At the UUA General Assembly in Portland June 22-26 the UUCS Delegates are Sara Pickett, Ben Cavaletto, Barbara Stebbins-Boaz, Bob Muir, and Joel Martin.

Results of June 11 meeting on bylaws of the UUA Amendments, from Sara Pickett.

See comments by Sara Pickett, who attended a virtual discussion for delegates June 8, 2022.

One of the things the delegates will vote on is candidates for the UUA Board of Trustees. The candidates are Beverly Seese and Rebecca Mattis. Visit their websites:  BeverlySeeseUU.Blogspot.com  and  RebeccaMattisUU.blogspot.com to learn about their backgrounds and campaign platforms.

Excerpts from UUA resolutions requiring a vote:

Proposed Business Resolution 1: Renewing UUA Bylaws

Unitarian Universalism is called to more effective and powerful leadership to create spirit-filled, liberating, inclusive, and holistic communities that foreshadow the world of our dreams: communities that have dismantled white supremacy culture, and all forms of oppression, and communities where everyone can thrive.
The current bylaws fundamentally constrain our ability to reimagine General Assembly in ways that have long been called for by delegates.
Therefore the 2022 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association calls on the UUA Board of Trustees to conduct a thorough review and rewrite of the UUA Bylaws. This review should involve stakeholders in collaborative discernment and conversation about considered changes. These new bylaws should create a governance system that supports the UUA in accountably achieving its mission and aspirations consistent with our core values.

Article 2: Study Commission charged to renew Article 2 of the UUA bylaws

These values and goals should guide the new bylaws framework: a. Reflect our theological commitment to liberation and inclusion b. Provide accountability to our long-standing anti-racist and anti-oppressive commitments c. Create flexibility, allowing for innovation and experimentation d. Provide clarity of role and authority among leaders and groups that support diverse leadership e. Enhance meaningful participation in governance by UU congregations, delegates, stakeholders. f. Address foundational areas of governance required in bylaws, leaving details of policy and procedures to documents that can be revised between General Assemblies. g. Written in plain language to be understandable and clear. Finally, the hope of the 2022 General Assembly is that substantial bylaw replacement will be brought to the General Assembly for consideration at the 2023 and/or 2024 General Assembly

Proposed Business Resolution 2: General Assembly Planning Committee

The Commission on Institutional Change, in their report, “Widening the Circle of Concern,” recommended that the Board of Trustees examine the bylaws of the Association with the purpose of streamlining and clarifying the Association’s governance structure.
The Board of Trustees has proposed a multi-year process to rewrite the Association’s bylaws. One of the guiding principles of the proposed bylaw revision is to separate the governance responsibilities of the elected Board of Trustees (and their committees) from the implementation responsibilities of the Association staff and staff volunteers. In particular to acknowledge the need for flexibility in structure and recruitment of volunteers based on skills needed in General Assembly for a multi-platform structure (hybrid model of in-person and virtual)

Proposed UUA Bylaw Rule Change G-9.13.10: Election Campaign Practices Committee

(a) An Election Campaign Practices Committee is hereby established and shall consist of three persons to be appointed by the Board of Trustees for a term of two years each, and the Secretary, ex-officio, without vote. The Board shall designate one of the appointed members to chair the Committee. The appointed members’ terms shall begin at the close of General Assembly in odd numbered years. The Board may appoint an individual to fill a vacancy in membership of the Committee; persons appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve the balance of the vacating member’s term. Persons appointed to the Committee shall remain neutral in elections held while they are serving and shall not engage in electioneering. Persons who seek nomination pursuant to Bylaw Sections 9.4, 9.5, or 9.6 are ineligible to serve on the Committee once they begin seeking nomination and shall be deemed to have resigned from the Committee effective upon seeking nomination if they are then serving.

Delegate note: There is some concern about this essentially “Nominating Committee”. That in striving for needed diversity and equity, they may be setting things up so that it will become difficult to become a candidate for a position and they have the right to place someone in a position if there is only one applicant. While this notion may work in a small congregation like UUCS, where frequently our own great Nominating Committee is struggling to find volunteers for positions, in the larger realm of the UUA business, it might serve them as well as us better if they worked on making sure there was more than one candidate for an election. It will be interesting to see how this plays out both at GA and in the coming years.