Vote! Vote! Vote! May brings many opportunities for the membership to exercise their right to vote.

It’s that time of year when Councils will be putting together the slate of officers for next year. Each Council will call on their election committee to nominate members to fill the important leadership posts to guide the Council through their activities next year. There are opportunities for members to serve their Councils by accepting a nomination to an officer position.

We do not expect that all members know about all of the positions, bit we have a lot of materials available to inform, educate, and to train members for any of the various positions in the Council. These materials are always available on line in several locations including at the State Council website, and at our Chapter website. The Chapter Training Chairman has also posted them at San Jose Chapter Training Materials. There is currently no requirement to use these materials, but I do believe that in the near future we will see a requirement for some of the Council officers to complete training in order to qualify for some of the leadership positions. I urge all members to take a look at the various materials, particularly those that pertain to any Council position you may hold, or hop to hold.

Another voting opportunity will be when the Councils express their desires for their delegates voting at the State Convention. Each Council will consider the large number of resolutions that have been sent out by the Resolutions Committee. There are only consent resolutions this year, so there is little to really consider, but the process is for the Council members to become Aware of the resolutions and to express their will to their delegates, who should be bound to follow the will of the Council when the resolutions are presented at the business meeting session of the State Convention.

There are also several other resolutions in the package. Each is a resolution from a Council endorsing a candidate’s nomination to a State Office. These resolutions are not up for vote. However, each Council must instruct their delegates how they are to vote on Saturday morning at the State Convention. That instruction can be to vote for the nominee for an office, or to release the delegate to vote his conscience, meaning the Council will not bind the delegate to any nominee, but rather to vote for the candidate he feels is best qualified for the office.

There is a different situation developing that we do not always see. The incumbent State Deputy, Ivan Reek, is nominated for a second term. The usual progression through the state chairs is that the current State Secretary is nominated to be the State Deputy. State Secretary Charlie Clark is nominated to be State Secretary again, and State Treasurer Ray Warner is nominated for the same position. This indicates that each Council should be advising their delegates how to vote for this office.

There is another aspect to this situation. It now appears that there will be a floor nomination for Charley Clark as State Deputy. If this does happen, Councils may wish to advise delegates how to vote in this situation.

Last month I mentioned I am looking for a District Warden. I am still looking and will make a choice this month. If you are tapped by me, please give prayerful consideration.

Vivat Jesus!,