Important: Nominations and Elections - October 15, 2009

Elections were conducted October 15, 2009, and the proposed candidates have been duly elected.

It's now October, which means that it's Election Month for the Warren Astronomical Society. All but one of the board members are term-limited out of their current office, so it's a wide-open field for those interested.

Here are the necessary duties for each position. An officer can delegate these duties to someone else, but is responsible for seeing that the duties are carried out.

President:
The president's job is to preside over the twice-monthly general meetings and the monthly Board of Directors meetings, appoint all committee chairmen and authorize payment of all bills. All club expenditures in excess of $100.00 must be approved by the president.
Candidate: Gary M. Ross

G. M. Ross was/ is First Vice-President for 2008 and 2009. His first Society meeting was in early 1962. He sporatically attended in the 1970s, but did not join until recently at the urging of Brian Klaus.

His goals as President:

1. continue the excellent work per se of those who have been President in this decade,


2. encourage those who know little about astronomy or even natural science to join and just as importantly to attend, and


3. discourage imperial over-reach which has damaged other organisations.

First Vice-President:
The first vice-president is the Program Chair, who recruits and manages the guest speakers for each meeting, including the end-of-year Banquet. The first VP can also preside over meetings in the absence of the president.
Candidate: Jon Blum

Jon Blum has been a member of the Warren Astronomical Society since 2004. He has presented talks to our club about choosing a telescope, astronomy gadgets, and astronomy in New Mexico, Texas, Maui, and Scandanavia.

The job of the First Vice President is to schedule speakers for our meetings. Jon's goals in that position for the coming year will be to continue the excellent work of past VP's in scheduling our wonderful members to speak, provide more information for members about upcoming speakers, limit speakers to no more than one hour, help all members get to know each other by name, and help new people at every meeting to learn more about our club so that they will want to become members.

Second Vice-President:
The second vice-president, or Observatory Chair, oversees and maintains Stargate Observatory and all equipment owned by the club. The second VP can also preside over meetings in the absence of the president.
Candidate: Bob Berta

Bob Berta is a candidate for 2nd Vice President. The duties include maintaining and scheduling events and open house public observing at the clubs Stargate Observatory. In addition the position involves outreach to scouting organizations, schools, the Detroit Metro Park representatives, etc.

Bob says: "I have served two terms as club secretary, two terms as 2nd Vice President and 2 terms as President. I am again running for this office because I enjoyed it when I was in the position before and felt I made some major improvements and made additional contacts. I also have several ideas for additional upgrades to the club observatory as well as completing the repairs that were started in 2009."

Treasurer:
The treasurer maintains a current list of club members and their addresses, collects dues ad other monies, is accountable for the receipt and disbursement of club property, makes a written report of the club's accounts at each monthly board meeting, files all necessary tax and financial records for the club, and sign all checks. The treasurer also sells club merchandise and runs the 50/50 raffle at each meeting.
Candidate: Jonathan Kade

Jonathan Kade was the 2008-2009 secretary and has been a member of the Warren Astronomical Society since 2007.

His goals as treasurer for 2010 are securing registered nonprofit status for the W.A.S., providing online membership and renewal forms, issuing new membership cards and member handbooks, and expanding new member services.

Secretary:
The secretary does more than take minutes at the general meetings; the minutes from the monthly board meetings are actually the most critical part of the job. Secretarial duties taking membership counts at meetings, writing "beg letters" for the annual banquet, keeping the board informed of issues at work, and communication with members.
Candidate: Therese Oldani

Therese Oldani has an active member since 2003.

Therese says, "My goals are to help to continue the engaged productive efforts our board has developed in the past, and to help in any way I can to keep the energy going. I responded to the need by being asked to run for secretary. I'm interested in serving the other members of the board, the members of WAS at large with a wide scope on the greater outreach of astronomy in the public venue. I bring a creative eager spirit to the board and promise to learn the role of secretary to the best of my abilities."

Publications Officer:
The publications officer is responsible for the monthly production of the offical WAS newsletter, the WASP, and other official WAS publications, such as the upcoming 2011 50th anniversary retrospective. This does not mean it's a one-man job; the WASP can be the joint effort of a team of writers, designers, and editors, all under the guidance of the publications chair. (The WASP editorship is technically a separate position under the jurisdiction of the publications chair.)
Candidates: Stephen Uitti

Outreach Officer:
The outreach chair is responsible for club communications with the outside world: scout groups, other clubs, and the press.
Candidate: Diane Hall (incumbent)

Diane Hall became Outreach Director in 2009 and has been a member of the Warren Astronomical Society since 2007.

Her goals as the outreach chair for 2010 are solidifying a relationship between the W.A.S and Metro Beach Metropark, using that relationship as a base to serve the club's "home territory" of Macomb County, and to expand the membership of the W.A.S. by reaching those who are intimidated by the tech-happy side of astronomy.

As you see, most candidates are running unopposed. Nominations for office will be accepted right up to the election, which will take place at the Thursday (Macomb) meeting on October 15. Special voting arrangements, most likely via phone, will be made for those attending the WAS Star Party in Cadillac that evening. All candidates for office must be members in good standing of the WAS-- no guests, sorry. You must also be a member in good standing to vote.

Read more...