NAHJ elections offer few surprises

Most of NAHJ’s elections this year were decided long before the polls opened. Seven of the nine seats on the board of directors were uncontested, with several former and current board members running for the various posts.

At the Membership Assembly meeting Thursday, presidential hopeful Rafael Olmeda said he was disappointed with the shortage of candidates.

“Let this be the last time NAHJ has an uncontested presidential race,” Olmeda recalled telling the audience of about 60 people. Olmeda, an NAHJ member for more than a decade, currently is vice president of print and the only candidate for president.

“No one challenged me for the job, but I do expect everyone to challenge me on the job,” he said.

To run for president, candidates must have served on the board of directors and submitted a petition with at least 25 signatures from NAHJ members. Olmeda said the indifference could mean two things:

Either members appreciate the demands of the “intimidating full-time job” and don’t run, or they take for granted that candidates run unopposed and won’t need votes.

But many NAHJ members aren’t confident voting really will have an impact.

“I guess the interest in NAHJ might not extend to who the leadership is,” said Mónica Guzman of Hearst Newspapers.

Guzman says she hasn’t voted because she doesn’t feel she knows the candidates or their positions. She suggested an open forum for each candidate to speak and increase awareness – although she says she wasn’t aware the Membership Assembly was held for that purpose.

Manuel De La Rosa, who is competing against Luis Cruz for vice president of broadcast, says that while board membership is hard work, it’s the only way to move NAHJ forward.

“I think it’s a little disappointing,” De La Rosa said of the lack of interest. “I wish we had more members who were getting involved with the board. At the same time, I’m proud I am in a contested race.”The other contested race is for student representative. The candidates are Christine Show of Syracuse University and David Gregory Combs of the University of Missouri-Columbia.

This is the first year elections were conducted online at www.nahj.org, though paper ballots were available upon request. Aside from Olmeda, the other candidates running unopposed are Sam Diaz, financial officer; Cindy Rodríguez, vice president of print; Elizabeth Zavala, secretary; Gary Piña, at-large officer; Lavonne Luquis, online at-large officer; and Claudio Alvarez-Dunn, Spanish-language at-large officer.

Polls close at noon today, and results will be announced at tonight’s NAHJ Hall of Fame Gala in the Floridian Ballroom of the convention center.

NAHJ’S NEXT LEADER WHO: Rafael Olmeda AGE: 36 OFFICE: President EMPLOYMENT: Assistant city editor, South Florida Sun-Sentinel PLATFORM: Passionate advocacy; increased mentorship for young Hispanic journalists; continued fundraising