Election Results

Bylaw Changes
Article 5, Section 3. 
Approve 38
Disapprove 13

Article 11
Approve 42
Disapprove 5

Director Election
District 1
John Baglien, Oregon – 6 votes (fills partial term)
Jack Blattner, Idaho – 8 votes (fills full term)

District 2
Jeff Baumann, Missouri – 5 votes
Dennis Sorensen, Illinois – 11 votes

District 3
Michael Jensen, Iowa – 6 votes (fills partial term)
Kathy Krafka Harkema, Iowa – 7 votes (fills full term)

District 4
Randy Hodges, Michigan – 8 votes
Isaac Swortzel, Virginia – 10 votes

2024 Proposed Bylaw Changes
Listed below are the proposed changes to the United Suffolk Sheep Association bylaws. Both the current language and proposed amendment are presented and will be voted on by the membership fall of 2024.

The USSA Board has proposed the following amendments to the USSA Bylaws, the following is an introductory explanation:

Article 11. This article addresses publication of the Rules of Registry, and currently states that the rules of registry “…shall be published on all applications for registration and transfer.”  This Bylaw is outdated as we are now registering online through Digital Suffolk or in jot forms, or other electronic means. The amendment allows USSA to publish the rules of registry on our website, with paper copies being able to be obtained by members that request paper copies.

Article 5, Section 3. Directors and districts. This section currently states that the 12 directors will be elected from four districts, based on membership, and instructs that the board “…shall review and revise” the district alignments “periodically and not less than every 5 years” to equalize membership in each district. This language has led to some problems and complications each time we redistrict. During director election season, finding director candidates that have the time and capacity to serve our members, there have been elections where there have not been volunteers to run for available director seats.  The Bylaws were written at a time before the internet, email, cell phones, text messaging and Zoom calls were standard business tools and modes of communication. As directors, we do communicate nationally with members that want to address how our organization can serve our members. The proposed districting in this amendment sets two geographical districts, one east and one west of the Mississippi. The Board believes that this will make more sense as we move into the future, and allow our organization and the directors to serve the membership more effectively.

INFORMATIONAL ZOOM: A Zoom call has been scheduled with the Bylaws committee for further explanation, and will give USSA members the opportunity to ask questions or comment on these changes. This zoom is set for Wednesday, September 11 at 7 pm central.   All are welcome to join us.

Join Zoom Meeting
Access via computer: Click to join via Computer
Access by phone: Call 1-305-224-1968
Meeting ID: 824 0900 5667
Passcode: 183365

PROPOSED BYLAW AMENDMENTS

Article V. DIRECTORS

Current Language:
Article V. DIRECTORS
Section 3. Term of Office. The twelve members of the Board of Directors shall be elected from four districts. Three Directors shall be elected from each district. The four districts shall be initially established as follows:  District 1. Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Montana and South Dakota. District 2. Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. District 3. North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin. District 4. Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. To provide equal representation for all members, each district shall have approximately the same average number of voting members represented by each Director. The Directors shall periodically and not less than every 5 years, review and revise each district by moving one or more states to contiguous districts in order to equalize membership representation in each district.

The term of office of the Directors shall be three years and until their successors are elected and take office. Nothing contained herein shall preclude a member of the Board of Directors from succeeding himself or herself, except that no person shall consecutively serve more than two three-year terms. Following service of two consecutive three-year terms, a member would again be eligible for election to the Board of Directors at the first election following the end of the most recent term served by that former Director. Not more than two Directors residing in any one state may serve on the Board at any one time. All Directors must reside in the district in which they represent unless there has been a realignment of the district, as set out in this Section 3, during the Director’s term of office.  In the event of realignment, a Director, whose state is realigned into a different district, shall continue to serve the district from which he or she was originally elected until the expiration of that Director’s term of office. Any resulting conflict with these bylaws caused by realignment, such as the number of Directors required per district, shall be waived and accepted until the entire realignment process is complete.

Proposed New Language:
Article V. DIRECTORS
Section 3. Term of Office.  The twelve members of the Board of Directors shall be elected from two geographic districts.  Six Directors shall be elected from each district.  States located east of the Mississippi River will constitute the East District and states located west of the Mississippi River shall constitute the West District including the entire state of Minnesota. Members located outside the United States shall be included in West District.

The term of office of the Directors shall be three years and until their successors are elected and take office.  Nothing contained herein shall preclude a member of the Board of Directors from succeeding himself or herself except that no person shall consecutively serve more than two three-year terms. After two consecutive terms as a Director, a member is once again eligible to run for the Board term that begins one year after the completion of their most recent term. No more than two Directors residing in any one state may serve on the Board at any one time and all Directors must reside in the district which they represent unless there has been a realignment of the district during the Director’s term of office. 

In the event of realignment, a Director, whose state is realigned into a different district, shall continue to serve the district from which he or she was originally elected until the expiration of that Director’s term of office.  Any resulting conflict with these bylaws caused by realignment, such as the number of Directors required per district, shall be waived and accepted until the entire realignment process is complete.

ARTICLE XI.      RULES OF REGISTRY.

 Current Language:
ARTICLE XI.      RULES OF REGISTRY.
The Board of Directors shall establish Rules of Registry, which shall be printed on all applications for registration and transfer. The Rules of Registry may be amended or added to from time to time at the discretion of the Board of Directors. It shall be the duty of each member of the Association to obtain from the Association Application for Registry and Transfer forms with the most recent Rules of Registry printed thereon and to abide by the Rules of Registry.

Proposed New Language:
ARTICLE XI. RULES OF REGISTRY
The Board of Directors shall establish and enforce Rules of Registry. The Rules of Registry shall enumerate the standards for eligibility for the registration of Suffolk sheep in the Association. The Rules of Registry shall be written, published and made available to the membership online at the Association’s website and made available in printed form upon request of a member. The Rules of Registry may be amended at the discretion of the Board of Directors.

2024 Director Election Candidates
District 1
click to view district 1 candidate bios
John Baglien, Oregon
Jack Blattner, Idaho

District 2
click to view district 2 candidate bios
Jeff Baumann, Missouri
Dennis Sorensen, Illinois

District 3
click to view district 3 candidate bios
Michael Jensen, Iowa
Kathy Krafka Harkema, Iowa

District 4
click to view district 4 candidate bios
Randy Hodges, Michigan
Isaac Swortzel, Virginia

Director Openings
District 1 – one 3-year term, one 2-year term
District 2 – one 3-year term
District 3 – one 3-year term, one 2-year term
District 4 – one 3-year term

Intent to run submission deadline is August 1.

PLEASE NOTE USSA DISTRICTS BELOW.

For eligibility requirements, review the USSA Bylaws here.

If you or a USSA member you know would like to be a candidate for the upcoming USSA Directors elections, here’s a brief overview of your next steps:

• Submit a letter of intent declaring that you are willing to be a candidate for the USSA Board of Directors Election. Candidates for a director’s position shall be delivered to the USSA office a letter or correspondence via email stating intent to seek election as a director in the organization by August 1 of that year. Phone calls are not acceptable.
• Within one week of the deadline, candidates must submit a brief personal bio as well as a photo to the USSA Office. The personal bio should be approximately one-half of an 8 ½ x 11 page. The content of candidate bios should discuss the candidate’s qualifications, reasons they feel they are a good director candidate and any thoughts/ideas they may have on improving the association and Suffolk breed. Candidates who do not submit a personal bio and photo will only have their name listed on the election ballot.