Two gay Wellington men have been elected onto the Trust Board of the NZ AIDS Foundation at this afternoon's Annual General Meeting. NZAF AGM: Existing Board members Richard James, Mark Hendrickson, Paul Bohmer and Hamish Allardice The vacancies were filled by Alistair Cameron, Senior Solicitor in the Public Law team at Buddle Findlay, who received 46 votes, and Mike Roguski, a health sector consultant, who gained 25 votes. Only just missing out on joining the board were Daniel Eakins who received 23 votes and Jacquie Grant with 22. Joseph Randall received 20 votes, Howard Alchin and Nikora Nitro had 10 each and Mama Tere-Strickland received 7. Cameron and Roguski will join the existing Trust Board Chair Mark Henrickson, Deputy Chair Paul Bohmer and Board members Hamish Allardice, Peter Browne and Richard James. By the terms of the recently approved trust deed four of the Foundation's seven Trust Board members must be elected by the membership, the remainder can be appointed. "We have seen a large increase in the membership of the NZAF and to have eight people willing to devote over a thousand hours on a voluntary basis to the occasionally dry business of governance is very humbling," says Henrickson. "We feel very fortunate to have had eight nominees with a high level of skill, talent and community engagement that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve." Neither of the successful candidates was present at the AGM, but two of the unsuccessful candidates have expressed concerns following the announcement of the voting results. Strickland told the meeting that she was concerned by the continuing absence of Maori on the board, while Grant said after the AGM that she believes the level of voting, and the lack of follow-through from those in the glbt community who had expressed support for her candidacy and reasons for standing, indicates the Foundation has a "very poor buy-in from the community it should be representing and serving." In recent months the number of members of the Foundation has grown to 330, up from 158 a year ago. Although only 85 members sent in their postal votes, the Foundation's Executive Director says the proportion of votes to members is consistent with the voting levels she has seen in similar organisations.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 29th November 2008 - 8:09pm