June 16, 2004

Special Nominations Meeting

For Treasurer of the

Scholastic Unit of the Newspaper Guild

When:  1:00 P.M., Wednesday, June 23, 2004 

Where:  Room 608 

Why:  Since the untimely death of Maggie Stevaralgia last October, this position has been vacant.

Why is the position still vacant?  Two members who had announced their candidacy for the position subsequently withdrew their names.  The Guild has had to prepare rules for a special election.

What’s the process?  Guild rules require that the Scholastic Guild Unit Council—Peter Jones, Jack Silbert, and Winnie Whipple—nominate a candidate to fill the vacancy. This was originally done at the March 22 Unit meeting, at which members ratified a four-year extension of the contract.  Subsequent to that meeting, the Guild Unit nominee and a challenger both withdrew their names.

Who is the nominee of the Unit Council? Russell Cohen, Art Director for Scope.

What’s the Process for Nominating Other Candidates? Other nominations, in addition to that of the required unit council nominee, may be made at the nominations meeting.

            Nominations must be made by a Scholastic Guild member in good standing as of June 1, 2004 and must be seconded by at least five (5) Scholastic Guild members in good standing as of June 1, 2004.  Following a nominations meeting, any additional nominations must be made within one calendar week.  Such nominations must be made in petition form.  Petition must bear both the printed name and signature of each person signing, each of whom must be a Scholastic Guild member in good standing by June 1, 2004, and the date they signed.  The petition must be signed following the nominating meeting and must contain at least eight (8) valid signatures. Again, calls for other nominations were made at the March 22 meeting.  Further, details about the petition process were explained to members attending that meeting. In addition, the petition process was explained again in a memo hand-delivered to members the morning of March 23.

How does the petition process work?  Guild bylaws require that the Secretary-Treasurer of the Newspaper Guild of New York (Bill O’Meara) must receive the original petition no later than 5 p.m. on June 30, 2004 at Newspaper Guild Headquarters—Suite 708, 1501 Broadway, 10036.  A copy of the petition must be given to Peter Jones, chairman of the Scholastic Guild Unit (office 427, extension 6265) by the same deadline.

How is an election conducted if there is a contest for the position of Treasurer?  Secret mail ballots will be mailed to members’ homes.  Completed ballots must be mailed back to the Guild in the postage-paid envelopes provided and must be received by the Guild no later than the date indicated on the enclosed instructions.  If there is a contest, it will be supervised by the Local Election Committee.

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 06/16/04