Internal Elections

Due to the resignation of one Executive Board member and the failure to fill the position of another, there are two one year vacancies on the Executive Board-one director at large and one para director position.  As required by the MEA Constitution, "Whenever a position, including the President, shall become vacant during the Executive Board member's term of office, the Representative Council shall elect a replacement to fill the unexpired term."

All nominations are due to MEA no later than September 16, 2019 at 4:45 p.m.

The election will take place during the regular business of the Rep Council meeting in October.  Each candidate will be given an opportunity to speak or have another member speak on his/her behalf prior to the vote being taken.  Only duly elected Reps or their official proxies will be eligible to vote.

If you are interested but have questions about the duties of an Executive Board member, please call Pat Barber at 747-5091.

June 26, 2018 - On May 30, 2018 the MEA Internal Affairs Committee notified members that FEA received a challenge to the MEA Internal Elections.  On June 25, 2018, the committee received the following response from FEA:

"June 25, 2018

President McCall,

The FEA Credentials and Elections Committee (“Committee”) reviewed an appeal from the final decision of Manatee Education Association (“MEA”) regarding challenges to its recent officer elections.  Pursuant to Bylaw III, Section 4(e) of FEA’s Constitution and Bylaws, the Committee has authority to review MEA’s final decision and make recommendations to FEA’s Governance Board.

MEA’s Internal Affairs Committee (“IAC”) is tasked with “advis[ing] the Representative Council and Executive Board upon matters within their respective competence” pursuant to Article VIII, Section 3 of MEA’s Constitution and Bylaws.  On May 21, 2018, the IAC issued a report.  The report found no violations, but did make one recommendation.  The IAC found it “evident that written procedures” are needed and recommended that MEA establish and adopt such election procedures prior to the nomination period of the next election cycle.  The Representative Council, which is the “final arbiter in all disputed [MEA] elections,” adopted the IAC’s report and recommendation on May 22, 2018 (Article V, Section 1, Subsection D, MEA Constitution).

On May 24, 2018, an appeal from MEA’s final decision was made to you by Steve Motkowicz, Candidate for MEA President.  You forwarded the appeal that same day.

The Committee reviewed MEA’s IAC report, accepted by the MEA Representative Council, along with MEA’s response to the Committee’s request for all relevant documents.  On June 11, 2018, the Committee met via phone conference to consider the appeal.  The Committee recommends accepting MEA’s IAC election report and recommends MEA adopt comprehensive election guidelines consistent with FEA election guidelines.

Part of the Committee’s charges include “develop[ing] and recommend[ing] election guidelines for FEA local affiliates” and providing them with supporting “advice, assistance and training.”  Consistent with these charges, the Committee is available to assist MEA in developing clearly defined election guidelines for future elections."

Regards,

Jim Lansing
Chair

FEA Credentials and Elections Committee"

May 30, 2018 - On May 7, 2018 the Internal Affairs committee informed members that a challenge to the MEA internal elections had been filed with FEA and that MEA will follow all procedures to ensure the complaint is resolved.

On May 21, 2018 the Internal Affairs committee delivered its report and recommendation to the Rep Council.  Article V, Section 1d of the MEA Constitution states “The (Rep) Council shall be the final arbitrator in all disputed elections and interpretations of this Constitution and its Bylaws.” The recommendation from MEA Internal Affairs was as follows:  “From issues raised it is evident that written procedures need to be put in place so everyone has the same understanding before elections take place.  Therefore, the MEA Internal Affairs Committee recommends that the MEA elections procedures be established and adopted by the MEA Rep Council prior to the nomination period for the 2019-2021 MEA internal elections.”  The Rep Council voted to accept the recommendation.   

On May 25, 2018 Internal Affairs Chairwoman Kara Carney and Vice President Dawn Walker received notification that an election challenge has been received by FEA.  The challenge from Steve Motkowicz reads as follows:

“Dear President McCall,

MEA's Internal Affairs Committee has completed it's investigation and issued a report which it presented to our Representative Council. I was not allowed to officially rebut any of their findings before they were presented, recommendations made and subsequently voted on by the legislative body.  

I do not agree with the findings or recommendation and am seeking further guidance on how to proceed with the challenge. My understanding is that now that the local has done it's part it can formally be challenged to FEA.

Please advise on how we, other concerned parties and I, our to proceed at this time.

Respectfully,

Steve Motkowicz
Candidate for MEA President”

FEA has requested documentation pertaining to what has transpired during the 2018 MEA Internal Elections.  Once FEA receives the documentation the FEA Credentials and Elections Committee will begin their review which may include additional documentation requests and/or interviews.  The FEA Credentials and Elections Committee will make a recommendation to the FEA President and to those involved – i.e., to the person challenging and to the person(s) being challenged.  The MEA Internal Affairs Committee is following procedures and complying with requests from FEA to resolve the challenge.

Kara Carney, Chair
MEA Internal Affairs Committee

May 11, 2018

The MEA internal affairs committee is releasing the following information:    

1.      Certified election results of teacher and para ballots combined

2.      Certified election results of the para ballot

3.      Election results of the teacher ballot that was stopped and votes nullified*

4.      Write-ins   

*There were 136 teachers who voted in the first teacher ballot that was nullified.  Of those, 23 teachers did not vote in the second ballot.

We will continue to keep you updated.

We appreciate your patience as we work to resolve the election issues and move our union forward.   

Kara Carney, Chair
MEA Internal Affairs Committee

The MEA Internal Affairs Committee met the afternoon of Wednesday, May 9, 2018.  Additional challenges to the recent MEA internal elections have been filed.  No decisions have been made.  We are working diligently to address all challenges to the election.

We will continue to keep you updated as we work through this process.

We appreciate your patience as we work to resolve the issues and move our union forward. 

Kara Carney, Chair
MEA Internal Affairs

Reminder:  Voting in MEA internal elections and delegate elections is open to MEA members until Friday, May 4, 2018 at 4 p.m.  If you are a TEACHER member who voted prior to 1 p.m. on Monday, April 30th your vote was voided, and you will need to cast your vote again.  

VOTING INSTRUCTIONS - TEACHER / PARA BALLOTS

Voting will begin at 7:00 a.m. on Monday, April 30, 2018 and will end at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, May 4, 2018.

To Vote:  Access the election website at https://eBallot4.votenet.com/manatee

Login Instructions:

    USERNAME: Your username is your work email address -- for example, smithx@manateeschools.net

    PASSWORD: Your Employee Identification Number (EIN) Your EIN may be found on your direct deposit notification.
 

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to call MEA at 747-5091 or email association@manateeschools.net.

Kara Carney, Chairperson
Internal Affairs Committee