STAT Responds on Appointments

(Editor's Note: This is a re-print of a letter posted on Snellville Toursim and Trade by Don Britt, who is the STAT board president.)

Dear STAT/Commerce Club Members and Friends of Snellville,

Mayor Kautz has placed on the City Council agenda for Monday January 9th an item to replace all three city appointees to the Board of Snellville Tourism and Trade (STAT) and disregard the recommendations of the STAT nomination committee.  This has all been done with no communication with our organization or its nomination committee.  The people that she wants to place on our Board have not been involved in any of STAT’s activities nor have they been vetted by anyone involved with STAT.  While they could be the most well intentioned people, we do not think it is wise to appoint people to run an organization without any prior experience in the organization.  We welcome all volunteers, and if these people want to get involved, we ask them to please jump right in by joining STAT and volunteering to be on a committee or at the events. 

We are a very hands on Board of Directors and are very involved in the planning of activities for the community.   As a non-profit, STAT is legally bound to remain a separate entity from the city it serves.  That is the reason we have a Nomination Committee that selects the nominees and asks the city to approve its choices. The nomination committee is also in place to insure that the potential nominees understand the purpose of STAT and the amount of time and effort that is required to be a Board Member.  In order for STAT to continue its success it has to maintain its independence and build from the volunteer base.

Section 4.2 of the Snellville Tourism and Trade By-Laws state: The annual nominations and elections of the directors by the corporation shall be made by two methods.  Nominations for the position of Director shall be initiated by the recommendation of the Nomination Committee established by article 3.10(2) of these by-laws.  Three (3) members of the Board of directors shall be appointed by Mayor and Council, two (2) members of the board of directors shall be appointed by the Downtown Development Authority of the City of Snellville after consideration of the individuals nominated by the Nomination Committee.  Four members of the Board of Directors shall be elected by the members of the corporation after consideration of the individuals nominated by the Nomination Committee.

This section of our By-Laws provides protection from the City of Snellville controlling the organization that has a contractual agreement to independently promote tourism, convention and trade shows within the City of Snellville, and specifically encouraging tourism, conventions and trade shows through marketing projects and materials, special events, concerts and other promotion.   Our agreement with the city (section11), states that we are engaged to perform the services of the agreement as an independent contractor and not as an agent of the city.  By the laws that govern our non-profit status we have to be independent.  It is impossible to remain independent if the City is allowed to control the Board of Snellville Tourism and Trade.

The Nomination Committee of Snellville Tourism and Trade, which is chaired by Jon Richards, has met and recommended that the city reappoint Kelly McAloon, Gretchen Schulz and Aysha Cooper to the Snellville Tourism and Trade Board of Directors.  These three current Board members have been instrumental in the success of our organization. 

Kelly McAloon is STAT’s Vice President and has chaired and planned all our major festivals including Star Spangled Snellville, Popcorn in the Park, Snellville Fall Festival, and the Christmas Tree Lighting for the past two years.  She has put in countless hours and has been invaluable to the organization.  Gretchen Schulz has been the leader of the volunteers that run the award winning Farmers Market, she has also volunteered at every event that we have held, and she is heading up the committee for the new Community Garden @ Snellville.  She spends about 30 hours a week as a volunteer for STAT and the Farmers Market.  Aysha Cooper has served as the STAT Board Secretary since its founding and has been a tireless volunteer at every event.  She is chairing a new International Festival for the coming 2012 event schedule.

Our organization has only been active for 18 months, but we have been very well received by the citizens of Snellville.  The three board members above and the other members of the Board have formed a very good team and are very active in the community.  All the current appointees have expressed their strong desire to continue to serve on the Board and continue to work on these events that the community has enjoyed.  It is important to keep this dedicated group of people in a position to continue to guide this organization as it grows out of its infancy.

If you would like to express an opinion please email the mayor and council or come the council meeting on Monday January 9th.  Please go to www.snellville.org to email the mayor and council and to view the agenda for the meeting on Monday. I have attached the agenda item summary for the STAT appointments below.

Thanks

Don Britt
President
Snellville Tourism and Trade
Connecting the Community to Celebrate Snellville

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• To see the council agenda, click here to be taken to Snellville city website.
• To see Patch's other article regarding this matter,