Lavin joins E. Board; petitioning begins for other vacant seats

Pat Lavin was elected in March to fill a mid-term vacancy in PEF Executive Board Seat 415, and a new round of special elections will begin in April to fill at least three more new vacancies on the board.

Lavin defeated Diane Sullivan in balloting that ended March 11.
Seat 415 represents certain members at the state Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services statewide, including all 13 alcoholism treatment centers and all administrative offices.

The three new board vacancies are:
• Seat 145, which represents certain members at the state Division of Parole in PEF Regions 1-9;
• Seat 435, which represents certain members at the state Office of Children and Family Services in PEF Region 8, except for those at Cass Residential and Brookwood Residential facilities; and
• Seat 540, which represents certain members at National Development and Research Inc in New York city and at Lockport Hospital in western New York.

Nominating petitions for these seats will be available in PEF regional offices beginning April 1 and must be submitted to the PEF Special Elections Committee by April 22.

If more than one candidate for a seat is certified, ballots will be mailed May 6 and must be returned by May 27 to the American Arbitration Association for counting May 28.                                                                                           – Sherry Halbrook