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Special Election Notice

An email notice was sent out to CRRA members in early January to let everyone know of the Board of Directors discussions regarding a possible bylaw change to reform the way voting districts are organized in the state. At that time the Board was soliciting input from members before making a final decision on whether to call a special election to change the bylaws. At its subsequent meeting on January 17 the Board voted to move forward and call such an election on this topic as well as on two additional language changes described below. As required by the Association’s bylaws, this message is being sent to notify members of the upcoming special election. This message is not an official ballot but a notice of the upcoming election.  

The election will be conducted via email for those with current email addresses on record. For those without email, the paper ballots will be mailed by postal service. The election will open on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 and close at midnight on Friday, April 7, 2006 .  

The election ballot will include three separate measures, each independent of the others  

1. Measure 06-01 – Redistricting will feature the following question:    

By-laws section VIII currently establishes nine districts.  Shall the nine existing CRRA districts be consolidated into three regional super districts aligned as follows?

 1. Northern Super District – Comprised of Districts 1, 9 ( Counties of : Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Yuba, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, Solano, and Sonoma )

 2. Central Super District – Comprised of Districts 2, 7, 8 (Counties of: Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, Tuolumne, Yolo, Ventura , Santa Barbara , San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito, and San Mateo. )

 3. Southern Super District – Comprised of Districts 3, 4, 5, 6 (Counties of: San Bernardino , Riverside , Inyo, and Mono, San Diego Imperial, Orange , and Los Angeles )

 If a majority of voting members approve this measure all board positions for each of the three new supers districts will be included in the 2006 regular elections.  Each super district would have three board members serving three year terms.  Terms would be staggered to assure that each super district would have one seat up for election every year.  The number of votes received by each winning candidate within a super district in the 2006 regular election would determine initial length of terms.  The candidate receiving the most votes would be seated for a three year term, the candidate receiving the second highest number of votes would be seated for a two year partial term, and the candidate receiving the least third highest number of votes would be seated for a one year partial term.  Thereafter as the two partial-term seats come up in 2007 and 2008 they would revert to a full three year term.

 2.   Measure 06-02 -  Residency Requirement will feature the following question:

By-laws section XI currently states that board members and board candidates must live within the boundaries of the district they represent. 

Shall this by-law be changed to adopt the following language?

“The mailing address in the CRRA database that is used for official CRRA communications will determine the member’s official district for election eligibility and voting purposes.  The address of record for board candidates is required to be in the same district as their permanent residence or primary place of business.”

3.   Measure 06-03  CRRA Policy Manual Method of Delivery will feature the following question:

By-laws Section XXX currently states that the Board Secretary shall prepare and mail to each designated chapter convener annually a list of adopted Board policies, known as THE CRRA POLICY MANUAL.

Shall this by-law be changed to adopt the following language?

“The Board Secretary shall assure that the THE CRRA POLICY MANUAL is posted on the CRRA web site.  Within 30 days of a policy change the web site will be updated and an announcement of the change will be made on the CRRA listserv.”

Background on Measure 06-01 - Redistricting Although CRRA was structured differently early on, the current system of nine regional districts has been in place for much of the organization’s history. As it currently works, Board members are elected in the districts in which they live by all members also living in that district.  In concept, the system ensures that member from all regions of the state are represented on the Board, while facilitating networking opportunities in each district.   In pursuing a reform of the district system, the Board is acknowledging several issues.  1). As currently mapped out, the number of members in the various districts differs wildly.  For instance, while District Five ( Orange County ) has 9 members currently, District Nine ( San Francisco , East Bay , North Bay ) has 122 members.  The result is that certain districts have far greater proportional representation than others.  2). With such a disproportionate division of members, some districts have difficulty fielding any Board candidates while other districts may have multiple interested candidates for a single seat.  3). Though member interests may warrant geographical representation on the Board, the current system of nine highly-localized districts is not necessarily the best system.  Networking opportunities could be preserved through the local chapter and technical council structures that would not be affected in any change.  

Bob Hollis
CRRA Secretary