Member Ballot Needed for 2004–2005 Nominating Committee

By Raymond M. Nowicki, NYSSCPA Secretary

All CPA members of the Society will receive a ballot in late August to determine who will serve on the 2004–2005 Nominating Committee. To be counted, the ballots must be returned by Sept. 27 to Prompt Mailers, the independent ballot-counting agency specified on the ballot. The results of the election will be announced via an e-mail to the entire membership and in the November issue of The Trusted Professional.

The NYSSCPA has enjoyed a surge of interest in Nominating Committee service since the 2003 member-approved bylaws, which expanded the size of the Nominating Committee and moved up the timing for its selection, went into effect. As of the cutoff date for petitions to serve on the Nominating Committee, the second Friday in August, the Society had received petitions from 12 individuals to fill the nine available slots on the committee. This is only the second time in 15 years that the Society has needed a direct membership decision to decide who would serve on the Nominating Committee. The other time occurred in 2002.

The full Nominating Committee has 11 members under the 2003 bylaws. In addition to the nine chosen from among those filing petitions, none of whom may be presently sitting on the board of directors or have served on the past two Nominating Committees, the board designates two current board members to sit on the committee. That selection will occur at the board’s Sept. 22 meeting.

The 12 CPA members who filed completed petitions to serve on the Nominating Committee are:

A description of each Nominating Committee candidate’s volunteer service to the Society is printed on page 9 of this paper, will be included on the membership ballot and also has been posted to the Society’s website in the Nomination Center at www.nysscpa.org/governance/nomination_center.htm.

This year’s Nominating Committee will nominate a president-elect, three vice presidents, a secretary, a treasurer, five at-large directors, and directors from the Adirondack, Brooklyn, Nassau, Rochester, Staten Island and Suffolk chapters.

Members interested in serving in any of those functions should contact the Nominating Committee, when it is officially filled, or their chapter president. Under the bylaws, to qualify for these offices, a candidate must have been a member of the Society for at least five continuous years, including at least two years of statewide committee participation or chapter executive board service or some combination of both. A copy of the bylaws can be obtained at www.nysscpa.org/society/bylaws.htm or by contacting Society staff. In addition, candidates are well advised to consult the Society’s Nominating Protocols at www.nysscpa.org/governance/protocols.htm for additional factors considered by the Nominating Committee.

You can direct questions about this article to the author at secretary@nysscpa.org, or John Kearney at president@nysscpa.org, or the Society’s legal counsel, James Woehlke at jwoehlke@nysscpa.org.