Davis Food Co-op/Election 2010 - Davis

Website

http://www.davisfood.coop/election.html

Election page is up to date through 5/28/2010

This wiki page will be updated as long as anyone edits it!

The Davis Food Co-op election has ended; ballots were removed from the store, and the Ballot Box sealed and moved off the floor at 10 PM on Friday, 5/28.

Final Election Results, as of 6/2/10 (Valid ballots might arrive in tomorrow’s mail, hence results are final tomorrow afternoon) 1,236 ballots, from 8,666 eligible voters.

Elected to three-year terms as Directors: Dina Biscotti, 788 votes Stephen Reynolds, 777 votes Theodora Consolacion, 748 votes

Elected to one-year term as Director: Rebecca Hager, 661 votes (fills the last year of M. Ulrich’s term)

Elected to one-year terms as Alternate Directors: Kevin Wolf 1st Alt., 659 votes Franklin Fox 2nd Alt., 270 votes

Not elected: Michael Pach, 170 votes

Prop. 1, Initiative Date of Record passes: Yes, 892 votes No, 64 votes

Ballots and Voter's Pamphlets arrived at addresses in Woodland on 4/27/10. The Ballot Box - with ballots, ballot envelopes and Voter's Pamphlets - was placed in the store, in the Bakery section across from the Deli case. Details are published on-line, and the Voter’s Pamphlet is available for download. There will also be cross-linking between this easy to edit & open page, and the restricted election.html page on the Co-op's official site. Here is the 2010 Election Calendar (also available at the Co-op web site):

Election Event

2010 date

Bylaws specify…

Member Initiative Deadline

Tuesday, March 9

45 days before mailing date of an already scheduled regular election ballot

Voters’ Pamphlet Deadline

Friday, April 2 @ 9:55 PM

20 days before mailing date

Voter’s Pamphlet Mailing Date & Notice of Annual Meeting

Thursday, April 22

Between 21 and 90 days before Annual Meeting

Election begins

Tuesday, April 27

When ballots are received in mail by shareholders

Annual Membership Meeting

Sunday May 16

As called by the Board

Last Day of Election

Friday, May 28

30 days or later after mailing date (as specified by Board)

Ballots counted

Tuesday, June 1 after noon

(So there are two days of mail delivery after postmark deadline)

Results available

Wednesday, June 2

5 days after close of election (Prelim. results posted here on or before 6/2)

Results accepted by outgoing Board

Monday, June 7

Regular meeting, 7 PM, Davis Food Co-op Teaching Kitchen

Declared Candidates for Director

Shareholders in good standing on 5/28/10 may vote for up to four candidates. There are three three-year terms open on the Board of Directors, as well as one one-year term (created by resignation). In addition, two Alternate Directors will be seated for one year, to vote if a Director is absent. The Candidates with the three highest vote totals will fill the three-year terms, the fourth will fill the one-year term, and the fifth and sixth will fill terms as First and Second Alternate. As of 4/2/10, six Co-op members had declared their Candidacy; a seventh declared as a write in on 4/29/10. There were no other write-in candidates; see below for details on how to declare candidacy.

On 4/5/10, a random drawing placed the Candidates in the following order on the Spring Election ballot (with the write in added at the bottom):

What most interests you in serving on this Board? I rely on the Co-op to help me shop, eat and live better. I can’t grow my own food or raise my own livestock, for example, but I can support those who do it for me. I feel that the Co-op contributes a great deal not only to me but to my community, and I welcome the opportunity to give back.

Are you able to commit hours each week to Board and task force work? Absolutely.

What other boards or committees have you served on (and your dates of service)? I am currently serving on my homeowners’ association board. I have also been involved in industry group committees and task forces for the past 10 years.

What is your professional / career background? I have a degree in Earth Systems Science and Policy from CSU Monterey Bay. I spent 8 years as a compliance specialist for the mining and construction industries, and am currently an environmental consultant working out of Sacramento. I also spent several years as a volunteer for The Marine Mammal Center triage site in Moss Landing.

Stephen Reynolds

Stephen Reynolds [email protected]

Theodora B. Consolacion

Theodora B. Consolacion [email protected]

Dina Biscotti

Dina Biscotti [email protected]

Dina Biscotti's statement:

I am running for the Davis Food Co-op Board of Directors because I would like to give back to an organization which adds so much to our community. I have been a member of the Davis Food Co-op for almost ten years. I am particularly proud of the ways in which our Co-op prominently displays locally-produced products so that we can make choices to support our local foodshed. I am also very pleased with the Co-op’s excellent worker safety record and am grateful to the dedicated workers who work daily to make our store what it is. Some of my volunteer activities include co-teaching a local foods cooking class through the U.C. Davis Experimental College with members of the U.C. Davis Students for Sustainable Agriculture and serving as a mentor through the U.C. Davis Guardian Scholars Program and the U.C. Berkeley Labor Summer Program. I love taking cooking classes at the Co-op, participating in community events like the Co-op Souper Bowl, and reading the Q&A Suggestion Box section of the Co-op newsletter.

This year I will complete my Ph.D. in Sociology at U.C. Davis. My doctoral research is focused on organizations and I teach about cooperative organizations in undergraduate Sociology courses at U.C. Davis. My research interests include the ordering of our food system and I have presented some of my research at the joint meetings of the Agriculture, Food & Human Values Society and the Association for the Study of Food and Society. Prior to attending graduate school I gained financial management and budgeting skills working in administrative positions at the U.C. San Diego School of Medicine and Stanford University School of Medicine. I have also worked in food service at four restaurants. As a member of the Co-op Board of Directors I would work collaboratively with the other members of the board to responsibly serve our membership as guided by the co-operative principles. Thank you for your support.

Franklin D. Fox

Franklin D. Fox (a write in candidate) [email protected]

Running for the Board

You must be a Co-op shareholder in good standing to serve on the Board. If you're a member of a shareholder's household now, but don't own shares, you can run. If you're elected, you must purchase your own shares in order to serve.

For more information on eligibility, please read the Candidate's Packet, "Yes, I want to be a Candidate..." (a PDF file). You will need to fill out a Declaration of Candidacy form (a PDF file) to run. Candidates can declare up to the last day of the election, May 28.

Voter's Pamphlet

The Voter's Pamphlet is available on line. You will find complete voting information in it on pages 1 and 2. You'll also find information about the Ballot Proposition and the statements of the Candidates — except for "write-in" Franklin Fox.

Democratic Engagement

Sometimes members wonder about how a DFC election is run. There's a lot of information available on line (as indicated by all the above links), but many of the "nuts and bolts" are described in the Election Policy adopted by the Co-op Board in March 2008. Most of the text of the Policy is quite a bit older, dating in many parts to the 1980s.

The wiki was heavily used for Q&A and debate in the 2008 and 2009 elections as a public forum by the candidates and general public. The Co-op Election "Central" page links to this page, so this can be used the same way this year. You are encouraged to submit questions below, and perhaps candidates will respond. Please contact the elections committee through the Co-op Election "Central" page if you need help editing or posting to this page.

Comments:

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2010-04-28 20:57:05 It's Davis Food Co-op election time. As a member of the DFC board for a many years here is how I am voting:

Kevin Wolf Stephen Reynolds Theodora Conslacion Dina Biscotti

Please do NOT vote for Michael Pach. Mr. Pach is trying to get the DFC to engage in activities far beyond the scope of the DFC's purpose. This type of activity is what helped kill the Berkeley Food Co-op.

Thanks for voting! Jack Young —jackyoungdfc

I'm confused. Do you mean M. Pach? or is his name spelled wrong in the article section? —rocksanddirt

2010-05-05 05:01:49 A few comments from the sidelines: a) The board needs more concern for co-op values over and against its present group-think/profit-over-principles character. b) "Policy Governance" is an emperor without clothes (try reading documents on this and you'll see what I mean); anyone advocating such nonsense is a mountebank. c) It's faulty logic and fear mongering to say a little infusion of principle-mindedness would be a Berkeley co-op breakup redux. Popper called this type of thinking the "poverty of historicism," and we ought to take heed: just because something happened in the past does not mean we are fated to have it happen again! The DFC is a different ball of wax. d) Don't forget to vote in concentrated blocs! The voting scheme for DFC elections is prone to dilution if you use all your votes. I would name the two people I'm voting for, but given my election performances, I doubt they'd want my advocacy ;) —ZN

2010-05-10 08:59:39 The ballot is simple this year, but for those of you who want them, here are my opinions.

Candidates I will be voting for Rebecca Hager, Teddy Consolacion, Steve Reynolds and Dina Biscotti. I believe that all four of these folks will do their level best to continue the work of the Board. I think they are all interested in representing everyone who shops the Co-op, and in making sure that our first duty – running a profitable business properly and legally – is met.

Proposition There’s only one proposition this year, and it simply corrects a conflict in our bylaws where one paragraph sets a date and another paragraph sets a different date for the same thing. Please vote “yes” so we can resolve the issue.

—JulieCross

2010-05-23 21:08:14 Last few days — balloting ends at 10 PM on Friday, May 28, and ballot envelopes must either be IN the ballot box in the store, or USPS postmarked by that date to be included in the count. Don't procrastinate: please, if you're going to vote (and are eligible) do it NOW. —DougWalter

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