The Art Alliance of Idyllwild, essentially moribund since the April 15 resignation en masse of its former board, will meet from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 16, at Town Hall to select new officers and relaunch the prestigious nonprofit. No directors from the previous board opted to be candidates for the new board.

Until officers are selected and the new board formally constituted, no business can be conducted nor can anyone speak for the organization other than Interim Director Adrian Adams. Adams, previously attorney for the former board, accepted the position of interim director in order to conduct the election of a new board. Because only 11 candidates presented themselves for the 11 available seats, the election was uncontested and no membership balloting was required.

Adams distributed the agenda for the May 16 meeting. It calls for introduction of new directors, with statements from the directors summarizing their experience and areas of expertise that could be of value to the board; selection of officers; selection of signers on AAI bank accounts; resignation of Interim Director and Administrator Adams; and consideration of a recommendation [from Adams] to amend existing AAI bylaws. Said Adams of existing AAI bylaws, “They need to be amended to bring them current with industry standards. Among the needed changes are: set number of directors [five or seven]; establish term limits; establish annual elections and protocols for conducting elections; create qualifications for directors; establish a process for removal of directors; add a provision for filling vacancies; and add a number of procedural provisions for how boards should function.”

Officers to be selected at the Saturday meeting are president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. Adams’ office clarified that officers, once selected, could appoint chairpersons for any number of committees, but that only four officers will be elected on May 16.

According to Adams, nominations for all officers will be made at the meeting by new directors. Directors then vote by majority of those attending to elect new officers. Adams specified that there could be no director voting by proxy and that only attending directors could vote. He added that directors could attend by telephone if travel plans prohibited them from attending in person. “The board can nominate and elect directors who are not present [at the Saturday meeting],” said Adams. “If at a subsequent meeting one of the newly appointed officers declines, another can immediately be appointed.”

New directors are: Cate, Byron Ely, Darcy Gerdes, Terryann Halloran, Gerry High, Del Marcussen, Erin O’Neill, Shanna Robb, Veda Roubideaux, Peter Szabadi and Barry Zander.

Viewing the composition of the new board and their statements of qualification posted on the AAI website (www.artinidyllwild.org), AAI co-founder Chris Trout observed, “The varied background in this little town of ours is amazing. They [the new board] are committed and just need a little encouragement and support.”