Buddhist "Electors' Committee" to be formed for Interfaith Association

[Seth Josephson]

There has been some talk in the past about the need for an "Electors' Committee" which would appoint Buddhist representatives to the Interfaith Association's council. A process was constructed (by myself and Derek Heyman) but it was never brought to the larger Buddhist community for feedback (sorry!). Now there is a seat to fill on the interfaith council, and so, as I see it, the first step is to present the proposed election process to everyone for feedback and input. Then we can solicit volunteers and use the process we agree upon to choose a representative among them. 

With that in mind here is the basic process we are proposing: Each member Sangha/Buddhist community would choose a representative by their own method. These "Electors" would solicit volunteers from to sit on the Interfaith council. These Electors would come together and choose among these volunteers by a vote.

One important detail of the above process is defining which are member Sanghas. We proposed that these be defined by which Sanghas have contributed the $50 suggested donation for the year. Part of the reasoning behind this monetary requirement is that BCO has taken on the responsibility of giving the Interfaith Association their $150 annual fee for Buddhists. (In addition BCO's expenses include printing the BCO cards, cost of the webpage, any event expenses, etc.) Volunteers for the Interfaith Council can come from Sanghas that have not paid BCO (they can also be people unaffiliated with any Sangha). 

According to my records, those that have paid this year (defined as the period between Vesakha and Vesakha) include:

Zen Columbus Sangha

Zazen on High

Narasiharama

Wake Up to Your Life

(note we also have a balance of -14.34$, so donations from other member Sanghas would be welcome.)

Below is a more formal description of the process outlined above. 

Please provide any input or feedback you have.

Peace to all,

-Seth

Proposed Electors' Committee Policy

1. Each member Sangha (Buddhist community) should designate a representative to a "BCO Electors' Committee"

• The Elector's Committee would appoint the three representatives to the IACO's Interfaith Council when there is a vacancy.
• The Elector's Committee would also designate one Elector's Committee member to be a "Buddhist Contact Person" who would communicate directly with the president of IACO about Council appointments and other issues. 
• The Elector's Committee members can also be a Interfaith Council members but need not be. 

2. Member Sanghas are defined as those those that pay a requested $50 annual donation to BCO. 
3. Each member Sangha can appoint their representative to the BCO Electors' Committee by their own process. 
4. The votes of the BCO Elector's Committee should be made at an in-person meeting that will be called as necessary.

• A quorum of half of the Elector's Committee members need to be present for its votes too be valid.

5. Changes to this policy can be made by a vote of the Electors' Committee.

[Seth Josephson]

Oops, the most updated language for the Policy is as follows:

Proposed Electors' Committee Policy

1. Each member Sangha (Buddhist community) should designate a representative to a "BCO Electors' Committee"

• The Electors' Committee will appoint each of the three Buddhist representatives to the Interfaith Council as vacancies arise.

• The Elector's Committee would also designate one Elector's Committee member to be a "Buddhist Contact Person" who would communicate directly with the president of IACO about Council appointments and other issues. 
• The Elector's Committee members can also be a Interfaith Council members but need not be. 

2. Member Sanghas are defined as those those that pay a requested $50 annual donation to BCO. 
3. Each member Sangha can appoint their representative to the BCO Electors' Committee by their own process. 
4. The votes of the BCO Elector's Committee should be made at an in-person meeting that will be called as necessary.

• A quorum of half of the Elector's Committee members need to be present for its votes too be valid.

5. Changes to this policy can be made by a vote of the Electors' Committee.

[Sherab Chen]

Thank you, Seth, for sharing this info. I want to clarify the following.

 

My understanding is that

 

(1) the Elctors' Committee is made up by a representative from each "member sangha"; And a "member sangha" is defined as the sangh that has contributed the $50 annual donation to BCO.

(2) Only Elctors' committee members can elect the representative for Buddhist to sit in the Interfaith council;

 

(3) However, volunteer (or candidate) for this representative can be one who belongs to a sangha that has not paid $50, or can be any Buddhist practitioners not belonging to a specific sangha.

 

Is my understanding correct?

 

Best,

 

Shrab Chen

[Seth Josephson]

Yes, that is a good summery.

[Derek Heyman]

Sherab,

 

  This is correct in my understanding as well.  The advantage of this is, the Buddhist rep for IACO does not have to belong to a sangha that has paid $50 to be a member of BCO.  The rep can be someone well-versed in and dedicated to Buddhism (so a good representative for IACO), who is not a member of any specific sangha at all, or a small sangha, such as a meditation group, that has not been able to raise money to pay BCO dues.

 

  On the other hand, the Electors Committee needs to be made of reps from official member sanghas of BCO, to keep some "legitimacy" for lack of a better word, to the process.  Being a member can be defined as having paid the $50, because that is an annual requirement for membership, apart from any issues related to the IACO nominations.

  I hope that helps.

 

Derek

---

From: Seth Josephson <seth.jo...@gmail.com>
To: Sherab Chen <shera...@gmail.com>
Cc: BCO google group <buddhismc...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Fri, October 23, 2009 1:06:00 PM
Subject: [BCO] Re: Buddhist "Electors' Committee" to be formed for Interfaith Association

[Seth Josephson]

I am going to assume that people are basically comfortable with this way of choosing representatives for the Interfaith council. Upon some reflection, I have an idea for another way to do this but I think we should try this method for now and discuss possible changes in the future.

The next stage is to form the Electors Committee. If the above sanghas (plus Jungto) could provide an individual to be part of this committee, through what ever process is appropriate for them, that would be great. I will talk with members of Zen Columbus Sangha as they are my community. 

I don't expect this to be a large time commitment for volunteers. I foresee just one or two meetings to choose a representative for the interfaith council. 

Please let me know who is willing to participate.

Peace to all,

-Seth