January 2003

Society Announces Nominating Committee Election Results

By James A. Woehlke, Esq., Society Counsel

NEW YORK—Members of the New York State Society of CPAs cast 3,269 ballots in the first election of the NYSSCPA Nominating Committee in 10 years.

The candidates elected to the 2003 Nominating Committee and their respective vote counts are Stuart Kessler (1,991), Barry B. Seidel (1,957), Michael L. Borsuk (1,892), Brian A. Caswell (1,798), P. Gerard Sokolski (1,731), Debbie A. Cutler (1,722), and Elliot L. Hendler (1,544). The next nearest candidate received 1,289 votes.

Ballots were designed to permit voters to indicate a preference for up to seven candidates. Some voted for one candidate, others for the full seven. The votes were tallied by Prompt Mailers, a third-party vote-tabulation service engaged by the Society.

In addition, pursuant to the NYSSCPA Bylaws, two members are designated by the board of directors to serve on the Nominating Committee. The two board-designated members are Katharine K. Doran and Neville Grusd.

CPA members interested in serving as directors or officers of the Society should contact one or more Nominating Committee members as soon as possible, as the committee will be making its nominations in the latter half of January.
NYSSCPA Bylaws describe the Nominating Committee, which is comprised of nine people, all of whom must have been CPA members of the Society for five continuous years and have had at least two years’ participation on Society committees; two are designated by the board and seven are nominated by petition. If more than seven petitions are received, as occurred this year when 13 petitions were received, as well as in 1992, the list is narrowed to seven by a member election. If fewer than seven petitions are received, as last happened in 1998, the board fills the vacancies. From 1999 until this year, exactly seven petitions were submitted by the cutoff date.

Perhaps for the first time, this year open campaigning occurred by supporters of various candidates. Westchester Chapter President Susan R. Schoenfeld notified chapter members of those individuals she knew from Westchester. Also, Mark Ellis, chair of the CFO Committee, sent out a communication to all members in industry regarding those candidates who are from industry.

“It is gratifying to know that so many people are interested in taking an active part in determining the future direction of the Society,” NYSSCPA President Jo Ann Golden said. “It is also a mark of maturity in a professional association’s membership that supporters of specific Nominating Committee candidates are communicating that support.”

According to the bylaws, the Nominating Committee must complete its work by Feb. 12. This year the committee will nominate a president-elect, four vice presidents, a secretary, a treasurer, five at-large directors, and six directors from the chapters (Buffalo, Central Southern Tier, Manhattan/Bronx, Southern Tier, Syracuse and Westchester).

The need for an election significantly compressed the time available for the Nominating Committee to complete its deliberations. Any interested candidates for officers or directorships should contact one or more Nominating Committee members as soon as possible.