Dear colleagues,
On May 15, 2018, the YUFA Executive received a petition signed by 65 members to recall the current president, Richard Wellen, who has two weeks left on his current term. The signatories of the petition demanded that Professor Wellen step down immediately and be barred from assuming the Past President's position (as he normally would do under the Constitution).
We would like to remind members that, under the YUFA Constitution (see Article 8.4 a. below), members of Executive cannot be recalled simply by a petition. Rather, the recall process involves two stages. First, there must be a petition (signed by more than 50 members) to hold a special election for the challenged officer's position (President, Treasurer, etc.). Second, an election must be held within one month and the incumbent officer who has been challenged – but not yet removed from office – may compete in that election. The results of that election determine whether the challenged officer remains in office.
According to our constitution, there must be two weeks of nominations and ten days of voting to fill any executive position. Professor Wellen's term ends May 31, and the term of the incoming president, Art Redding, begins June 1. Under the circumstances, to call an election will be inconsequential because it will only occur following the instalment of YUFA's next duly elected president, on June 1, 2018. Moreover, as the outgoing president automatically assumes the role of Past President at the end of their term, and the position of Past President is not an elected role, the petition would have no bearing.
This explanation has been provided to the letter’s signatories, who have rejected it. According to the YUFA Constitution, removal of an elected officer can only take place through a special election process in which all members of our Association may vote. A petition signed by 50 or more members is not sufficient to meet the standard in our constitution for removing a duly elected officer from their position.
YUFA Executive
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From YUFA Constitution:
8.4 Recall
a. If at any time a petition carrying the signatures of at least fifty members or 25 percent, whichever is the lesser, of the constituents of any Officer or Representative is submitted to the Executive Committee demanding a new election of such Officer or elected Representative, a special by-election shall be held within one month’s time. The incumbent may be a candidate in that election. The by-election shall be conducted in accordance with Article 6.2 above.