Seward Neighborhood Group

Note: please see below for nomination form and spreadsheet of current nominees!

And click here for the agenda and Zoom info.

Why an Election: SNG currently has eight (8) board vacancies, with eight (8) remaining board members, and a minimum of twelve (12) board members needed to operate according to our bylaws.

Wed., June 23, 2021: Formal opening of nominations and an info session on the upcoming election will occur at the June Board Meeting beginning at 6:30pm. As per SNG bylaws, “At the meeting at which a termination is recorded, or at which the Board accepts a director’s resignation or in the event that a director ceases to be eligible for SNG membership, nominations for a new director will be opened and announced.”

Wed., July 28, 2021: With vacancies on the board announced and nominations opened at the June meeting, in accordance with SNG’s bylaws, the election shall be held at the next board meeting on July 28 at 6:30pm.

Who can vote in the election: anyone who lives, works, or owns property in Seward can vote. Specifically, all SNG members can vote in board elections, and per SNG bylaws, anyone can be an SNG member who is a (1) resident of the Seward neighborhood; (2) owner of property in the neighborhood; (3) acting as the sole representative of a business in the neighborhood; (4) working within the neighborhood. New member registration will be provided at the meeting.

Who can run for the board: anyone who lives, works, or owns property in Seward can run for the board. In other words, any SNG member can run, including sole representatives of Seward businesses. However, note that as per bylaws no more than two board seats shall be allowed for business representatives, and SNG already has two business representatives (Faysal Osman and Shihab Mohammed).

Nomination procedure: June 23-July 28: after nominations are opened at the June 23 board meeting, community members will be able to nominate themselves through an online form and the nominations will be publicly viewable as they are submitted. As per bylaws, nominations will continue to be accepted through the July 28 board meeting.

Nomination form:
http://tiny.cc/sngnom

Candidates will be posted publicly as their nominations are submitted at:
http://tiny.cc/sngelection

Election committee: to ensure the election is done correctly and transparently, a committee was established with interested volunteers from the board and community. The committee will go over the list of voters, list of candidates, run the election process/logistics, and announce the winners. So far this consists of Dan Pederson, Matt Plummer, Tiger Worku, Peter Fleck, and Steve Gallagher from the City of Minneapolis.

Voting procedure for July 28:
1. In accordance with previous board decisions and past practice since the Covid-19 pandemic, the July 28, 2021 meeting and election will be held online.

2. As in November 2020, anyone eligible to vote as per SNG Bylaws and present at the July 28 meeting can sign in and vote in the election. This can be done in advance of the meeting (through registration) or at the beginning of the meeting, via a Google Form. Update 7-16-2021: to ensure an accurate list of who attends the 7/28/21 meeting, the election committee has determined that voter registration will only be available during the July 28 meeting, not before. There will be ample opportunity to register and multiple reminders will be given that you must register on the Google form to receive a ballot.

3. A trusted third party election vendor, OpaVote, will be used to tabulate the votes. During the meeting, all registered voters from the meeting will be emailed a unique link to anonymously vote from OpaVote. The vote will be held open for 30 minutes for people to vote–when the vote is concluded, the election committee will check over the results and announce the winners of the election.

4. When the results are announced during the July 28 board meeting, the new board members will be immediately seated and the full board can then act and move ahead with any agenda items needed to ensure the organization’s work goes ahead without delay.

How long are the terms for the vacant board positions? As per bylaws, any person(s) elected to fill a vacancy will stand for election at the next annual meeting, November 2021.

SNG bylaws are located here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t3gjOeg_BuKSEaEhSE12cUbqJWGhWP-M/edit