For AICP, spring usually has us busy attending E-days and beginning the process of securing nominations for our annual elections. As we have all experienced, COVID-19 has affected many decisions made by our country, our employers, each of us, and AICP. The current environment has our leadership team asking many questions that result in some hard decisions.
In March, as confirmed cases of the virus rapidly increased and our country began to shut down, we made the call early on to cancel E-days planned by all nine of our chapters. As this situation has evolved, we are being forced to look at other aspects of our operations and determine our best course of action.
Your board of directors met on April 18
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via Zoom. We tackled several tough topics. One of notable significance was our 2020 election process.
Our current bylaws require us to hold annual elections, according to the terms of each position throughout the organization. Each year we elect new representatives to the national board of directors, as well as each chapter’s board of directors. We had to ask ourselves whether holding elections as normal is practical during this global crisis. If we did, what are the difficulties we would likely face? If we didn’t, what are some reasonable options?
We gathered information regarding our bylaws and legal options. We solicited feedback from chapter leadership. We consulted with our General Counsel and Governance Committee Chair. All of this led to a robust and thoughtful discussion by your board of directors who ultimately, and unanimously, voted to enact emergency bylaws in light of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 virus. The emergency bylaws temporarily supersede our existing bylaws, freezing the terms for all elected positions. This means that, unless unable or unwilling to do so, each chapter and national board member will continue in that role for an additional year. Providing the virus is under control, the board intends to repeal the emergency bylaws and hold elections as planned in 2021.
We did not come to this decision lightly. However, through our research and discussions it became clear that providing stability for our organization during these difficult times is the right course of action.
If you are interested, we’ve posted an update on some of the other items discussed in our April 18
th
board meeting on our
AICP Blog
.
As always, if you have questions, concerns or would like to get more involved, reach out and we will get you connected.
From your board of directors, we hope you are staying home and staying healthy during these trying times. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Please continue to stay safe and stay well.
AICP President
