It’s been a crazy week for me. I got word last Friday that all was not well with the Wade CAC. Elections for new CAC officers that were scheduled to take place on Tuesday were delayed and the existing leadership resigned two days before. There were lots of email flying around and phone calls made, to the point where my head began to spin with trying to unravel everything.
The Wade CAC normally meets every other month, which means that any attempt to “reboot” the election process would normally have to wait until September. That’s the approach that the city’s Community Services department wanted to take, but as the chair of the Raleigh CAC (RCAC) organization of which the Wade CAC is a part, I didn’t think it was fair for the Wade CAC membership to have to go four months without representation. Many others agreed, writing some heated emails to that effect to elected officials and city staff.
Fortunately, the Wade CAC does not have its own bylaws, but follows those of the RCAC’s. The RCAC bylaws do provide for the membership to call for a special meeting, only the terms are impossibly difficult to meet. For instance, here’s the section regarding special meetings:
Section 7. Special Meeting.
A special meeting of the RCAC may be called at any time by the chairperson or on petition of a majority of the voting members.
What constitutes a “majority of voting members?” Those who routinely show up at meetings, or the entire CAC membership? Some of the city’s CACs have over 70,000 residents and then, by extension, CAC members. If a special meeting needs to be called, do 35,000 citizens have to petition to make it so?
Fortunately, the same paragraph give me as RCAC chair the power to call special meetings. Since RCAC’s bylaws apply to the Wade CAC, I used that power to call for two special meetings: one on June 5th at 8 PM and another on June 26th at 7:30 PM. At these meetings, the membership will decide how to proceed with CAC elections, scheduled for July 24th at 7:30 PM. I have put out a tentative agenda to make this happen, but it will take one more vote from the membership to make it happen.
You see, the RCAC bylaws also state that in the case of a temporary vacancy of CAC officers, the city staff will step in to assist the membership in electing a temporary presiding officer. I have offered to preside over these meetings but can only do so upon a vote of the membership at the meetings.
At the RCAC’s last meeting, the RCAC established a bylaws revision committee, of which I am a part. Needless to say, the lessons learned from this incident will be reflected in the upcoming bylaws revision.
I trust the citizens of the Wade CAC will make the right choices with regards to their leadership. While I would’ve rather have had things work themselves out, I am happy to play a role in getting everything back on track.