
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 4, 1994                   TAG: 9402040202
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SPCA BOARD REJECTS NEW ELECTION

A petition calling for a new election for the board of directors of the Roanoke Valley Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was unanimously rejected Thursday - by the board itself.

A group of SPCA members submitted a 60-signature petition last month asking for a new election to replace one held in December. A new election, the members said, was needed to remove any question about the legitimacy of the December election.

The petition had been referred to the board's executive committee. The committee, which met last month, recommended Thursday that the board turn down the petition.

Frank Van Balen, board vice president, said the committee's recommendation was based on findings that the bylaws do not call for a re-election at any time. They do, however, allow an individual petition on individual board members, he said.

The committee also decided that a ballot soliciting proxy votes by mail, sent out by the dissenting group before the December election, was unofficial.

The dissenting group had attempted a board shake-up at the December election by offering its own slate of nominees that did not include board President Steve Davidson or other incumbents. The attempt failed, in part because proxy votes the group had secured for its candidates were declared invalid.

The group had solicited votes by proxy for its 25 nominees through a mailing to a majority of SPCA members. About 135 votes were returned.

But Davidson disqualified those proxy votes, saying they were not allowed under the organization's bylaws. Another 84 proxy votes that had been cast for a slate of nominees that included Davidson and other incumbents was deemed allowable.

Davidson and several other incumbent board officers were re-elected.

"It was no more than any of us expected," member Waine Tomlinson said of the board's decision Thursday. "We didn't expect them to agree to a new election."

SPCA members clashed loudly and strongly during the December election. Amid the confusion, some - including the group's lawyer, Jeff Rudd - believe that some procedural mistakes may have been made.

The group's intent, Rudd said, was to remove any negative perceptions of that election and ensure that a fair and proper one was conducted.

by CNB