Nomination Committee: details
Madeleine Werner
- Who else is on the committee?
- What is the time commitment for being on the board?
- What are the current proportions of representatives to the board?
- As in: residential, business, worker and real estate owner
- Are there any persons receiving supportive services on the board?
- How will unhoused people access the council at all let alone consistently attend the board?
- Are we collecting resumes and letters of intent?
- Who is the selector to run? Is it the committee, or are we the outreach arm to find people to nominate?
- Is there a signature requirement to secure nomination?
Sara Oaklander
Sara Oaklander
Sara Oaklander
Thanks for circulating, Sara! I had volunteered for the election committee, but my name isn't on the list so I just requested access to the document (or that it be added on my behalf).Best,Rachel
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Rachel Rosenberg
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Elaine Almquist
Hi Elaine and Sarah,I am volunteering for the Nominating Committee.Whom do I get in contact with?Ed Woll80 Winslow AveSomerville
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Edward Woll
On Feb 27, 2026, at 2:44 PM, Rachel Rosenberg <rachelro...@gmail.com> wrote:
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Christopher Beland
On Wed, 2026-02-25 at 06:18 -0800, Madeleine Werner wrote:
- What is the time commitment for being on the board?
We have a 2-hour meeting once a month, plus the full DSNC meetings, plus additional meetings if something urgent or complicated comes up (as has been happening with Copper Mill). Some drafting and discussion of communication documents occurs outside of meetings on Google Docs or email. We get a lot of email from each other as we coordinate activities and have questions for each other, and we also share the responsibility of answering queries from members and external entities. Folks can opt in to being an officer, the liaison to a committee, or the person working on a specific community issue of interest.
- What are the current proportions of representatives to the board?
Home owner - 4
Renter - 3
Business owner - 4
Employee - 1
(adds up to more than 9 because several people represent 2 groups)
- Are there any persons receiving supportive services on the board?
None declared that as a demographic for the 2025 election.
- How will unhoused people access the council at all let alone consistently attend the board?
We've had unhoused people vote in the 2025 election and attend DSNC membership meetings. Our meetings are advertised by posters and on the electronic sign at Middlesex Federal, so it's possible to know about us just by being physically in Davis Square. (Some people also found out about us because we used to have meetings at the Somerville Community Baptist Church following a Somerville Homeless Coalition event.)
For keeping in touch, lots of unhoused people have smart phones, and subsidized data plans are available. The Somerville Public Library also has computers people can use to check their email and collaborate on Google Docs. If someone has specific communication needs, I expect fellow Board members or the DSNC in general to make reasonable accommodations to allow them to participate.
It's a good point that we should be explicitly thinking about outreach to this demographic. Productive points of contact in the past have been at the Somerville Public Library West Branch and the Somerville Homeless Coalition. I have just made sure both of these are on our general DSNC publicity checklist for tabling and postering.
With my Outreach hat on, I'll note two other demographics I've had trouble serving adequately:
- The city has been unresponsive (other than saying they are thinking about it) to my request for zoning maps that are accessible for blind people.
- People who primarily speak Spanish, Portuguese, and other non-English languages are relatively scarce in Davis Square compared to East Somerville, but still seem under-represented in our general membership. (USNC has "immigrant" as a required demographic for its board; DSNC does not.) The Somerville Hispanic Alliance for Community Development and the Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers have been unresponsive to general outreach.
It's also worth considering recruiting parents with school-aged kids; we have at least one current board member who would qualify.
- Who is the selector to run? Is it the committee, or are we the outreach arm to find people to nominate?
- Is there a signature requirement to secure nomination?
According to Section 4.5 of the bylaws: Anyone who is nominated at the March 30 DSNC general meeting by any DSNC member is eligible to be on the ballot. (Last year, candidates were allowed to decline nomination if they didn't want to appear on the ballot.) Nominations can also be made in advance by any DSNC member in writing to the Board (dsnc-bo...@googlegroups.com works).
There is no signature requirement. The only requirement to be seated on the Board is (DSNC bylaws section 4.6) to be eligible for DSNC membership on election day (this year, April 27).
Section 4.5 says the duty of the Nominating Committee "shall be to identify a diverse range of candidates for Board positions to be filled, prepare them for nominations, and dissolve following the election." Essentially the job is recruitment and to make nominations at or before the March meeting.
What information is collected from potential and actual candidates and what's distributed to DSNC membership is up to the Nominating and Election Committees. Board members who are candidates for re-election (like me) don't participate in those discussions.
-B.