Historical society sorts out elections

New board member appointed

GRANT COUNTY - The Grant County Historical Society board appointed a new member to the board after sorting through elections-related issues.

District 2 candidate Ken Krebs received 104 votes in a special election, but he was apparently not a historical society member at the start of the election. Qualified candidates are required to have membership in the historical society. Krebs now has a membership.

The board appointed him to one of two District 2 positions Tuesday. The other board member serving District 2 is Arlie Updegrave, who had 162 votes.

In addition to dealing with membership issues, three candidates to the position were apparently ineligible based on residency.

Gary Suko apparently lived 1 mile from the district, Felix Ramon lived 4 miles away, and Jesse Moore lived one block away.

Gary Suko was elected to one of three at-large positions.

"The reason why we got involved in the election was that, for the last 10 years, we have not had a properly elected board," said Bob Mayer, a former board member.

He added the last board was elected improperly. He requested to add the information to the meeting minutes, saying it was said at the May meeting by P.J. De Benedetti, a consultant through Canfield & Associates.

"It's hearsay right now, so I would just like to have that as your comment," countered board member Doug Burk.

De Benedetti, who was not at the meeting when the comment was made, spoke about the successful election turnout.

"I think it's a really good reflection on the historical society with the turnout that you had for your election," De Benedetti said. "If I remember correctly it's 207 ballots received."

Going through the election process helped him understand better how the organization works, he said.

"I think there's some either modifications or clarifications that you might want to do in your by-laws, just so it's more clear what exactly your board positions are in there," De Benedetti said.

He noted it was difficult to find representation from District 2, and he was unsure why. He said the number of members from the district is also low.

"So District 2 is kind of a tough district," he said. "Of course, that may change next census."

He said chances are all three districts will move with the next census.

"The other thing on the election is we had two, maybe even three candidates that weren't members at the time of the election," he said.

District 1 candidate Dennis Clay, who did not win a position, apparently believed he could join the historical society after the election was through, De Benedetti said.

He believes when Clay learned the rules were different, he sent his membership in.

Krebs indicated he thought someone else was "taking care of his membership for him," De Benedetti said.

"Somebody did pay his dues and then accused us or the mail of losing the $10, and then we received a check," said Secretary Rita Mayrant.

De Benedetti noted there were only two District 2 candidates on the ballot, Updegrave and Krebs, and recommended Krebs be accepted as a board member. The candidates received far more votes than the write-in candidates, he added.

"I think he did what he thought he needed to do in order to get on the board," De Benedetti said.

Krebs was appointed to serve on the board through October 2009.

After the vote, some discussion came up regarding the elections process.

Mayer asked De Benedetti for confirmation he had stated at the previous board meeting the board was improperly elected the past 10 years, and so was the current board.

"My feeling was, and what I thought we agreed upon at that meeting, was the election wasn't done according to the by-laws, and that's why we did the special election," De Benedetti said.

He said he does not recall on agreeing on any period of time.

Mayer said Board President Patti Goodwin said the elections have been running the same way the past 10 years.

"I guess the question I would ask, then, Bob, is what's the relevance of that?" De Benedetti said.

"I just want to make sure people understand why we had the election is because we felt that the board was not run properly from an elections standpoint," Mayer said.

De Benedetti encouraged the board to move forward.

"It's almost like you have to sit down and say, we started anew on June 10, and people on both sides have got to let go of the baggage, because if that doesn't happen, you guys are going to get yourself right back in the same spot," he said. "We went through, we did the election. We had 207 people vote. Those people voted for who they voted for. Now, those (new) people are running the organization."

He said he believes the newly voted-in members need to be given an opportunity to run the organization properly and they should be held accountable.

He said he plans to make some recommendations when the new board is seated, including modifications to the by-laws.

Mayer congratulated the elected board members.

"We congratulate each and every one of you and wish you the best of luck," he said.