3. Designation of qualifications for member of the Board

4. Designation of qualifications for voting

5. Designation of the mechanism for voting

6. A timetable involving decisions how and when the current Board will transition to the newly elected Board.



These steps are discussed one by one below, in moderate detail. We do not attempt to specify all details, but only the salient features of the necessary steps.

1. An amendment to the Articles of Incorporation

Amending the Articles is not difficult and can be accomplished even without attorney assistance. It would involve filing Form 424 Certification of Amendment with the state of Texas at this office:



Secretary of State of Texas

512-463-5555



Here is a suggested text of an amended Article 8:



The Board of Directors shall consist of 9 persons chosen by vote of the Membership. The International Director shall be a member of the Board and shall be chosen by vote of the Membership. The Director of Investigations shall also be chosen by vote of the Membership. All these Officers shall serve 3-year terms.

2. Changes to the By-laws

Changing the By-laws does not require approval of the state of Texas and can be accomplished internally within MUFON. We suggest appointing a committee for this purpose, as well as a committee to administer the election.

3. Qualifications for the MUFON officers named here


We suggest the qualifications for an individual to run for election and serve as a member of the Board shall be: a 5-year continuous Member of MUFON; a field investigator; and has attained the age of 27 years; for International Director shall be: a 5-year continuous Member of MUFON; a field investigator; and has attained the age of 35 years; for Director of Investigations: a 5-year continuous Member of MUFON; a field investigator for 3 years; and has attained the age of 27 years.

4. Qualifications to vote for a member of the Board of Directors

We suggest that the franchise include all Members of MUFON whose dues are paid as of the date of the close of voting. All of MUFON’s current 2900 Members would be eligible to vote.



5. The mechanism for voting

We suggest the nomination and campaign period be approximately 60 days prior to the annual Symposium and the voting period be approximately 30 days following the Symposium. We suggest the MUFON Journal and the website carry information about the candidates during the 60 day period. We suggest the Symposium provide an opportunity to meet the candidates. We suggest that printed ballots be distributed in the July and August MUFON Journal, including the electronic version of the Journal, with ballots then mailed to MUFON Headquarters. We suggest the ballots be secret ballots and be counted in two stages. In the first stage compare the incoming ballots to the official Member list and remove the name from the ballot. In the second stage, count the ballots.



We suggest that State Directors be given some responsibility for getting the vote in from their respective states. Of course, Members cannot be compelled to vote. We suggest that the winners be derived from the cast ballots, whatever number of ballots is received.





6. A timetable for transitioning the current Board of Directors to a newly elected Board

Special arrangements will be necessary for the first election in 2011 which will result in shortened first terms for 6 of those elected.



We suggest a 9-member Board with each member serving a 3-year term. We suggest that the terms of office for the International Director and the Director of Investigations also be 3 years. For the Board, we suggest staggered terms of office so 3 Board members will reach the end of their term every year. If this arrangement is adopted, that will mean 3 members of the initial elected Board will serve one year, 3 members will serve 2 years, and 3 members will serve 3 years. These terms of service will apply to the initial Board only.



On subsequent Boards, each member will serve 3 years and the terms of 3 Board members will expire each year. Each year the Members of MUFON will elect one-third of the Board. The International Director will also serve for 3 years and every third year the elections will include voting for an International Director and a Director of Investigations.



We have suggested that in future years, the campaign period begin 60 days before the annual Symposium and that voting conclude 30 days later. In 2011, however, a different timetable would be required.

We are reluctant to see the entire proposed transition to a member-elected Board delayed an entire year until, for example, 60 days before the 2012 Symposium. We believe 3 months is a sufficient time period to effect this transition, and 3 months after the 2011 Symposium brings us to the date of October 2011.



If nominations were opened in October and votes counted in December, that would add 6 months of term to the first member-elected Board. The result would be that 3 members would serve 1.5 years, 3 members would serve 2.5 years, and 3 members would serve 3.5 years. Alternatively, 6 months could be subtracted from the terms of the initial member-elected Board.



Another feature of the first election will be that, unlike subsequent years, all 9 Board seats will be vacant at one time. In subsequent years, only 3 seats will become vacant annually.



In conclusion

This is our proposal to the Board of Directors to effect a transition of the manner in which MUFON chooses its leadership. To initiate this transition, we submit the following motion for presentation to the Board and vote at the earliest opportunity:



MOVED: That the Articles of Incorporation be changed to provide for Member-election of the Director of Investigations and a 9-member Board of Directors, including the International Director, and that the first election of these officers take place in 2011.

End of Proposal

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Now that you’ve read it, what do you think of the Proposal?

If we were using a system like this, we’d have a whole different MUFON, wouldn’t we? And it would be a lot better MUFON, wouldn’t it? It would be a NEW MUFON! We would no longer be “only Journal subscribers” with “no. . .authority or voting rights,” as Clifford Clift informed us in a recent email. Instead, we, the Members, would have a voice in MUFON which we richly deserve. The old MUFON we’ve had for 40 years was great, and now it’s time for a New Mufon, time for a change, time the Members of MUFON have the right to choose the leadership of our organization.



What can you do to help?

Sign the Proposal

Join the 91 Members of MUFON who have already signed the Proposal. Just hit the reply button on this email and let the Committee to Reform MUFON know you want to add your name to the signers of the Proposal. We will collect these signatures for the next 10 days and then forward the names to the Board of Directors.



Send emails or letters to the Board of Directors

Here are the names and email addresses of each of the 9 members of the MUFON Board. If you want this Proposal approved, it is very important that you write to the Board members and tell them so.



Clifford Clift, Director [e-mail]
Tom Deuley [e-mail]
Tom Whitmore [e-mail]
Jan Harzan [e-mail]
Marie Malzahn [e-mail]
Chuck Reever [e-mail]
Robert Swiatek [e-mail]
Dr. Bob Wood [e-mail]
John Schuessler [e-mail]


This communication has been brought to you by the Committee to Reform MUFON: Steve Bass, Marilyn Carlson, Elaine Douglass, Sandy Gonzalez, Bill McNeff, Marlee Spendlove , Ron Spicer

[elainedouglass]

This is from Elaine Douglass, CRM. When we sent the Proposal to the Board it had 37 signers. When we published it to all-MUFON it had 91 signers. Now we have about 125 signers. But, get this: MUFON director Clifford Cliff got on the Pippin show last week and he said he had "talked to" 10 people who want to remove their signatures from the Proposal cause "they didn't know what they were signing." I've written two times to all the Proposal-signers asking who are the 10 people who want their name removed. NOBODY has answered. NOBODY has told me they "talked to" Cliff and want their name removed. I wouldn't put it past Cliff to make the whole thing up about the 10 people.

[starshipdisaster]

Jul 18, 2011 1:45:12 GMT -6 elainedouglass said:

I wouldn't put it past Cliff to make the whole thing up about the 10 people.

wouldn't surprise a lot of people.