By DENYCE DUNCAN LACY
The PEF Elections Committee completed its review of petitions for PEF’s triennial elections in early May, and announced that President Roger E. Benson and his entire slate of statewide officers are the only certified candidates and are, therefore, automatically re-elected.
The Benson slate garnered 11,835 valid member signatures, nearly two and a half times the amount required to become a certified candidate.
Under PEF’s election rules, in order to be certified as a candidate for election, a member must gather the signatures of 10 percent of the eligible members in the constituency in which the member seeks election. For statewide races, the minimum number of valid signatures needed was 4,998.

In the statewide races, the slate headed by Jim Israel, who was opposing the current PEF administration, collected just 17 of the 4,998 signatures needed for certification.
Along with Benson, the other statewide officers automatically re-elected are Jane Hallum, secretary-treasurer; Ken Brynien, vice president; Jean DeBow; vice president; and Joe Fox, vice president; along with the current PEF trustees.
“When we were elected three years ago, our team pledged to put the interests of the membership first,” Benson said in response to the committee’s announcement.

“We are gratified that the members have recognized our leadership and accomplishments, and we appreciate their confidence. We have led the struggle for a stronger contract, job security and retirement reform,” Benson added. “Obviously, we still have much work to do and we look forward to the challenges of the next three years.”
Petitioning for PEF’s triennial elections began on March 27 and ended April 26. Balloting for contested elections begins June 5 and ends June 26. The votes will be counted by the American Arbitration Association the following day. (See “Candidate Directory” for details.)

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