The VAST Annual Meeting is approaching. As you all know, it is at the annual meeting that the membership votes to elect our officers. Officers from last year that will be running for their office again include:

• Tim Mills, VAST President
• Jeff Fay, VAST Vice President
• Jim Hill, VAST Secretary

The position below is in need of being filled so nominations need to be made by at least one person:

The position of VAST Treasurer that has been held by Tom Baltrus for the past few years, is being vacated. Tom and Carol will now be spending their winters out west with family and enjoying warmer temps. This could leave us with an open officer position unless some folks run for it.

Being an officer of VAST is a leadership position. This differs from a county director position, as officers do not have official board voting rights, so their role is to be more contemplative guides to the board of directors. If you would like to run for any position their descriptions are listed below. These descriptions include what is in the bylaws, as well as traditionally what can be expected in those positions (found bold and italicized).

The duties of the President are to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors, preside at meetings of the Board, be an Ex-Officio member of all committees except nominating, provide active leadership for the Association, and carry out the recommendations of the Board of Directors. The President, in conjunction with the VAST Executive Director, shall appoint committees as necessary to assure the proper function of this Association. All committees shall be reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors. The President shall not chair any committees. The President as mentioned is an ex-officio member of all committees, so can and often does attend most committee meetings to lend guidance, as well as vote at committee meetings if they choose to. This position is a thoughtful one and meant as a guide to the organization and works closely with the executive director and vice president. This is a position of leadership in the organization and will attend events as needed to represent the organization.

The duties of the Vice-President are to officiate in the absence of the President and to assist the President in carrying out the duties of the office.  The Vice President may serve as archivist for the Association. The vice president has freedom to attend any committee meeting he/she chooses to and can chair or sit on any with full voting rights at the committee level. This is a position of leadership in the organization and will attend events as needed to represent the organization.

The duties of the Secretary are to keep or cause to be kept, a permanent record of the minutes of all Regular, and Special Meetings of the Board of Directors as well as the Annual Meeting of the Association. He/she shall make or cause to be made, all required notices of meetings of the Association and the Board of Directors.  He/she shall be available, if called upon, to handle official correspondence for the Officers and the Board of Directors. In this position, the Secretary may also be a member of a committee if he/she chooses to. This is a position of leadership in the organization and will attend events as needed to represent the organization.

The duties of the Treasurer are to maintain or cause to be maintained all accounts of the Association, have charge of its funds, and review all expenditures within approved budgets.  He/she or his/her designate shall deposit, in a timely manner, all sums received in any bank, which shall be designated by the Board of Directors in the name of the Association.  He/she shall disburse the funds of the Association under the direction of the Board of Directors.  He/she shall cause a certified audit to be made at least annually and submitted to the membership at their Annual Meeting. The Treasurer shall serve as the Chair of the Fiscal Committee. This is a position of leadership in the organization and will attend events as needed to represent the organization. The person in this position should have a good understanding of budgets and corporate fiscal duties. The Treasurer works closely with the executive director on all financial aspects of the association as needed and as your own commitment allows.

Should you be interested in running for a position, you should contact the Chair of the Nominating and Awards Committee, Dave Ladd at 802-735-7885 or snospringerdave@comcast.net. He may request your formal nomination in writing.

If you have questions about any of the positions feel free to reach out to any of the following:

• Tim Mills (VAST President) at 802-342-8884, timmills1@myfairpoint.net
• Jeff Fay (VAST Vice President) at 802-238-2037, jfayvast@comcast.net
• Cindy Locke (VAST Executive Director) at 802-730-2461, cindy@vtvast.org