This year’s CUUPS officers have been working hard to make Denton CUUPS run more like a democratic organization and less like an informal group. While we still have over three months left in this chapter year, it’s not too early to begin thinking about officers for 2017-18 – especially considering we will have a new Coordinating Officer for the first time in twelve years.

It is not proper for the current officers to function as a nominating committee. Any active member is eligible to run for any office (one qualification: the Coordinating Officer must be a member of DUUF) and anyone who wants to serve should be able to run for an office without facing an “approved” candidate. At the same time, this year’s officers have an obligation to insure all offices are filled.

To help us reach the goal of free and fair elections, to encourage new people to run for office, and to insure we have someone to fill each office, we have come up with this campaign process.

The Election is October 15

The officer election will be held at our Fall Social Gathering, Sunday, October 15 at 2:00 PM at Erin and Tezra’s house. The election process is governed by Article X of our by-laws and nothing in this campaign process changes that. Nominations may be made from the floor and proxy voting is permitted for those who cannot attend.

This process deals with how members can announce their intent to run for an office. Then, if no one has declared for a particular office, we know we need to find someone to fill it.

Announce Your Campaign

A campaign signup sheet will be posted on the CUUPS bulletin board at DUUF prior to our Lughnasadh Circle. A signup thread will be started on our ProBoard site (if you aren’t on ProBoards yet, please contact Tezra).

If you want to run for an office, simply write your name beside that office on the signup sheet and reply to the signup thread (if you do only one, I’ll add your name to the other). That’s all there is to it. At the Fall Social Gathering, be prepared to speak for a minute or two about why you want to serve in that capacity and your ideas about the position.

The Details

1. I hope this statement is unnecessary, but just to be clear: by signing up you are declaring your intent to run for the office. There is no “claiming” of offices.
2. If two or more people sign up for the same office, we will have a contested election – the person with the most votes wins. Per the by-laws, if there are three or more candidates and no one gets 51% of the votes, the top two candidates will have a run-off.
3. Two people may decide to share an office, as Erin and William (Education Officer) and Hannah and Tezra (Communication and Technology Officer) have done this year. However, unless they both freely agree to share the office, we will have a contested election.
4. The by-laws prohibit anyone from holding more than one office at a time. Therefore, you cannot campaign for more than one slot. However, if you declare for an office and lose the election, you may be nominated (or self-nominate, if you’ve been a member for more than one year) for another office that has not yet been filled. You are free to make your plans known ahead of time.

Undeclared Offices

If no one has announced their intention to run for a particular office prior the next Officers’ Meeting on September 17 (at the Fall Camping Trip), the current officers will begin recruiting someone to fill it.

The Order of Election

Our by-laws do not specify the order in which we vote on offices. Since we have to have an order, as presiding officer I am declaring this order – which happens to be the order they were established in the by-laws. Since I am making this decision only on parliamentary authority, if anyone objects it may be changed by a vote of the membership.

1. Coordinating Officer
2. Events Coordinator
3. Membership Officer
4. Treasurer
5. Education Officer
6. Communication and Technology Officer
7. Recording Officer.

Description of the Offices

Here are the descriptions of our offices from our by-laws, along with the people who currently hold them.

1. Coordinating Officer (John) – Primary facilitator of officer and member meetings. Responsible for ensuring that all members serving as Officers are adequately fulfilling the responsibilities of their positions; serving as the primary liaison between the Officers and Members/friends of the chapter, between the chapter and CUUPS, between the chapter and the Denton Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Board of Trustees, and between the chapter and the community at large; acting as general spokesperson for the chapter. This officer must be a voting member of the Denton Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.
2. Events Coordinator (Russell) – Coordinates with event leaders of the eight public rituals held each year regarding progress and supplies needed. Work with the Coordinating Officer to ensure that organizers/leaders are in place for all planned events, that meeting/event locations are reserved. Also responsible for maintaining chapter supplies.
3. Membership Officer (Linda) – Primarily responsible for recruiting of new members and collecting dues. This officer will maintain the membership roster, be responsible for actively raising awareness of Denton CUUPS with other groups and the community at large, and will be responsible for follow-up contact with visitors.
4. Education Officer (Erin and William) – Assists facilitators of CUUPS courses, workshops, and small groups. Coordinates scheduling for those groups, courses, and related activities. Monitors area Pagan announcements in order to present opportunities for education and involvement to the membership, and develops and maintains educational resources for use as needed.  Consults with the Membership Officer for new member orientations as needed.
5. Treasurer (Debbie) – Responsible for handling chapter finances and maintaining financial records, collection of dues and other monies owed, and payment and/or reimbursement of any authorized expenses. Maintains chapter finances and provides printed financial reports to the membership at all scheduled Board meetings. One additional member must have access to chapter accounts at all times.
6. Communication & Technology Officer (Hannah and Tezra) – Primarily responsible for managing the chapter calendar, publicity of chapter events, e-mailing calendar events, updating the chapter website and maintaining chapter technology.
7. Recording Officer (Bonnie) – Responsible for preparation of meeting agendas, recording and distribution of minutes, maintenance of meeting notes and discussion topics, archival records and ritual scripts. This officer shall work with the members of the Board to ensure that all appropriate members are notified of meeting minutes, discussion topics and decisions made.

How can you best serve our community?

Denton CUUPS is the home for Paganism in Denton and the surrounding area. We provide a necessary and sacred service to the local community, and in doing so, we serve our Gods and our various Pagan traditions. All of us benefit from CUUPS’ presence and its success.

Serving as an officer is work, but it’s not a particularly large amount of work. I’ve been a CUUPS officer for 14 years – what I’ve learned in that time has been tremendous. This is necessary work, but it is also educational work, enlightening work, and transformative work.

I encourage everyone to think about where you can best serve, and to launch your campaign in the coming weeks.