Proxy voting is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to issues of possible failure on the part of the Civic Association Board to carry out its fiduciary responsibilities. Space permits the coverage of only one such issue – I encourage those with knowledge of the many other issues to codify them by writing letters to the Post.

Resumes and expressions of interest in serving were submitted to the Board by Peter Jesson and Phil Wenrich prior to the required October 15^th deadline. Despite the fact that both had been members and that the Civic Association newsletter clearly indicated that dues could be paid at the door on the evening of the Election (November 8^th) both were told they could not be candidates because of non-payment of dues.  This also despite the fact that the required dues were forwarded well before November 8^th. To illustrate the lengths they were prepared to go to keep Peter off the Board (there are more examples of this, space constraints will have to leave them to future letters) they refused to cash a $20 check that he submitted on the grounds that their system could only handle $10 checks. He was told this on the day of the Election.

In summary:

• The By-Laws state that a resume must be submitted prior to October 15^th
• There is no deadline stated in the By-Laws for payment of dues.
• Obviously a Director has to be a member; Phil was a member prior to the election. Peter had submitted his check prior to the election and by any reasonable measure was a member.
• The newsletter indicated that dues could be paid at the door.

Even if the actions of the Board were not clearly in contravention of the By-Laws, would not a “nonpartisan” organization have reacted by phoning both candidates and saying “We wanted to inform you that you have not paid your dues, we are sure this is an oversight, could you forward the dues immediately?”

Clearly Peter and Phil should have been on the ballot; this is another one of many reasons to overturn an apparently rigged election.

Roger Ayscough