Election of the UUA President

The UUA has established an email discussion group to discuss the UUA election of president, moderator, financial advisor, and other positions at the 2009 General Assembly. To subscribe go to: http://lists.uua.org/mailman/listinfo/election-l. You can also learn more about the rules of the UUA election process at: http://www.uua.org/aboutus/governance/elections/index.shtml.

From District President, Phil Reed:

This is an exciting year for the future of our Association.  Our current President William G. Sinkford is completing eight years of service and there will be an election of his successor at the 2009 General Assembly in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The President of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations is responsible to the UUA Board of Trustees for the administrative policies and programs of the Association and is the chief spokesperson for the UUA.

This also means that we, as members of our local congregations, have responsibility in this process.  The nomination of an individual to the office of President is not handled by the Nominating Committee or any other group at the national Association level.  Nominations are made by member congregations. 

I ask each of our congregations to get involved in this process.  I want the Ohio Meadville District to be a loud voice in this process and in these elections.  If each congregation nominated one, or even both, of the current candidates then we will be involved and informed when the time comes for our delegates to cast votes for one of these candidates. 

I urge each congregation to vote their full slate of delegates.  An absentee vote is granted to each delegate who cannot attend General Assembly.  I will remind you as that time approaches.  Every congregation in our district has between 2 and 14 delegates.  Ministers in Fellowship and Religious Educators with Masters level credentials are also delegates, so we have a significant voice if we decide to use it.

For today I am asking you to get involved in this process, investigate these candidates, and be interested enough in our Association's future that you participate to your full ability.  That means: learning about the candidates, getting the word out in our congregation, urging our congregation to nominate one or both candidates, and making sure that our congregation votes its complete slate.

I am enclosing some references and materials to assist you in this process.  The first is a list of the candidates and website information where you can learn more.  The second is the nomination form.  Just complete it and send it to the campaign of the nominee.  You can nominate both if you like, so please make a second copy if you need to do this.  Nominations must be received by campaigns in early January for submission to the UUA.

You can download a copy of the endorsement form as a pdf file or a word document.

If you have any questions about the process please ask me,

Phil Reed
OMD District President 
preed at ohiomeadville.org