Aging Unit welcomes new members

HURLEY - The Aging Unit of Iron County Board of Directors appointed members to committees, installed a new member, and further discussed its bylaws during its meeting on Thursday.

Following confusion over election rules at a previous meeting, the Board of Directors was unable to fill an empty position. During a previous meeting the board held two separate votes for two separate positions without first announcing it.

Vic Ouimette, of Mercer, spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting Thursday. He said because the unit's bylaws don't address how elections should be run, the elections would be governed by Wisconsin law. And in the absence of that, Robert's Rules of Order would be addressed.

"If you have an election with multiple candidates for a position the top vote gets the position," Ouimette said. "And if you have more than one person or more than one position open ... the top two vote getters get the position. The only way you can change that is in the bylaws."

Because the unit's bylaws do not specifically address how elections are to be held, some considered Robert's Rules of Order as the proper method, while others chose to consult with the unit's attorney, Michael Pope.

The board waited to install new members until after hearing a response from Pope.

"Robert's Rules cannot be used to prohibit correction of an improper Board vote," Pope wrote in his response letter.

He went on to state that vacancies must be filled on a position by position basis.

"It is improper to fill board vacancies by cumulative voting, i.e. taking the top two vote getters," Pope wrote.

Though individuals still contended Pope's response, the board went with the opinion of its attorney and installed its second newest member Jeanne Walston.

The board agreed that the bylaws will need to be reviewed.

The bylaws committee, a group made up of directors and public individuals, will work with the entire board on reviewing the bylaws. The document will then go to Pope for another review.

"Getting some new bylaws will eliminate some of these problems and then we won't be here a year from now having this dialogue again," Ouimette said.

Other business

Chair Dorothy Wahner appointed directors to committees and mentioned a few goals she has.

"I want to be more transparent," she said. "I want people to know what we're talking about."

Paul Gottwald was appointed vice chair of the board, and Jean Thomas will chair the finance committee with Verna Nasi and Opal Roberts.

Gottwald and Gene Hickey were appointed to the personnel committee, which will be chaired by Roberts.

The building and property committee will be chaired by Paul Mullard, along with Walston and Gary Ellis.

Wahner also said she wants more active committees.

"I want more active committees that come back with recommendations to the full board," she said. "It feels like it would eliminate and shorten some of our meetings because we would have people working on it and working out some of the issues prior to the board meeting."