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Election results: Sylvester Neal is all fired up

It’s no secret that retired Alaska Fire Marshal Sylvester “Syl” Neal blazes with passion for Kiwanis. The Valley, Auburn, Washington, Kiwanian was elected 2010-11 Kiwanis International president at this past June’s convention.

“For the 2010–11 year, we’ll fire up our Kiwanis clubs to serve with excellence and enthusiasm,” Neal says. “We’ll work harder to serve our local communities. We’ll kick off our new global campaign to protect children. And the world will take notice.”

He’ll be joined by these new officers and board members, also elected by the House of Delegates this past June:

PRESIDENT-ELECT: Alan Penn, Kiwanis Club of Medina Breakfast, Ohio

VICE PRESIDENT: Thomas E. “Tom” DeJulio, Kiwanis Club of Fordham, Bronx, New York

REGION I (U.S.) TRUSTEES:
John M. “Johnny” Johnson, Kiwanis Club of East Cobb County, Georgia
Oscar E. Knight III, Kiwanis Club of La Mesa, California
Susan A. “Sue” Petrisin, Kiwanis Club of East Lansing, Michigan

Two new trustees were elected to the International Board earlier this year:

REGION III (EUROPE) TRUSTEE: Sjoerd R.J. Timmermans, Kiwanis Club of Den Haag, the Netherlands, was elected at the Kiwanis International-European Federation Convention in Taormina, Italy, in May.

REGION IV (ASIA-PACIFIC) TRUSTEE: Wen-Pin Su, Kiwanis Club of Tainan, Taiwan, was elected at the 2010 Kiwanis Asia Pacific Convention in Taipei, Taiwan, this past March.

House approves seven amendments

Kiwanis members considered 14 proposed amendments and one resolution during the 2010 Kiwanis International Convention’s House of Delegates. Here’s how they voted.

Adopted:

  • Amendment No. 2: Eliminate unintended contradictions regarding discipline of International Officers and allow the International Board the ability, if deemed appropriate, to bar someone removed from office from filling other offices or appointments.
  • Amendment No. 4: Return the title of the top staff position in Kiwanis International to “Executive Director.”
  • Amendment No. 5: Accommodate districts that wish to have an additional year of training and orientation for the person who eventually will serve as governor.
  • Amendment No. 7: Make more effective use of electronic methods of communications and information distribution.
  • Amendment No. 8: Allow federation conventions to be held within the stated 20-day prohibition period for good reason if deemed appropriate by the Kiwanis International Board of Trustees.

Adopted as amended

  • Amendment No. 1: Change the designation for regions from numbers to names.
  • Amendment No. 3: Require criminal history background checks for all incumbents and candidates for International Office and for all offices in direct line of succession to district governor in order to ensure the highest standards of leadership in Kiwanis.

Defeated

  • Amendment No. 6: Allocate the costs to hold Kiwanis International conventions equitably among the member clubs of the organization.
  • Amendment No. 9: Add a preface clause that summarizes each of the Kiwanis Objects and restate the Objects in summary form.
  • Amendment No. 12: Allow club members who are not delegates to sit with their club delegates in the House of Delegates at international conventions.

Withdrawn

  • Amendment No. 10: Allow districts the option to restrict voting at district conventions and division conferences to clubs that are at least one year old, based on the date of charter presentation.
  • Amendment No. 11: Allow districts the option to determine the number of club delegates (from one to five) based on club size and provide that all delegates must have been club members for at least one year before being elected by the club to represent it.
  • Amendment No. 14: Create a new class of “family members” providing that up to three relations of an active member may have the same benefits and obligations as active members but pay reduced dues and fees.

Failed for lack of a motion

  • Amendment No. 13: Reduce dues for members age 65 and over by 50 percent.

Resolution

  • Kiwanis delegates approved a memorial resolution to honor Past Kiwanis International President Aubrey Irby, who died July 11, 2009.