2023 Board Officers’ Election ACWA’s Board officers’ election is currently underway and there are multiple changes to the election process this year, including the way ACWA members elect the President and Vice President. Learn more by clicking on the dropdown menus below and don’t forget to submit your Authorized Voting Representative Form by June 16! Key Election Dates How to Vote 1. Get Ready: Each member agency must designate one voting representative by June 16. To designate your agency’s one voter, submit the Authorized Voting Representative Form by the June deadline. If you do not designate a representative to vote by the deadline, your agency’s General Manager will be the authorized voter by default. 2. Ballots distributed: Each authorized voter will receive a ballot on July 17 that will include the names of all qualified candidates. There will also be a space to write in the name of an eligible candidate. All ballots will be submitted electronically, except those who opted out of electronic voting in lieu of first class mail. 3. Vote: The deadline for voting is 5 p.m. on Sept. 15. There will be no voting at fall conference. Mailed ballots must be postmarked by Sept. 15 and received by Sept. 20 to be counted. Candidate Instructions Candidates for ACWA President and Vice President must be an elected or appointed director of an ACWA member agency. In order to become a candidate, you must submit the following documents by June 16 to donnap@acwa.com. An agency resolution that includes your member agency’s Board of Directors’ authorized signatory. A sample resolution is available online. A statement of qualifications or resume highlighting your qualifications and active involvement in ACWA task forces, regional boards, committees, or the like. An abbreviated statement (maximum of 300 words) that will be included with the official ballot. A headshot photo (recommended). In addition to the required documents, you may also send resolutions of support. A sample resolution of support is available online. In addition to being accepted via email to donnap@acwa.com, nomination items may also be submitted via mail to the below address. Gary Arant, Election Committee Chair c/o Donna Pangborn, ACWA 980 9th Street, Suite 1000 Sacramento, CA 95814 Election Committee An Election Committee has been appointed to facilitate the election of the President and Vice President, including confirming that candidates’ eligibility criteria has been met. The 11-member committee includes one representative appointed by the current ACWA President and 10 region representatives appointed by each of the region boards. The committee will endorse preferred candidates for President and Vice President, but all qualifying candidates will be listed on the ballot. The committee representatives were appointed Feb. 28 and will continue to meet as needed throughout the election cycle to facilitate the election of the board officers. The 2023 Election Committee members are: Gary Arant, Region 10 Jack Burgett, Region 5 Larry McKenney, Region 3 Bill Diedrich, Region 6 Sheridan Nicholas, Region 7 Jon Foreman, Region 1 Kathy Tiegs, President’s Representative Carol Lee Gonzales-Brady, Region 9 Mike Wade, Region 2 Dan York, Region 4 Campaigning Policy ACWA will help share information about all qualified candidates through dedicated pages on the website and by hosting an informational webinar that allows members to ask the candidates questions. Neither candidates nor member agencies may submit articles to the website about a candidate or the election. ACWA will provide candidates with members’ mailing and email data, provided they agree to use the information exclusively for the election campaign. Region Boards and committees are allowed, but not required, to handle campaigning requests from candidates as they see fit so long as all candidates are treated equally. Major Changes Below are some of the major changes. The changes are also available in the Board policy. Member agencies must designate their voting representative by June 16. Learn more under the “How to Vote” section above. A candidate’s nomination statement of qualifications or resume should highlight the candidate’s active involvement in ACWA task forces, regional boards, committees, or the like. Candidates must also submit an abbreviated statement that will be included with the official ballot. The Election Committee will present an open ballot with all qualified candidates that will be distributed July 17. Including all qualified candidates on the ballot eliminates the need for last-minute floor nominations during fall conference. Members of ACWA will elect the President and Vice President by voting electronically before ACWA’s annual meeting at fall conference. Since the voting period has been moved up, the results of the election will be formally announced on Sept. 27. There will be no voting during fall conference. Members who want to vote will need to submit their ballots via electronic communication or first class mail. More information is available under the “How to Vote” dropdown above. If a candidate does not receive a majority of votes for President or Vice President, a run-off election will be held and a new ballot will be sent out on Sept. 26 with the two candidates that received the highest amount of votes. The run-off ballots need to be submitted by Nov. 10. Questions For questions about the Board officers’ election, contact Senior Clerk of the Board Donna Pangborn at donnap@acwa.com.
