Dear Supporters,
I wanted to let you all know that Jim Giffin the District X vice-president passed away last Sunday January 31st. The news was posted here on the AMA website. Anyone wishing to send sympathy cards can send them to;
Maureen Giffin
Box 494688
Redding, CA. 96049
Jim's passing will require that the AMA conduct a special election to choose a new vice-president. Many of you have expressed strong feelings on how the vacancy should be filled; namely you feel I should be appointed to the position since Jim and I essentially received the same number of votes in the recent election. That is not going to be possible. The AMA bylaws require that each District Vice-President identify one of their Associate Vice-Presidents to step in, in cases such as this. Mike Brown was the AVP Jim chose to be his alternate.
Traditionally special elections are held at the same time as a regular election with voting in October and November. While this is tradition, it is not required. The Executive Council has the authority to call a special election at anytime. I have had discussions with our President Dave Mathewson on this issue, he has committed to thinking this issue over and may raise it next week at a discussion the Executive Council will be having on this and other issues.
If you are in favor of having a special election now rather than later to fill the District X Vice-President's position here's what you can do. Since you are all leaders in the clubs that provided the most support to me please encourage your members to send an email to Dave Mathewson at president@modelaircraft.org or our AMA Executive Director Jim Cherry at jcherry@modelaircraft.org asking that a special election be held now rather than in October. I have found Dave and Jim to be open and honest and more than happy to discuss important issues like this one we face now. Please ask that all emails be constructive and respectful.
While I feel genuinely sorry about Jim Giffin's passing, the issue of when we hold a special election does not allow time to pass before acting. I beleive that given a significant amount of positive feedback from AMA members we will have a special election now rather than later, but time is of the essence and we must act today.
If you would like to discuss this with me please contact me at 707-480-2053. Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Lawrence Tougas
Candidate for AMA District X Vice President
http://ama-district-x-election.blogspot.com/
