Greenbelt News Review

Brautigam, Kasko New on GHI Board
by Al Solkink

Two newcomers broke the ranks of the incumbents in the balloting for the Greenbelt Homes, Inc. board of directors at the annual membership meeting, March 16 and 17. Henry Brautigam, in his first attempt at running for elective office, not only finished in the charmed circle, but emerged as top vote gatherer with 326 votes out of a possible 468 ballots cast.

Paul R. Kasko, the other winning newcomer, polled 223 votes, which was sufficient to nail down the ninth spot for him. The other candidates who won spots on the 9-man board of directors, in descending order of votes, were:
Edward A. Burgoon 312
Lloyd L. Moore 274
Hans Jorgensen 273
Allen D. Morrison 260
George M. Eshbaugh 259
Frank J. Lastner 253
Bruce Bowman 250

Under the by-laws adopted by the membership at the annual meeting, Brautigam, Burgoon, Moore, and Jorgensen will serve for two years. The remaining five victors will serve for just one year, until the next annual election in May, 1961. (The membership voted to shift the annual meeting time from March to May.)

Two incumbents of the present board - Percy H. Andros and Elliott A. Bukzin - failed to win re-election. Andros finished tenth with 196 votes and Bukzin twelfth with 186 votes. Other unsuccessful candidates with their votes were Cyril M. Kovalchik (193), Ben Goldfaden (183), George E. Schaefer, Jr. (175), and Joseph C. Cherry (122).

In previous years, there would have been a run-off election for the ninth spot between Kasko and Andros, since neither candidate obtained a majority -- 235 -- of the votes cast. Under a by-law change adopted by the membership last week, however, the plurality system of voting whereby those candidates receiving the highest number of votes are declared winners, was substituted for the majority system.

Other Results
Emerging victorious from the four-sided contest for the 3-man audit committee were Charles Cormack, Sr. (313), William P. Helm 2(54), and Mrs. Carolyn Fowle Green (223). Bernard Fritz, whose name was entered into the contest after the ballots were printed, received 133 write-in votes. Those elected will serve for one year.

Elected unanimously to the nominations and elections committee were Beverley Fonda, George W. Adams, Steve Polaschik, George M. Townsend, 51-D Ridge, and Amos M. White, 2-A Westway. The last two were nominated from the floor and had not served previously on the committee.

The number of votes cast - 468 -- was the second highest in the history of the co-op, surpassed only by the record 536 votes registered in the 1954 election. Of the 468 votes, 244 were cast by residents of brick homes and 224 by residents of frame homes. Over 1,500 GHI members -- approximately 1,000 in the frame and 550 in the brick - were eligible to vote. Thus, the proportion of brick residents voting was almost twice as great as that of frame residents.

Officers
The organization of the new board will take place at the board's regularly scheduled meeting tonight. The board elects its officials president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer - independent of the popular vote in the election. Under another by-law change voted by the membership, the three offices of president, secretary, and treasurer will receive an annual salary of $750 -- an increase of $250 over the previous rate. The other board members will receive $500, an increase of $100.

Annual Meeting
GHI officials were pleased at the turnout for both the annual meeting and the election, which represented quite an improvement over last year's situation when 274 votes were cast and only 110 members showed up at the evening meeting. Last Wednesday, almost 200 members (including proxies) braved the wintry blasts to give GHI its first quorum attended meeting since October, 1957. Among the accomplishments of the evening, the membership voted to lower the quorum requirement from 10 per cent of the membership to 5 per cent and to provide, in case a quorum fails to show, for the calling of a future meeting at which time the members present, regardless of numbers, shall constitute a quorum for purposes of transacting official business.

Authority was granted the co-op to use available funds to finance resales and home improvements and to invest reserve monies in securities approved by the Probate Court of the District of Columbia.

Resolutions were passed requesting more stringent controls of dogs by municipal authorities and opposing the request of a local business man for a license to operate a liquor store in Greenbelt.

The board was given permission to hold one meeting a month in June, July, and August. Previous by-laws required two meetings every month.

Only one by-law change recommended by the board was turned down by the membership. This involved a summary statement of principles of operation to be added to the by-laws. The opposition felt that the statement was worded in too vague a manner and added nothing to the by-laws.