This is your reminder that Governor nominations are open from now until October 25. Also, regarding the Bylaws change, our lawyer confirmed he is okay with the modifications I made (listed below) to the language he originally provided. On 2026-10-04 23:18, Richard Laager wrote:
The MICE UG 50 meeting will be held Wednesday, October 28, 3:00 pm at UMN and via Zoom.
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*Governor Nominations
*We will be holding an election for a board seat. The board consists of three seats with staggered terms, such that one seat comes up for re-election each year (at the fall meeting). This year Anthony Anderberg is up for election.
As in the past, we will close nominations in advance of the meeting so people have a chance to instruct a proxy appropriately. Nominations will be open for two weeks, October 12 - October 25. I plan to send reminder emails approximately at the start of and just after the nomination period.
In the event that the election is uncontested, our practice is to elect by acclimation at the meeting. Proxies are unnecessary in that situation, assuming that the meeting makes quorum.* *
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*Bylaws Change*
I have added to the agenda a bylaws change. The idea is that we should prohibit governors (board members) who are family members or affiliated (e.g. work for the same company). We have long done prohibited affiliated /members/ from having multiple votes. It seems like we should also have this for our 3 person board of governors, where two affiliated governors would constitute a quorum and a majority. I believe we have a board consensus on the general idea.
Attached is the proposed change. Aside from incrementing the "Second" to "Third" in the title, and the renumbering of sections, all of the changes are on page 6, to the existing Governors section 2.2 and adding a new 2.3. The language is from our lawyer, with the following changes by me. The first change by me is substantive; the rest are typographical. I've asked our lawyer to comment on those changes.
1. I added "employee" so it reads, "There will be deemed to be “Multiple Representation” if two governors shall either be an _employee, _officer, director, governor, or manager of or shall have a controlling interest in a single organization or its Affiliates." 2. Our lawyer left the title of the first section as "Number; Qualifications". I dropped "Qualifications", since that is moving to the new section. 3. Our lawyer wrote, "Governors shall be natural persons, but governors need not be members." I kept the two sentences exactly as they are now: "Governors shall be natural persons. Governors need not be members." (Note that we prohibit natural persons as members, so naturally governors cannot be members directly.) 4. Our lawyer wrote, "if (a) such person Family Member of another governor". I added the missing "is a": "such person _is a_ Family Member".
SIX did the same thing. They said, "In light of a recent industry election in which a single employer was close to having two representatives on a Board with five seats, the SIX Board & Advisors have drafted a Bylaws revision to prevent such a risk at the SIX."
*Proxies * The bylaws state that you send proxies to the Chief Manager (me, Richard Laager), and electronic means are acceptable. So a simple email is sufficient: rlaager@micemn.net or chiefmanager@micemn.net.
If you send a vote by email (e.g. "We vote for <X>."), I will treat it as an a proxy appointment, appointing me to vote on your behalf, but restricted to only the election item and to only vote for the candidate you expressed.
Likewise, if you submit something for the bylaws change (e.g. "We vote in favor of the bylaws change.").
If you send a proxy with different instructions (e.g. "We appoint <Y> to vote for us."), obviously that will be honored as written.
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*UMN Details* (from David Farmer)
Room 120 2829 University Avenue SE Minneapolis, MN 55414
https://campusmaps.umn.edu/university-park-plaza https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZgoeDvzJzUZU98Bg6
This is about 6 blocks east of the old location on University Avenue SE, just west of the US Post Office. It is next to the Prospect Park-Green Line Light Rail Station, which is just to the east of the building.
Building Access: The building's main exterior doors are University card-access only. However, Room 120 has a separate exterior door just off the main entrance, to the right (east), up the exterior stairs on the University Avenue side of the building. After 2:30, knock on that door, and someone will let you in. Otherwise, if you are early, can't get into the building, or can't find the door mentioned, call me on my cell at 612-812-9952.
Parking: The Prospect Park Ramp, with public parking, is behind the building, on the corner of 4th ST SE and 29th Ave SE, and there is metered parking along 4th Street SE. There is also limited short-term visitor and handicap parking in a small lot on the east side of the Building; park there at your own risk.
https://pts.umn.edu/park-and-drive/general-information/facilities/prospect-p...
Nearby Lodging Option: There are two Hotels across the street.
Hampton Inn & Suites Minneapolis University Area https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/mspuahx-hampton-suites-minneapolis-universi...
Home2 Suites by Hilton Minneapolis University Area https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/msptcht-home2-suites-minneapolis-university...
-- Richard Laager Chief Manager, Director Midwest Internet Cooperative Exchange LLC