Members to elect treasurer

A membership meeting will be held at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18, at the Colonie public library to elect a new treasurer. The person elected will serve the remainder of Dan Roesser’s term, which runs until Jan. 1, 2014.

As many know, Dan was laid off by the Times Union in December 2010. Under the International’s bylaws, he was able to remain in office for a year and has continued to do excellent work for the local and its members. We are deeply grateful to Dan for his services. The importance of his work in these tough times cannot be underestimated. We are very appreciative of the fact that Dan is willing to continue to work with us and help train his successor as treasurer.

The position requires someone who can keep our books, write checks, keep tracks of our accounts and prepare materials for our annual independent audit. (Our audit was just completed, so this won’t have to be done again until late 2012.)

The treasurer also serves as a member of the Guild’s Executive Board. The board meets the second Thursday of each month except July and August, at the Guild’s office in the Albany Labor Temple. Special meetings are sometimes called, but infrequently. There are also membership meetings, including one required each fall, which the Executive Board is expected to attend. The treasurer must give a monthly update on finances at each monthly board meeting, as well as a report at general membership meetings.

Among an Executive Board member’s duties are: overseeing the spending of dues money; deciding what grievances should be filed; and setting and implementing policy for the local.

Nominations for the office can be made in two ways. A nomination can be made and seconded from the floor during the meeting, or a nomination petition bearing the signatures of five (5) percent of the membership in good standing can be presented to the local secretary at the meeting. The minimum number of signatures required on a petition is 10.

In the event of a contested election, a mail ballot will be conducted. A Local Election Committee will be selected and approved by the membership after nominations have been made in accordance with the local’s bylaws. The committee will supervise the mailing and counting of ballots.

Please come to this very important meeting.