This week, the AFDC Board of Directors approved three changes to our Bylaws intending to make volunteering easier and our elections more streamlined and accessible. The three changes are described below (the full text of the changes can be found here and the current bylaws can be found here).
- We removed the Elections Committee.
- We reduced the threshold for the membership to overturn an Election.
- We created At-Large Director positions on the board
Detailed explanation to follow.
If you have any questions about these (or other) Bylaws, feel free to reach out to president@afdc.com.
Removal of the Elections Committee
For over a decade, the AFDC Board Elections process has included an “Elections Committee” as the last approval before a position was filled. This committee consisted of members hand-selected by the Executive Committee. They had the power to overturn elections (if 60% of them agreed). In the history of the Elections Committee, no candidate has ever been overturned.
As of today, the process is as follows: after election by the AFDC Board, the secretary posts the candidates elected to the membership. Members of the corporation then have no less than seven calendar days to oppose the election of any candidate in writing. If more than 10% of the membership does so, that candidate is rejected, and does not take office. If the members of the corporation do not reject the candidate, they take office and the election is complete.
Why did we make this change?
The elections committee was instituted to try to avoid cliques and provide checks and balances on the board’s power to fill open positions. This has not been needed and we doubt that it would be effective, as the members on the committee are personally selected by the same people doing the voting.
This is also an operational burden to maintain the committee and solicit their feedback on every board election.
Given the lack of benefit and non-zero operational burden, we chose to eliminate this step.
Reduction in Threshold to Overturn an Election
Prior to the Elections Committee having a chance to reject a candidate, the membership could choose to oppose a candidate. In the old bylaws, it required 2/3 of the membership to write in opposition. At current numbers, that would require 450 people to write in. This is, frankly, unrealistic.
We reduced the number to 10%. At current numbers, this still requires nearly 70 people to write in.
Why did we make this change?
Getting 2/3 of our membership to oppose a candidate has never happened and we doubt it ever could. Especially in the seven calendar days provided. This seems to have been the intent behind the number: for it to be technically possible for the membership to have a say in elections, but for it to be practically impossible for them to access that power.
We decided that a much smaller number (10%) would still represent significant grassroots opposition, would be possible to muster if a candidate were particularly unpopular, but would not leave the board at the whims of too few people.
At-Large Board Members
We created a new voting position on the board. This is intended to be a low-stakes way to volunteer and have a say in the future of the league. These directors have no set job responsibilities, but can take on work as directed by the President or Board of Directors.
Why did we make this change?
Over the years, we have heard from many people who wanted to be more involved, but found the existing positions difficult for someone with no board experience to feel confident about. They all had discrete roles and duties, and someone without direct experience in those areas might feel uncomfortable taking on the role. In order to help grow the Board’s volunteer base, we added lower-stakes voting roles.
We hope that, over time, people will join as At-Large members to share their opinions and eventually become more comfortable with the workings of the board and progress to other positions.
That said, even if someone joins as an At-Large Director and never serves in another role on the board, it will still provide broader perspectives and include more people in the operations of the AFDC.
