Elections for class B trustees will occur at the 9 a.m. Chautauqua Property Owners Association meeting on Aug. 11 in the Hall of Philosophy. All Chautauqua property owners are eligible to vote, regardless of membership in the CPOA.
Of the 24 members of the Chautauqua Institution Board of Trustees, four must be property owners elected by a vote of the property owners. The remaining 20 trustees are selected by the board itself. Although the four trustees elected by the property owners during the annual CPOA meeting are designated as “class B trustees,” they are full and equal members of the board.
The current vice president of the CPOA, James Vance, said that the grounds upon which a class B trustee is elected have changed over the past few years.
“In the past, the route to becoming a class B trustee was serving on the CPOA board, generally as president of the CPOA,” Vance said. “More recently, the CPOA has codified policies and procedures which require consultation with the main Chautauqua board about what skill they are looking for.”
Additionally, Vance said that it should be made clear that although the class B trustees are property owners and they are elected by property owners, they do not represent the property owners.
“All trustees, class B or class A, serve the board and have a duty of loyalty to the board, not necessarily the property owners,” Vance said.
Each trustee is elected for a four-year term and is eligible to serve two consecutive terms. Every class B trustee must be a property owner, although they do not necessarily need to be a member of the CPOA to be elected.
All nominees for the position of class B trustee must be identified in writing to Rindy Barmore, the executive assistant and corporate secretary at Chautauqua, by Aug. 1.
Typically, the CPOA will nominate or endorse a candidate. For a class B trustee standing for a second term, the CPOA will consult with the Institution Board of Trustees and the class B trustee before deciding on an endorsement.
“Trustees of Chautauqua ideally provide strategic guidance to the Chautauqua administration to promote its sustainability,” Vance said. “We need talented and dedicated trustees; it is an incredibly important position.”
