Complete Ballot Before May 8th
Dear RWA Members,
Wow! What a year it’s been so far! Who would have thought when we celebrated the start of 2020 nearly 4 months ago that the world would be in such turmoil due to a worldwide pandemic? As we all know, because of the COVID-19 Virus, Governor Brown issued Executive Order 20-12, which closed all schools, restaurants, and banned public meetings and events in an effort to “flatten the curve” of this highly contagious virus. It is our sincere hope that the circumstances the world is currently living through will be behind us soon and all of our lives and daily routines can return to some semblance of normalcy.
The Governor’s Executive Order effectively banned Rhododendron Water Association from holding its Annual meeting. However, the By-Laws of the Rhododendron Water Association, Article III, Section 1, state that there shall be an Annual Meeting of the membership each May, with no provision for cancelling the meeting.
The RWA Board met “virtually” on April 13 to discuss the dilemma of staying in compliance with the RWA By-Laws, while also staying compliant with the Governors order. The main purpose of the Annual Meeting is to approve the previous year meeting minutes, elect directors to fill expiring terms, and update the membership on water system improvements and operations.
Since the approval of the minutes and system updates can be accomplished at a subsequent meeting, and the election of Directors can be handled via mail, the Board’s decision was to override the By-Laws and cancel the required May 2020 Annual Meeting. However, in order to stay compliant and override the By-Laws meeting requirement, the By-Laws must be temporarily amended. To accomplish that, requires a vote of the entire membership.
To that end, the Board passed a motion to add a measure to the ballot that, if passed, will temporarily override the RWA By-Laws. Enclosed with this mailing please find the postage paid and addressed Ballot, which includes a vote to elect Board members, and the vote to temporarily override the By-laws.
On the ballot are the two candidates nominated by the RWA Board. They are:
Steven Graeper for term 2020-2023
Mike Miskowicz for term2020-2023
Mr. Miskowicz was appointed to the Board in November of 2019 to fill the vacancy made by Dan Holm, who resigned from the Board because he is moving out of the area. Mr. Holm would have been up for re-election in 2020, therefore, Mr. Miskowicz is up for election. There were no nominations from the general membership.
In addition to the vote for Directors, there is also the vote to override By -Laws. If you are in favor of overriding the By-laws, vote YES, if you are not in favor of overriding the By-laws and would like RWA to have an Annual meeting, vote NO. If the NO vote (against overriding the By-laws) is the majority vote, then the Board has a contingency plan in place to hold a virtual meeting sometime the latter part of May in order to stay compliant with the By-Laws.
The RWA Board asks that each membership complete the enclosed ballot and mail it before May 8, 2020, to:
Rhododendron Water Association
P.O. Box 163
Rhododendron, OR 97049
Please note that the 2019 Year End Financial Statement, Minutes from the 2019 Annual Meeting held May 18, 2019, and the 2019 Annual Consumer Confidence and Water Quality Report can be found on the RWA web site: rhodywater.com. Should you wish to receive written copies of the minutes, financial statement, or the Consumer Confidence Report, please contact us at 503-622-5000 and we will gladly mail copies to you.
We look forward to seeing you at a future RWA Annual Membership Meeting. In the meantime, please Stay Safe and Stay Healthy. We will all get through this together.
Sincerely,
RWA Board of Directors