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Members of Education Minnesota, NEA, AFT,
Minnesota Local #7173 |
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In Attendance: |
Joseph Ricke, Jan Nelson, Mary Tingblad, Ramona Anderson, Susan Weber, Margaret Ruffino, Pam Wertjes, Sue Alexander, Debra Drexler, Rhonda Lundgren, Sandy Gosen, Jeri Goodspeed-Gross, Mike Matthias. |
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Absent: |
Kim Diekmann, Doug Kennedy, Rachel Consdorf. There is a vacancy on the Governance Board for a representative from Minnewashta. |
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Guests: |
Sean Holmes (Consdorf), Jonathan Maki (Diekmann), Mark Chalupsky (MTA President-elect), Julie Anderson-Simonson (MTA Vice-President-elect), Peggy Glaccum (MM-West), Mary Benson (Teachers’ Rights Co-Chair), Harley Ogata (Education Minnesota Legal Counsel), John Borgen (Education Minnesota Field Staff Representative), Sara Gjerdrum (Education Minnesota Manager of Field Operations). |
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Call to Order: |
4:37 p.m., by Secretary Tingblad. President Ricke and Vice-President Nelson were asked to remove themselves from the chair. Secretary Tingblad presided as ranking officer. Pam Wertjes was appointed to take minutes. |
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Approval of Minutes: |
Motion by Ricke, seconded by
Goodspeed-Gross, to amend the minutes of May 17, 2006, by adding: “The
Governance Board directed the MAPPS Committee to move forward with the
application, emphasizing the need for eight Early Release/Late Start
days” to the MAPPS Update. Motion carried. Motion by Gosen, seconded by Holmes, to approve the
minutes of May 17, 2006, as amended. Motion carried. |
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Hearing: |
At the Governance Board meeting on May 17, 2006, the Governance Board approved a one-time Election Challenge Procedure for the May 2006 MTA President/Vice-President Election only. Joseph Ricke and Jan Nelson submitted a challenge as prescribed in the procedure, to Mary Tingblad, Margaret Ruffino, Pam Wertjes, Bev Ginther, and Peggy Glaccum, on May 19, 2006, 12:35 p.m. Harley Ogata presided as hearing officer, however he does not have a vote related to the outcome of the hearing. Sara Gjerdrum has overseen Ogata’s counsel to the MTA and was present as an observer. This part of the hearing was tape-recorded, but the deliberation will not be recorded. Ricke and Nelson had 45 minutes to present evidence and testimony supporting their challenge to the election results. Chalupsky and Anderson-Simonson had 45 minutes to present evidence and testimony supporting upholding the election results. Each side then had five minutes to summarize their positions. |
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Deliberation: |
Motion by Anderson, seconded by Gosen, that all guests with the exceptions of Harley Ogata, John Borgen, and Sara Gjerdrum, leave the meeting during deliberation. Motion carried. The Governance Board Building Representatives present and those members
present in place of absent representatives remained to deliberate. Ogata,
Borgen, and Gjerdrum remained to assist and observe. Ogata explained that we
should consider only what was presented today. He presented four points to
help us reach our decision: Through discussion, the Governance Board determined that the pencil ballots were correctly ruled invalid, that no fraud was committed, and that the MM-East signatures were validated. Motion by Matthias, seconded by Holmes, to reject the Ricke-Nelson challenge of the May 2006 MTA President/Vice-President Election results. Motion carried. The Governance Board will uphold the election results as originally reported on May 10, 2006, and as re-verified on May 15, 2006. Motion by Ruffino, seconded by Matthias, that Rhonda Lundgren will work with Harley Ogata, to draft a letter to be sent to Ricke and Nelson and the MTA membership, to communicate the results of the hearing. Motion carried. Sandy Gosen volunteered to call Ricke, Nelson, Chalupsky, and Anderson-Simonson tonight with the results of the hearing. Ogata, Gjerdrum, and Borgen commended the Building Representatives on
their work throughout the hearing and deliberation process. |
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Motion by Ruffino, seconded by Lundgren, to adjourn. Motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m. |
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Respectfully submitted, |
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