LONG BEACH RECREATION DOG PARK ASSN.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTION

April 1, 2004

In accordance with the provisions of our Bylaws, three seats on the Board of Directors are up for election this year. Board members serve for three-year terms, and each year one-third of our nine positions is up for election. This year, the three seats up for election are those currently held by Pablo Drobny, Shirlee Hitchcock and Buzz Minnich.

The three candidates who receive the most votes will be installed at the board's August 2004 monthly meeting, following the conclusion of the election at the members annual meeting, Saturday, July 24. Declared candidates and their statements can be found by clicking here.

The election will be overseen by the Nominations & Elections Committee, which is chaired by board member Pablo Drobny.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR NOMINEES

To qualify to be a nominee, an individual must:

• be a member of our association in good standing (dues paid) for a minimum of one year;

• maintain a residence or business within Los Angeles or Orange counties; and

• not have a financial interest in the association or the park itself.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR VOTERS

Members who are in good standing as of the annual members meeting on July 24, 2004, will be considered eligible to vote. Members in good standing as of May 3, 2004, will be mailed ballots. Other eligible members may vote in person at the annual meeting on Saturday, July 24.

THE PROCESS FOR CANDIDATES

Members who wish to be listed on the ballot should submit their name, address, home phone number and email address (if any) to the association's secretary by regular mail, by email to the association's address at [email protected], or to any Board member in person. Also please include your dogs' names - often park-goers know the dogs' names better than they do the owners' names!

Candidates are also urged - but not required - to submit a short bio and a brief campaign statement. Statements should be typed and submitted to the addresses above. Those submitted on disk or by email should be in TXT or DOC format.

Candidates are also urged to submit a picture of themselves with their dog(s). Pictures will be reduced to no larger than 2x2 inches, so get a nice close shot of yourself hugging your dog(s), with your face as close to your dog as you can. Photos will be scanned and returned if requested; photos on disk or submitted by email should be in GIF or JPG format.

Each candidate's platform statement and picture will also be posted at the association's website, www.geocities.com/lbdogpark, when it is received.

BALLOTS

Candidates' names will appear along with their pictures and campaign statements, if supplied. Names will appear on the ballot in the order they are drawn out of a hat at the Board of Directors' May meeting.

VOTING

Voters will have the opportunity to cast votes for as many as four candidates; any ballot cast for more than four candidates will be disqualified. Members may also writein other nominees, who must be voting members in good standing and meet the qualifications for candidacy.

The Nominations and Election Committee has instituted two measures to ensure that nobody casts more than one ballot and that only members in good standing take part:

• Each ballot will have a random number on it to prevent anyone from making duplicate ballots from it. If more than one ballot is returned to the Board with the same number, all ballots with that number will be thrown out. Any returned ballot whose number does not match a list of the numbers placed on those ballots that were mailed out will not be counted. If you lose your ballot, do not copy someone else's - contact the Board for a new one.

• A mail-back envelope will also accompany each ballot with the voter's return address on it. Voters are asked to seal their ballot in that envelope and put their signature over the mail-back envelope's return address.

The committee will check the mail-back envelopes (via the signed return addresses) as they arrive against the association's member list. The envelopes will be opened and placed in one pile, and the numbered ballots will be placed in another. The ballots' numbers will be checked against a list of numbers that was recorded prior to mailing, to ensure that the ballots are valid. Your ballot is private; the Nominations and Elections Committee will not know which voter is linked to which numbered ballot

Returned ballots must be postmarked by July 2, but those handed to the secretary by 10 a.m. at the July 24 annual members meeting will still be added to the count. (The Association's Bylaws also state that the Board will accept ballots by fax. Should this be necessary, voters will have to make individual arrangements with the Board to ensure that their faxed vote is received.)

The results will be announced at the July 24 annual meeting by the president. The ballots and mail-back envelopes will be held 90 days in the event of a protest.