Band Council

Band council meets at least once a year and represents the band. Band councilors consist of twelve (12) delegates elected by the band at large on November 18, 2008 at rehearsal, and the twelve (12) current officers. The Band Council will meet November 23 at 7 pm in room 204 of Wilcox to elect officers, Turkey of the Year, Grossest Member and Osborne Cup recipient. Proceedings at this meeting are to be kept strictly confidential.

Band members are strongly encouraged to talk to as many band councilors as they reasonably can. Please feel free to give them your opinions, as they will be choosing the people that represent the Band.

Councilors

• Officers
• Members-at-large:
  • Rachel Sverdlove
  • Tom Scherer
  • Carol Dreibelbis
  • Saul Kinter
  • Sam Leachman
  • Angelica Ortiz
  • Zoe Hoster
  • Theo Beers
  • Simon Fox Krauss
  • Hannah Valdez
  • Doug Sprankling
  • Mia Tsui
• Alternates:
  • Natasha Indik
  • Kristen Davila
  • Christina Farah
  • Anna Condella

Agenda

Band Council will be held at 7pm, November 23, 2008 in room 204 of Wilcox. Band councilors are strongly encouraged to be on time.

• Discussion of Confidentiality
• Discussion of Procedures
• Resolutions
• Elections
  • Drum Major
  • Treasurer
  • Student Conductor
  • Drill Master
  • Librarian
  • Alumni Coordinator
• Awards
• Osborne Cup
• Turkey
• Grossest Member
• New Business

Procedure

This election procedure has been developed to insure that councilors have enough time and information to make a sound judgment about the people who will be leading the band in 2008-2009 while attempting to keep the meeting to a reasonable time

These procedures will be discuss at the beginning of the band council meeting Sunday, November 23, 2008. Any questions or concerns will be addressed then.

During each officer election, councilors who are running for the office under discussion must leave the room. These procedures apply to the remaining councilors.

1. Constitution Statement: The chair will read the relevant statements from the constitution. These statements will include the responsibilities of the office as set forth in the constitution and election procedures.
2. Officer Statements: The current office holder(s) will have an opportunity to express their view of the office and what it entails. The current office holder should not mention candidates for the office during this statement. There will be 2 minutes per current officer.
3. Round Table: Each councilor will have an opportunity to express his or her feeling on all of the candidates for the office in question. Each councilor will have 2 minutes. The order of speaking will move sequentially around the table. If a councilor so chooses, he or she may defer only portion of their 2 minutes to another councilor. If the councilor has already spoken, they must immediately use the balance of the time. If they have not yet spoken, they may use the balance of time immediately or add it to their 2 minutes. If a councilor does not use the full 2 minutes, the time will be forfeited. This includes passing up his or her turn. Band councilors should not feel they must use all of their time if they have no need.
4. Open Discussion: Any councilor who so desires will have an opportunity to discuss all of the candidates. Councilors must limit their statements to 1 minute so all councilors can have a chance to express their feelings. Councilors may go beyond 1 minute if agreed upon by the majority of band council. Councilors must be recognized by the chair before speaking. Councilors may choose to defer their discussion opportunity to allow for a more continuous flow of discussion. The open discussion period will be limited to 15 minutes. Following the open discussion period, councilors may move to repeat the Round Table with each councilor having 1 minute each or move to repeat the Open Discussion limited to 10 minutes. The motion must have a second and must pass by a majority vote to go into effect.
5. Advocate Statements: There will be an opportunity for each candidate to have an advocate, a councilor or councilors who can express why that candidate deserves the office. There will be 2 minutes per candidate. Statements will proceed in alphabetical order.
6. Voting: Voting will directly follow Advocate Statements unless a motion to vote has passed. Voting will be closed ballot. Votes will be counted after each vote. The results will be disclosed at Band Banquet. If a number of candidates are running for more than one office, then the same number of alternates will be added to the ballots. The alternates should be ranked in order of preference. In case that candidate wins another office and prefers that office, their name will be ignored on the ballots and replaced by an alternate.

Other Points of Interest

• Duties of the Chair: The neutral chair has the ability to cast tie breaking votes. The chair has the power to recognize speakers, enforce time limits and enforce rules agreed upon by the council.
• Neutrality of the Chair: The chair is to remain neutral during the election proceedings. If the chair wishes to be non-neutral, he or she may pass the chair to another member of band council after the candidates leave the room and before proceeding begin. If a member suspect that the Chair has violated this neutrality, a motion and a second is sufficient to strip the chair of the tie-breaking vote. No vote of the council is required. If this happens, a run-off election will take place. In the case of a run-off election, the normal voting procedures will be conducted and a ranking of candidates will be added to the ballot as well. If there is a tie, the ranking will be calculated and used as the tie breaking vote.
• Questions: If at any point in the meeting a councilor has constitutional or procedural questions, they should raise their hand and wait to be acknowledged by the chair.
• Conduct: Interrupting the speaker will not be tolerated. It is rude and wasteful of time. If the council sees fit, penalties beyond the first infraction may be placed on those who interrupt.
A recognized way to show agreement with another councilor is to tap a writing utensil on the table. This is much better than restating an opinion already stated. If a councilor find it very important to restate an opinion, he or she should simply make reference to what was previously stated.