The referendum provision in the WSBA Bylaws is an important one — It allows for a vote of the membership on certain actions taken by the Board of Governors. Currently, a member referendum may reverse a final Board action, modify a final Board action, enact a resolution, or amend the WSBA Bylaws.
Because of its critical and nuanced nature, the referendum provision was carved out of the scope of work given to a Bylaws Review Work Group in 2016; instead, the Board of Governors created a separate Referendum Process Review Work Group in May 2017 to specifically tackle this topic.
The group’s work is just getting underway. Members — including four Board of Governor members, four at-large WSBA members, and three former Board of Governor members — are tasked with reviewing the current referendum process and drafting suggested amendments for Board consideration by January 2018. Appropriately enough, one of the work group’s primary responsibilities is soliciting and collecting as much input as possible from WSBA members to provide input for their recommendation.
Toward that end, please email sherryl@wsba.org with your thoughts, ideas, and concerns about the WSBA referendum provision and process.
Learn more:
Referendum Process Review Work Group Charter
Referendum Process Review Work Group Roster
Sara Niegowski. Sara is Chief Communications and Outreach Officer at the WSBA, leading a team dedicated to connecting with and responding to YOU! She’s worked in newspapers and K-12 education. She believes the legal profession is one of the most important foundations to our society, it’s okay to eat pizza for breakfast, and the zipper-merge needs to be embraced by all drivers. Reach her at saran@wsba.org.
