Friday, May 18, 2018

Bylaws update rejected in Springfield Civic Association vote

Residents of the Springfield neighborhood in Bethesda voted against changes to their civic association's bylaws at the SCA's biannual spring meeting last night. The revisions would have raised the number of dues-paying residents needed to call an emergency meeting from 20 to 60, and would have required 25 dues-paying residents to add an item to a regular meeting agenda, if the item was not supported by the association board. They would also have clarified the status of renters in the neighborhood, and forbidden the nomination of board officers from the floor during elections.

While opposition was largely driven by concerns that the changes would reduce the power of residents and member participation, some also expressed disappointment that online or proxy voting was not proposed for members who cannot attend a meeting. Neighboring civic associations only require 10 to 25 dues-paying members to call a special meeting. The view of some on the SCA board was that it was preferable to hold votes at the two annual meetings, rather than holding special meetings at other times.

The final vote was 41 members in favor, and 76 opposed.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Robbie, were you hoping that the Springfield CA would endorse you? That must be a huge disappointment.

Robert Dyer said...

3:01: SCA, like every other civic association, does not endorse candidates. You must be thinking of the 2010 Randolph Hills Civic Association scandal, where Hans Riemer's operative used RHCA funds to send a mailer attacking me to every home.

Anonymous said...

Robert: Not everything is about you.

Robert Dyer said...

1:18: Is this a mental breakdown we just witnessed? Nobody has a clue what you are referring to.