GFOA Nominating and Election Procedures and Policy

Nomination and Election of Officers

As provided by the GFOA bylaws, the executive board shall consist of 18 persons, including the president and president-elect, the most immediate past president who remains an active member, and 15 members elected at large, five of whom shall be elected each year for a term of three years.  The president-elect shall be elected each year and shall automatically become president the year following his or her term as president-elect. The right to hold office in the association is reserved for active members only. The election of the president-elect and the executive board members shall be at the annual business meeting of the Association. The person receiving the largest number of votes cast for each office or position to be filled, for which he or she has been nominated, shall be declared elected. Only active members of the association are eligible to vote.

The following method of nomination of members to the executive board and for president-elect is set out by the bylaws.

The nominating committee shall consist of nine active members of the association, one of whom shall be the immediate past president who shall act as chair of the committee. The remaining eight members shall include three individuals who have either served as past president or as a member of a GFOA executive board and five individuals selected from the active membership of the association. The president shall appoint nominating committee members for three-year staggered terms. If the immediate past president is unable to serve, the GFOA president shall appoint another active GFOA member, who has served on GFOA's executive board, as chair of the committee.  The nominating committee shall select one name from the active membership as the candidate for the office of president-elect and one name from the active membership for each vacant at-large position on the executive board. The nominating committee shall present at the annual business meeting a slate of candidates for the offices of president-elect and at- large positions on the Executive Board. The at-large candidates shall be slotted in positions one through five. Additional nominations may be made from the floor, and the person nominated must identify which position (one through five) and the person being challenged. Voting shall be according to procedures established under these rules.

The Nominating Committee

Following are policies relating to the GFOA nominating committee:

1. Prior to the start of the annual nominating and election process, all GFOA members shall be informed of the Nominating and Election Procedures and Policy through thethe GFOA Newsletter, GFOA Website or through a separate communication to members.
2. The president of the association shall appoint a nominating committee no later than November 30 of each year.
3. The president shall solicit feedback from GFOA active member who wish to submit the name, or names, of potential candidates for nominating committee consideration.
4. The president shall suggest to the chair of the nominating committee that he or she schedule a meeting of the nominating committee to consider the recommendation of nominations not later than 70 days prior to the beginning of the annual conference of the association.
5. No member of the nominating committee shall be eligible for nomination.

Criteria For Selection of At-Large Members of the Executive Board

1. Contributions: Members should be nominated for positions on the executive board on the basis of performance in office, professional integrity, and reasonable activity in pursuing the goals of GFOA. Nominees should be chosen on the basis of what they can contribute to GFOA as evidenced by their past record as members of the association and the governmental finance profession.
2. Size and Type of Governmental Units: It is generally agreed that the executive board should be composed of members representing a variety of sizes and types of governmental units. The nominating committee should seek a group of nominees from large, intermediate and small governmental units and those which represent counties, states, cities, special districts, school districts retirement systems, and other forms of local government represented within the association.
3. Balance of Regional Representation: The nominating committee should consider candidates for positions on the executive board who will insure representation among the various regions of the United States and Canada so that members in each region have a reasonable opportunity to have a member from their region serve on the executive board.
4. Balance of Age and Experience: Individuals nominated by the nominating committee should represent a variety of ages and experience in governmental finance.
5. Women and Minorities:  The Nominating Committee should consider the present composition of the executive board and recognize that it is a goal of GFOA to have women and minorities actively involved at all levels of the organization including the GFOA executive board.
6. Professional Representation: Nominees for election to the executive board should generally be elected on the basis of their ability to represent programs of the association as a whole and not a particular facet of governmental finance.
7.  Commitment:  An understanding that attendance at all executive board meetings is expected.

Criteria for the Selection of the GFOA President-Elect

1. The president-elect shall either be a member of the existing GFOA executive board or a prior member of a GFOA executive board.
2. Possess an understanding of the current goals of the organization and an ability to communicate those goals.
3. Public speaking ability, including the skills to effectively represent the organization before a variety of public and private groups such as U.S. Congressional committees, Canadian committees, state and provincial associations, other organizations of state and local officials, trade associations and the press.
4. Experience in a variety of public finance disciplines.
5. Demonstrated leadership ability, including the ability to work with an 18-member executive board, and the ability to develop consensus.
6. A clear understanding of the policy role of the president and executive board and the administrative and management responsibilities of the executive director and staff.
7. A willingness to make the necessary time commitment.

Nominating Procedures

The following procedures will be carried out with regard to the nominating process.

1. The GFOA staff will give notice to the membership of the presidents’ appointment of members to the nominating committee.
2. GFOA members will be advised that official suggested nomination forms are recommended by the nominating committee and are available on the GFOA Web site.
3. GFOA staff will assist the nominating committee chair in facilitating a meeting of the nominating committee.
4. The GFOA staff will collect all recommendations from the membership for the nominating committee and distribute copies of all biographical sketches and official suggested nomination forms received to members of the nominating committee as appropriate.
5. The GFOA staff will participate in the deliberations of the nominating committee, only to supply additional information to the nominating committee and advise the committee upon specific request.
6. The nominating committee members will review the suggested nominations from the GFOA membership, but may consider individuals other than those recommended.
7. Upon completing deliberations the chair of the nominating committee will immediately notify all president-elect candidates of the results of the nominating committee. The Executive Director will be responsible for the development of candidate profiles and the dissemination of this and other information on the candidates prior to the annual business meeting. To the extent possible, summaries of this information shall be made available on GFOA’s web site.

Election Procedures 

The following states election procedures as provided by the GFOA bylaws and executive board policy.

The Chair of the nominating committee shall present at the annual business meeting of the Association a slate of candidates for the offices of president-elect and the vacant at-large positions on the executive board. The at-large candidates shall be slotted in positions one through five.

1. After the nominating committee slate has been presented the President of the Association shall ask if there are any additional write-in nominations for the At-Large positions only.
2. Additional nominations may be made from the floor, and the person making the nomination must identify both the At-Large position (one through five) and the person being challenged.
3. If there are no additional nominations, the President shall call for a vote of approval of the nominating committee slate.
4. If there are additional nominations from the floor the President shall then appoint a three person, election committee to canvas the votes and determine which of the candidates received the highest number of votes. The election committee shall be required to announce the results of the election prior to the conclusion of the annual conference.