SWVEA Constitution Focus Group

The first meeting is Tuesday the 24th @ Pownal Elementary. We will take a look at the SWVEA Constitution to understand it and to identify where it is and isn't being followed. There are two or three areas that raise major red flags for me.
One area if the Standing Committees. The current president has not appointed any committees, except Negotiations, in the 6 years that I have been here. The Negotiations Committee has only been appointed during the negotiation year and not yearly as stated in the constitution. This denies the Negotiations Committee members the opportunity to get training and to be knowledgeable on contracts. To top it off, our Uniserv Director doesn't hold Regional Bargaining Council meetings because "there hasn't been any interest". That shouldn't stop the members from meeting with other RBC's.
Anyway, according to the constitution there is supposed to be a Budget Committee that prepares the yearly budget for SWVEA. The Budget Committee presents the proposed budget to the Executive Board the the proposed budget is sent to the members for review. The budget is supposed to be voted on at the annual meeting that is held in June. There has been no Budget Committee, a hand written budget prepared by the Treasurer and the president has been handed out to the Executive Board and the members never see the budget until the annual meeting, if they attend.
There is also supposed to be an Audit Committee. This committee is supposed to review the accounts each year. That has never happened. I wonder where our money is actually going? Why hasn't there been an audit?

Do you know that there is also supposed to be a Nominating Committee? There has not been one, the current president just decides who she wants to be on the ballot. And while we're on the subject, the officers are supposed to be elected in odd years. The president and vice president can be re-elected to 'a' successive term. The current president was elected to complete a previous president's term and just decided that she would be there for two years. She has also been in office for several terms.

Join us on the 24th. Learn about your constitution. You pay a lot of money to belong, you should make sure that you are getting your money's worth.