The Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce is seeking nominations for three vacant seats on the organization’s board of directors.
Any member of the chamber in good standing is eligible for consideration to the board, reads a Sept. 24 email to chamber members. Any member interested in serving on the board of directors can fill out a nomination form, or nominate someone else by using the same form. The nomination form is found within the email sent by chamber CEO Brittney Sherman to chamber members.
The three board seats were left vacant earlier this summer. Two former board members—Sunday Minnich and Dan Keith—were voted off the board Aug. 31 after they posted offensive content on social media that was visible to members and other directors, according to sources.
Then on Sept. 2, former chamber board chair Rich Firato resigned from the board after volunteering for the organization for 10 years. He said his resignation was unrelated to the board’s decision to remove Keith and Minnich. Rather, Firato said he resigned because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the chamber’s fundraising and entertainment activities—the programs he has enjoyed the most as a board member.
The current chamber board chair is Armando Garcia. There are a total of 17 seats on the chamber’s board of directors, of which 14 are occupied.
Chamber staff is receiving nomination forms for the three vacant seats now until 5pm Sept. 30. Interviews will be scheduled for Oct. 12, and the existing board members will vote on the new directors Oct. 22.
The new directors will assume their roles as of Nov. 1, for three-year terms.
A description of the volunteer board of directors position reads, “The job of an individual Board Director is to participate as part of the Board team to accomplish the mission of the organization. Each Board Director offers a diverse community perspective to the organization and is expected to likewise represent the organization back into the community. Each Director shall perform the full duties of a Director, including duties as a member of any committee of the Board upon which the Director may serve, in good faith, in a manner such director believes to be in the best interests of the corporation, and with such care, including reasonable inquiry, as an ordinary prudent person in a like position would use under similar circumstances.”
Board members are expected to attend monthly chamber board meetings, at least nine regular chamber programs each year and participate in the annual board planning session every January, says the Sept. 24 email.
