Moving to two-year terms will help our board run more smoothly in two ways:
1) It takes time for newly elected members to get familiar with the board and figure out how best to contribute. Longer terms give more time to get settled and make something happen before elections come around again.
2) Not everyone will go up for election every year. This means we will have some assurance of continuity across each election, which will help keep projects from stalling every spring.
Additionally, we've also heard feedback that our elections have felt disorganized and it's hard for some of our members to know whom they are voting for. We believe that focusing elections on half the board each year would help to address this concern.
We're asking you to look over our proposed amendments and share any feedback you have before we schedule a meeting of the BIDA membership to vote on it.
The specifics
In accordance with our bylaws, we hold elections once per year in April, at a BIDA event. At the election, attendees vote for any number of candidates for the board, and then seats are filled by the candidates with the most votes. Anyone can nominate themselves to be on the ballot. By unanimous vote, the board can also fill seats that are vacated mid-term, and add up to two additional members to the board. We’re not proposing to change any of this.Currently, elections fill seven seats on the board, for a total possible board of nine people. Our proposed changes would lower the number of elected seats from seven to six. Three of the six elected seats would be filled each year at the election, and the newly elected board members would serve for two years. This would lower the total possible board members from nine to eight.
Advantages of the proposed change
Several of us have expressed that when joining the board it can take about six months to get up to speed. This reflects time needed to learn about all of the various moving pieces involved in running our dances, as well as the frequency at which we meet. Moving to two-year terms means that this onboarding time is a smaller percentage of an incoming member’s term. We're hoping this allows new board members to hit their stride with plenty of time left before they're thinking about the next election.As our events have become increasingly popular, we've been thinking about projects that are a bigger commitment than just adding an extra dance here and there. These kinds of bigger projects take time to develop, and it's harder to make that commitment if we don't know whether we'll be on the board in several months. We hope that two-year terms allow us to bring you more cool ideas.
With the proposed structure, we would have three or four continuing board members after each election. This means we can expect there will always be continuing board members who are familiar with running BIDA events and who can train incoming board members.
It also means that before each election, we will have a clearer picture of what roles might be turning over. We hope that this will enable us to better communicate to you what skills we are looking for in candidates during an election.
We’re also proposing increasing the cutoff time for nominations from one week to two weeks prior to the election, which would give us more time to communicate to you about the candidates who will appear on the ballot. We hope we can use that time to create an election that feels less arbitrary.
Disadvantages of the proposed change
If this proposal is accepted, the maximum size of the board will decrease by one person. For the maximum number of board members, this would increase the workload per person, and would make it harder to achieve quorum at board meetings. However, BIDA has operated historically with a much smaller board, so we don't think this will be much of a hindrance.The BIDA membership will have less direct control over the makeup of the board in any given year. This is not a significant change from our historical results, where there has not been much turnover from year to year, but does remove the possibility of the BIDA members voting out all or a majority of the board in a single future election.
It's possible that two-year terms could be discouraging to someone considering nominating themselves. BIDA has thrived in part due to energy infused by new organizers, some of whom give it a shot without knowing what they're really willing or able to offer. Practically speaking, however, it's very easy for someone to try serving on the board and just leave partway through their term if they decide that they don't like it, and this has been done plenty of times in the past, even with one-year terms. We also hope that stronger communication about the roles we are hoping to fill at each election will help to attract new nominees.
It's possible that someone on the board might not do the necessary work to help BIDA run. The BIDA board does have the power to remove a board member by unanimous vote by all other board members, but it's socially awkward to use this power. Sometimes, past BIDA boards have found it easier to let the timer run out on someone's term than to vote them out. With two year terms, the onus will be on the board to make sure that everyone is contributing.
Final notes
Making these changes to the bylaws will probably have some positive and negative consequences. We've been talking about it and we're presenting it to you because we think that the positive consequences outweigh the negative ones. Regardless of this proposal being accepted or rejected, we will do everything in our power to improve annual elections and to offer you the best dances that we can put on.
We'll include the proposed bylaw changes word-for-word below.
Please let us know what questions, comments, or concerns you have.
You can comment here, anywhere we shared it on social media, or email us at current-bida-board@googlegroups.com
- Bret Casey, on behalf of the BIDA Board
The proposal
Article IV, Section B, which currently reads:
“The BIDA Board will consist of four officers plus three at-large members.”
shall be replaced with:
"The Board will consist of six members elected by the membership and up to two additional members appointed by the Board under Section 5."
Article IV, Section E, which currently reads:
“At the board's discretion, if a board position (of the voting board members) becomes vacant mid-term, the board may fill that position by unanimous decision. The board may also choose to add up to 2 more at-large board members at any time at its discretion, by unanimous board decision.”
shall be replaced with:
"If an elected or appointed voting Board position becomes vacant mid-term, the Board may fill that position by unanimous decision. The appointed member will serve the remainder of the departing member's term. Once between elections, the Board may appoint one additional member by unanimous vote. Such an appointed member will serve a two-year term, ending at the same time as the terms of the most-recently elected Board members."
Article VI, Section A.vi, which currently reads:
“At the annual membership meeting, Officer and at-large Board member elections will be done by a silent, blind, vote. Members will be able to vote for any number of people to join the Board, and the seven candidates with the most votes will become members of the Board. BIDA will use any method of vote-counting that its Board approves. Anyone may be nominated for any position at any time, subject to the nominee's approval, up to one week before the annual membership meeting, at which point nominations will close. The Board will decide by consensus which members will take which officer positions. All officer and Board terms shall be for one year, starting on May 1.”
shall be replaced with:
"At the annual membership meeting, elections will be conducted by silent, blind vote. Elected board members will serve two-year terms, with three seats up for election each year. Anyone may be nominated for any position at any time, subject to the nominee's approval, up to two weeks before the annual membership meeting, at which point nominations will close. Members will be able to vote for any number of candidates, and the three candidates with the most votes will be elected. The Board will decide by consensus which members will take which officer positions following each election. All terms shall begin on May 1."
Article VI, Section A.viii, which currently reads:
“If the annual meeting of the membership cannot happen on the announced date, it will be postponed until the next BIDA-sponsored event after the originally scheduled date. The term of the incoming board will run from the day after the election through the last day of April, and the term of the outgoing board will be extended until the term of the new board begins.”
shall be replaced with:
"If the annual meeting of the membership cannot happen on the announced date, it will be postponed until the next BIDA-sponsored event after the originally scheduled date. The terms of Board members elected at that meeting will begin May 1 or the day following the election, whichever is later, and will continue until the end of their designated two-year term. The terms of the corresponding outgoing Board members will be extended until the new terms begin."
Article VI, Section A.ix, which currently reads:
“If, at the time the annual membership meeting is scheduled to begin, seven or fewer people have been nominated to join the BIDA board, instead of voting all nominees will join the board.”
shall be replaced with:
"If, at the time the annual membership meeting is scheduled to begin, the number of nominees is less than or equal to the number of open elected seats, all nominees will join the board without a vote."
Article VI, Section A.x, which currently reads:
“If, at the time the annual membership meeting is scheduled to begin, all nominees are currently members of the BIDA board, instead of voting all nominees will join the board.”
shall be removed.
Article VI, Section B.iii, which currently reads:
“Board meetings will have a quorum of two thirds of at-large members and Officers.”
shall be replaced with:
"Board meetings will have a quorum of two-thirds of the voting members of the Board of Directors."
Transition Provision (to be removed after implementation):
"At the first election following adoption of these amendments, the four Board members with the shortest tenure shall continue to serve as if in the first year of a two-year term. The remaining Board members shall be considered as completing their terms. In the case of ties in tenure, lots will be drawn.”
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