The ‘Meet the Candidates Night’ for the SIPOA Board of Directors and Nominating Committee candidates for the 2019 election was held on January 7, 2019. It was a ‘standing room only’ crowd at the Lake House. Julie McCullough, Board President, started things off encouraging property owners to vote in this upcoming election because all property owners have a stake in how the Island is managed and also because a quorum is required for a valid election. She reminded the audience that in the past several years on the last few days before voting ends, SIPOA staff spend hours tracking down property owners encouraging them to vote in order to meet the quorum….SO, please vote as soon as you get your voting materials, electronically or in the mail.
Julie then turned things over to Bill Bane, who chaired the Nominating Committee and acted as the MC for the night. Bill asked the candidates to start off by giving brief self-introductions. One audience member asked for clarification on the number of positions, length of term, etc. For the Nominating Committee, there are two open 2-year positions and three candidates: Cynthia ‘Cindy’ Brown, Henry ‘Trip’ Devens and Gregory Iaconis. For the Board of Directors, there is one open 1-year position, for which there is one candidate: Ellen Coughlin. There are also four open 3-year positions. Five candidates are running for those: James ‘Jaime’ Geiger, Michael Grabman, Ray Hoover, Thomas Pinckney, and Gordon Weis.
The introductions were followed by questions from the audience that the candidates took turns answering. Questions centered on several themes – – drainage, flooding and the new drainage agreement between the Club and SIPOA, SIPOA and Board communications with the property owners, transparency and advance notice to property owners of items the Board votes on, coastal erosion, and the traffic difficulties on Bohicket/Main Roads. Following the question and answer period, the candidates remained to talk to individual property owners about issues of concern.
–Tidelines Editors