Patton State Hospital Facility Chief Runoff Protest Response

11/15/2018

 The Election Committee has considered the following protest questions regarding the Patton State Hospital Facility Chief 2nd Election and our responses are as follows:

 

  1. Was each protest received within the 10-day deadline as stated in Appendix D Section 4 of the election manual?

Yes. The dual protest was received on October 9, 2018.

 

  1. Did each protester individually submit a protest?

No. There is no mention in any of the AFSCME reference materials that requires protests be separate.

  

  1. What was the date for each protest submitted by protesters?

The dual protest was received on October 9, 2018.

  

  1. What are the names of each member who submitted a protest?

There is no mention in any of the AFSCME reference materials that requires names of the protestors be provided.

  

  1. In what format did each protester submit their protest e.g., email, certified letter?

The dual protest was received via fax and signed by both parties.

 

  1. Was the election committee provided with evidence by each protester e.g., postmarked envelope ?

No. The Election Committee does not require members provide proof that they did not receive their first ballot when requesting a duplicate ballot.

  

  1. Did the committee rely on hearsay or evidence to make the decision for a new election?

The Election Committee made this decision based on the AFSCME Local Union Election Manual (p. 25).

  

  1. Can the committee provide a convincing reason to the Patton constituents that a new election is required based on evidence and the election manual rules?

Due to the close nature of this race and limited amount of voters, the two protester’s votes could have changed the outcome of this election as there were only 2 votes separating the candidates. The AFSCME Local Union Election Manual, (p. 25) allows for a new election to be held if the protest could have affected the outcome of the election.

  

  1. Who is responsible for initially sending the incorrect ballots to each protester and is there a “postmarked envelope and ballot” as evidence?

The Elections Committee in conjunction with the office staff. The Election Committee does not require members to provide proof that they did not receive their first ballot when requesting a duplicate ballot.

  

  1. Who is responsible for allegedly not sending the correct ballots in a timely manner?

The Elections Committee in conjunction with the office staff mail out ballots.

  

  1. Is there a record of the date and manner of request by each protester for the correct ballot e.g. by mail, phone, email?

Prior to the last date to request a duplicate ballot, the protesters submitted via email their requests for a new ballot.

 

  1. Why was each protest with protesters names never officially posted within the 10-day deadline following the election?

There is no mention in any of the AFSCME reference materials that requires names of the protestors to be provided. In addition, The Election Committee has 30 days to respond to any given protest.

 

  1. To show transparency why was the election committee’s response to the protests never publicly posted on the website for members to review?

There is no mention in any of the AFSCME reference materials that requires protests and/or responses to protests to be publicly posted.

  

In Unity,

 

/s/: Lenaea Sanders 

Election Committee Chair

Election Committee

/s/: Cathy Sapata

/s/: Foresteen Forbes

/s/: Rene Eller

Northern Vice-President Protest

11/15/2018

Response to Protest regarding the Northern Vice President Election To the members of the Elections Committee,

This is a protest regarding the general election for Northern Vice-President. I am filing a protest under Article V, Section 4 of the AFSCME Local 2620 Constitution. (I have copied this Article below for your reference.) As shown below, this article states that any representative designated as “northern” (in my case, the Northern Vice-President) must have a work address above the line stated, whereas all representatives designated as “southern” shall have a work address south of this line. During this election, ballots for Northern Vice-President were sent to members whose work addresses are south of this line. Historically, members who work south of the designated line did not vote for the Northern Vice-President because those members work outside of the region listed. As the Northern Vice-President is NOT an at-large position, members whose work addresses are south of this line should only have been able to vote for Southern Vice-President.

The Election Committee has considered this protest and our decision is as follows:

The request for the election of the Northern Vice-President be re-run is denied based on the answers below.

The specified Article that you have referenced pertains to “all elected representatives,” and the Duly Elected Northern and Southern Vice President “have a work address which is north of an east-west line drawn across California, which intersects the cities of Owenyo and Avila Beach, and the “southern” representative shall have a work address south of this line.” In addition, nowhere in the Article you referenced does it stipulate that members only be allowed to vote according to the Northern/Southern boundary lines, as you can see below.

For the purpose of this constitution, all elected representatives designated as “northern” shall have a work address which is north of an east-west line drawn across California, which intersects the cities of Owenyo and Avila Beach, and the “southern” representative shall have a work address south of this line (Constitution for AFSCME Local Union 2620, page 3).

In addition, the runoff election is a continuation of the General Election and the office of Northern and Southern Vice Presidents were on the General Ballot with the same rules for candidacy and were sent to the membership at large. At the time of the initial election, there were no issues raised about the appropriateness of the entire membership voting on these positions.

 

In Unity,

Election Committee Chair

/s/: Lenaea Sanders

Election Committee

/s/: Cathy Sapata

/s/: Foresteen Forbes

/s/: Rene Eller

Protest regarding Patton State Hospital Facility Chief Steward Election

(The following message was emailed to membership email addresses on file via Constant Contact on November  2 at 6:30am)
Attention:
There was a protest filed regarding the Facility Chief Steward election for Patton State Hospital.
Two members reported that they were sent incorrect ballots and did not receive the correct ballots in a timely manner and therefore were not provided with an opportunity to vote.
Based on these reports, the Election Committee has upheld the protest and a new election must be conducted for the affected Members.
The ballots will be sent via postal mail based on the timelines listed in the last runoff ballot.
Patton State Hospital members, please stay tuned for more information regarding this.
Thank you

Regional Chief Steward Runoff Election Results

Official Runoff Ballot Results

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

Local 2620

 

Notice of October 29, 2018 Final Election Results for the following:

Regional Chief Stewards Runoff

 

The results are certified as follows:

 Region III

Chelsea Harris 42 (duly elected)
Georgeta Tanase 17

59 ballots were received.

 

Region VI

Alice Juarez 25
David Tepperman 30 (duly elected)

55 ballots were received.

 

Region VIII

Belinda Gilmer *27
*Mark Herrera *27
No Vote   1
Voted for both candidates   1

56 ballots were received.

 

*Candidate Mark Herrera has notified the Elections Committee, he no longer wishes to run for the position of Region VIII Chief Steward. Therefore, Belinda Gilmer is duly elected.

 

October 30, 2018

 

The Elections Committee:

/s/ Lenaea Sanders, Chair, Northern Region

Rene Eller, Central Region

/s/ Foresteen Forbes, Southern Region

Cathy Sapata, Northern Region

 

 

 

 

 

General Election Runoff Results

Official Runoff Ballot Results

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

Local 2620

 Notice of October 29, 2018 Final Election Results for the following:

General Election Runoff

 

A total of 380 General Ballots were received. The results are certified as follows:

 Northern Vice President

Mildred Ingram 238 (duly elected)
Adriel Reyes 139
No Votes     3

 

Secretary

Emiko Betty Bell 121
Kathryn Manness 244 (duly elected)
No Votes   15

 

TOTAL NUMBER OF ENVELOPES RECEIVED FROM THE POST OFFICE………………..423

ENVELOPES NOT OPENED FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

Envelopes meant  for  prior election 10
No names on the envelopes and no signature   3
Name on envelope not printed and signature unreadable   1
Envelopes with printed  name with no signature   2
Ballots noted to be out of the secret ballot  11
Envelopes sent to wrong mailbox address    2
Membership cards    3

 

TOTAL NUMBER OF ENVELOPES OPENED……………………………………….428

ENVELOPES OPENED BUT BALLOTS  NOT COUNTED FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

Envelopes opened and ballots found for prior election 2
Secret envelopes were signed 4
Sealed secret envelope was empty 1

 

October 30, 2018

The Elections Committee:

/S/ Lenaea Sanders, Chair, Northern Region

Rene Eller, Central Region

/s/ Foresteen Forbes, Southern Region

Cathy Sapata, Northern Region