Hello OpenMPE Members:

Each March OpenMPE holds an election for seats on the Board of Directors
(BOD).  OpenMPE has a total of nine Directors.  In keeping with good
practice to assure corporate stability and as required by our Bylaws, the
election terms of members on the Board are staggered.  Each seat on the
Board has a term of service of 2 years.  Thus, approximately half the board
is elected each year.  Members are encouraged to review our corporate
Bylaws which are posted on the openmpe.org website.

With 9 seats on the Board, this means that in even numbered years 5 will be
up for election and in odd numbered years 4 will be subject to election.
This being an even numbered year (2004) requires that we hold an election
for the 5 Board seats expiring in March.  The election is for full 2 year
terms.

As you probably already know, Jon Backus resigned his Board seat (and the
Chair position) effective 12-31-2003.  However, his particular seat on the
Board has a term which ends in 2005.  Paul Edwards was appointed in January
to the BOD (by the BOD) as a replacement to fill out Jon's term.  The Board
makes appointments with individuals known to the Board to be interested in
service on the Board.

When vacancies occur on the Board due to resignation, the Board is
empowered by our Bylaws to fill empty seats by appointment.  Appointments
run until the end of the term for the seat being filled.  It is not
practical to hold elections for partial terms.  The Bylaws are written in
such a way as to encourage the use of the appointment mechanism in order to
maintain a level of 9 active Directors between elections.  A full set of 9
Directors makes it easier to attain quorums for meetings of the Board.
Attaining a quorum can sometimes be a problem since all (unpaid) BOD
members have full time jobs elsewhere.

Our reporting of BOD appointments is not in real-time, since we do so via
approved meeting minutes and also approve website content at subsequent BOD
meetings.  There is therefore a small time delay in announcing appointments
of a week or two, depending on when the Secretary can get the minutes
finished for approval and subject to the webmaster's time to update the
site.  We ask for the understanding of OpenMPE members with respect to the
relative timing between Board actions and our announcement mechanisms.

Currently there are 2 Directors on the BOD which have chosen not to run
for re-election and whose terms expire in March of 2004.  They are
Christian Lheureux and Ken Sletten.  These are 2 open seats which will be
filled by the upcoming election.  As sometimes happens, individuals on the
Board may find that the press of their daily business demands does not
provide them with sufficient time to continue to donate to the OpenMPE
Board.  We would like to take this opportunity to thank Christian and Ken
for their contributions and service on behalf of OpenMPE and wish them well.

Three Directors have terms expiring in 2004 and are running for re-
election to the BOD.  They are: John Wolff, Ron Horner and Donna Garverick.

Therefore, a total of 5 seats will be filled from the election, 2 of which
are open and 3 have incumbents.  Thus, the top 5 vote getters will be
elected to the Board for full 2 year terms.  Please monitor the OpenMPE
website for election mechanics.  We encourage all members to participate.

OpenMPE is fortunate to have individuals in the community willing to serve
on the Board who can find one or 2 hours per week to donate for service.
Good luck and our thanks is extended to to all Board candidates.

John Wolff
Vice Chair of OpenMPE