By Reiven Douglas
The tension surrounding former Vice President-Print Eva Coleman intensified after she spoke out during the election results announcement Friday.
Shortly after hearing the winners announced, Coleman stood and pushed for NABJ Elections Committee Chair Glenn Rice to publicly share the number of votes cast in her favor, learning that she received 504 votes.
Coleman then turned and addressed the crowd with a two-minute speech that included alleged violations she and her attorney discovered regarding the process leading to her removal from the election ballot.
NABJ members voted Friday morning to overturn the board of directors’ decision and remove her from the ballot, blocking a possible re-election.
The decision came after members at the NABJ business meeting said her role as a lifestyle and culture editor for I Messenger Media is more of a communications job, which they said disqualifies her from the position.
According to the NABJ Constitution, individuals who hold the position must earn a “principal livelihood [that] comes from creating, producing or supervising the creation of journalism.”
“509 votes, 45 voted to de-certify me,” Coleman said to a full but silent room.
“And in consultancy with my attorney, we are wanting you all to know that there were several violations of the organizational bylaws in that decision that was made this morning. Operating procedures Chapter 3, Article 2, Section 4, required to have given notice of the agenda item prior to the meeting that did not take place. It states that the agenda for the annual business meeting must be distributed prior to the meeting. That did not take place…”
Her list of complaints included six alleged violations of the NABJ Constitution and Bylaws before she ended with a plea to the body.
“I ask the body to rescind the vote that took place during the business meeting and recognize the results of this election. So whatever we have to do, please, let’s just show up and do it. Thank you.”
Rice and NABJ President Errin Haines did not respond to the allegations.
Both parties left peacefully after the conclusion of the press conference.
As a result of Coleman’s removal while running unopposed, Haines is slated to appoint someone to fill the vice president-print position.
Be the first to comment